US Senators Urge Trump To Stop Deporting Migrant Children Amid Virus Crisis

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2020) The Trump administration must stop using the coronavirus outbreak as an excuse to deport migrant children to countries where they are under threat, four US senators said in a letter.

"We are concerned about recent reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is removing unaccompanied children to countries where they fear violence, in violation of their legal rights under the Trafficking Victim Protections Reauthorization Act," the senators said on Monday. "Children do not have to be put in harm's way to protect us from the coronavirus pandemic. DHS has the ability and capacity to protect both these children and the public. We request that DHS stop this practice immediately."

Under the legislation, the senators said, children must be transferred from the border to the US health department within 72 hours, where they can then be reunited with family members.

The letter was sent by Senators Diane Feinstein, Dick Durbin, Jerrold Nadler and Zoe Lofgren.

On Monday, the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States broke the 160,000 mark with nearly 3,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.