Trump hosts victims of undocumented migrants
Washington, June 23 : US President Donald Trump has hosted the relatives of victims killed by illegal immigrants amid outrage over the separation of migrant families.
"Your loved ones have not died in vain," he told the group of so-called Angel Families at the White House on Friday, BBC reported.
Trump has faced global condemnation for the US immigration policy that has seen more than 2,000 migrant children stripped from their families.
He bowed to public pressure and reversed the policy earlier this week.
The president signed an executive order on Wednesday to end the separate detention of undocumented immigrant children from their parents after illegally entering the country.
As part of the the administration's "zero-tolerance" policy, which seeks to criminally charge and jail undocumented border crossers, children cannot legally be held with their parents. They have instead been kept in separate facilities.
"These are the American citizens permanently separated from their loved ones," he said on Friday, before introducing family members of victims.
"I cannot imagine it being any worse, but we promise to act with strength and resolve.
"We'll not rest until our border is secure, our citizens are safe and we end this immigration crisis once and for all," Trump added.
Laura Wilkerson, whose son was killed in 2010 by an undocumented immigrant, told audience members: "None of our kids had a minute to say goodbye. We weren't lucky enough to be separated for five days or 10 days.
"We were separated permanently."
Approximately 2,300 children have been removed from their families since Mr Trump's "zero-tolerance" policy began in May, and housed in detention centres run by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Some shelters, including three in Texas, house so-called "tender age" children, who are under five years old.
About 500 children have been reunited with their families since May, a Homeland Security official said on Thursday. But it is unclear how the remaining families affected will be reunited.
Images of children in metal cages, and audio of young migrants crying out for their parents sparked protests and drew international condemnation from world leaders and organisations.
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ISRO launches Mission MITRA for safety of human spaceflight mission crew
Bengaluru (PTI): ISRO on Friday said it has undertaken mission MITRA in Leh, Union Territory of Ladakh, from April 2 to 9, a first-of-its-kind team behavioural study for the benefit of human spaceflight missions such as Gaganyaan.
The mission, inaugurated by the ISRO chairman V Narayanan, was mainly for the crew safety and performance.
"Mission MITRA is a first-of-its-kind team behavioural study designed by ISRO and IAF-Institute of Aerospace Medicine to examine the physiological, psychological, and operational dynamics of Crew and ground teams functioning in a high-altitude environment," ISRO said in a statement.
This study is targeted to generate vital understanding on the team interoperability between crew (Gaganyatris) and ground control teams and the effectiveness of decision making under environmental & operational stress, the space agency said.
Noting that the crew safety and performance are the most critical elements of all Human Spaceflight Missions, ISRO said the ability of the crew to communicate effectively, adapt to stress, maintain psychological resilience and support one another determines the success and safety of any mission.
Analogue missions conducted under controlled yet realistic conditions are utilised to understand how crews perform under challenging conditions, it added.
The space agency said the high altitude of approximately 3,500 meters at Leh having the environmental conditions of hypoxia, low temperature, and isolation, is a natural analogue for spaceflight operations.
