Easing Back In
What a summer for injustice in the world.
Hi, all. I’ve missed you, and I’ve missed writing in this space! Though the summer break was necessary for my family (and my deadlines!), like many of you, it’s hard to take a real break when it feels like all we’re doing is witnessing massive injustice in real time. I’m grateful to be back in a rhythm again, able to report on what I’m seeing. At the end of this post, I’ll ask you what you want me to cover, so please let me know if you’d like me to do a deep dive on any stories; I’ll also give you a quick update about what’s coming up both for “The Injustice Report” and “The Beautiful and Banned.”
With several weeks between this post and the last one, I could choose so many stories to examine more closely, like the deep grief of watching what is happening in Gaza in real time and not being able to do anything about it other than scream into the void. Or caring, with so many other people around the world, about releasing the Epstein list, admiring the courage of the brave women willing to speak out about what they endured when they were children, and hearing their level of fear even now. Or so, so, so many other stories.
But this week, I can’t stop thinking about the foster children who were almost trafficked back to danger in Guatemala over the past weekend.
Seventy-six Guatemalan children were almost deported over Labor Day weekend by the Trump administration in the dead of night. These are all unaccompanied minors, who have traditionally received the most sensitive, thoughtful care that is available from our government—which is to say, it wasn’t perfect. But everyone has always agreed across the political aisle that traumatized kids deserve to be treated with dignity and compassion, at the very least.
We’ve reported in the past about how that’s changing for this administration, but what happened over the weekend really brought it home.
Tovia Smith at NPR reported that the children range in age from ten to seventeen. They were abandoned, abused, or neglected by their parents. They were living in foster homes and then, according to Efrén Olivares, an attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, “In the dead of night on a holiday weekend, the Trump administration ripped vulnerable frightened children from their beds and attempted to return them to danger in Guatemala.”
There are around 700 Guatemalan children being cared for by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Presumably, these planned flights were the first of many. The Trump administration claims the children are being “reunified” with their families.
As Smith reports, Olivares and others dispute these claims. Gladis Molina, executive director of the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, states “This is the government trying to put on a veil of legal authority to something that is completely violating international and domestic law.”
My first book, After the Last Border, reported on how the Trump administration blatantly reversed decades of asylum law, breaking codes the US helped write after World War II. We saw this with the Family Separation policy, where children were taken from parents and then treated as “unaccompanied,” when they were really trafficked by the federal government.
Flights full of children being bundled up in the dead of night is horrific by any standards. US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan stopped the deportation now with an emergency order declaring the government must “cease any ongoing efforts” to remove or deport the minors. The case will move to US District Judge Timothy Kelly, who has set September 10 as the next court hearing. Until then, unlike when judges ordered deportations to halt on the way to take Venezuelan people to CECOT in El Salvador, the government planes stopped.
Presumably, the children went back to the places where they are staying. And that is what haunts me. I don’t write about my children online, but suffice it to say—I know firsthand how the Complex PTSD these children absolutely have to have is extremely triggered by being removed with no warning from foster homes. I have reported on the damage that this does to young children and their families and communities for years. And I have walked alongside many who have been caught up in the crosshairs of these policies.
These are not issues, they are people. They are children.
Putting them on planes and taking them back to danger without reunification, without a trauma-informed plan, without the due diligence required to carefully place them in safe situations—that is trafficking.
What the government did is illegal in the United States; asylum-seekers have the right to due process under laws the US helped write after World War II (again, I go into that in detail in After the Last Border). But we passed discussing what is legal and what is right long ago.
At a time when trafficking children seems to be the only thing we can agree on across the aisle (release the Epstein files), surely we can all agree that vulnerable children must be protected at all costs and cannot be trafficked back to danger in their home countries without families or reunification plans.
My core political belief remains a simple one: harming children is always, always wrong.
Looking ahead: I’d love to hear from you—there are a million stories of injustice right now. What is particularly concerning to you? What would you like me to do a deep dive on? I’d love your comments to help me shape my reporting in the next few weeks.
Next week, I’ll be looking at what is changing here in Texas for school teachers and librarians and others. As I wrote in We Were Illegal, “as Texas goes, so goes the nation”—what happens here has national implications. And right now, that is really, really scary.
An update on our team: After a good summer break, I am back this fall writing regularly for “The Injustice Report.” I intend to aim for once a week, but will vary the day depending on my availability. I have one novel coming out next May, and another the year after that, and the deadline for the entire draft of book two is October 3. We’ll see how much additional writing I can do here as we get closer.
Alejandra Oliva will be joining me occasionally. She can always be found at her brilliant, lyrical newsletter,“Ojos de Santa Lucia.” We are always lucky when Alejandra writes about the injustice she’s seeing; as the Trump administration moves into her local Chicago, make sure to keep up with her on Instagram and on her website.
Lauren Pinkston is stepping back from “The Injustice Report” for the foreseeable future because, in true Lauren fashion, she is about to take over the world. I genuinely cannot wait to see the many projects she’s working on come to light, and I’m doing my level best to close my mouth until it’s time. Until then, of course, you can subscribe to her fiery, thoughtful newsletter, “The Mindful Middle,” and keep up with what’s next on her Instagram (where she often offends trolls by [gasp] having a nose ring and, you know, thinking critically for herself) and her website.
Christine and I will let you know more about “The Beautiful and Banned” soon; we both have huge deadlines right now, so we’re protecting our time and balancing it all. But don’t worry, we text and talk as much as ever and cannot wait to share our conversations with you soon!
Finally, those of you have supported us financially this year, we wanted to let you know that we’re evenly dividing the proceeds from “The Injustice Report” among the four of us for the year. We’ll reevaluate moving forward, but always want to be transparent about money.
At a time when publishing is changing faster than any of us can keep up with, we’re deeply grateful for your support. We also always understand if that needs to change. Thank you for making this small community such a wonderful place!