US separates 2,000 children from parents at Mexico border
Washington, June 16 : The US government has separated at least 2,000 children from parents at the Mexico border since implementing a policy that results in such family separations, the Department of Homeland Security(DHS) has confirmed.
From April 19 through May 31 of this year, 1,995 minors travelling with 1,940 adults who said they were the children's guardians were separated due to the policy, CNN quoted DHS spokesman Jonathan Hoffman as saying on Friday.
According to Hoffman, the call was largely to defend the administration's decision to charge every adult caught crossing the border illegally with federal crimes, as opposed to referring those with children mainly to immigration courts, as previous administrations did.
Because the government is charging the parents in the criminal justice system, children are separated from them, with no clear procedure for their reunification aside from hotlines the parents can call to try to track their children down.
The policy to refer all adults for charges was publicly announced on May 7, though the Justice Department announced it would prosecute 100 per cent of the cases referred to it at the beginning of April.
"We make decisions based on the ability to detain and the ability of courts to take these cases, but we no longer exempt categories or classes of individuals," a DHS official said.
"By and large, we are accepting nearly all of the referrals that we get from our counterparts at DHS, we continue to work with the federal judiciary on practical solutions to differing caps that they have," CNN quoted a Justice Department official as saying.
"In terms of declining prosecution, we're not going to get into specifics." The UN has called on the US to immediately halt the separations, the BBC reported.
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Karnataka Deputy CM Shivakumar express shock over blast in Delhi
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday expressed shock and grief over the blast that occurred near Red Fort in Delhi that claimed at least eight lives and injured several people.
Taking to social media platform 'X', he wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
"Deeply shocked and disturbed by the tragic blast near Red Fort, Delhi. The loss of innocent lives is heartbreaking. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Wishing a speedy recovery to the injured," Shivakumar said.
A high-intensity explosion ripped through a car near the Red Fort metro station, gutting several vehicles, officials said.
Twenty-four people were injured in the blast that took place on a busy evening when the area was milling with people. The injured were taken to the LNJP hospital, a few kilometres away.
