COPIED FROM A SOCIAL WORKER SERVING IN TEXAS:

I can't post this publicly, but I'm supervising a girl who is working with a client that was recently released from detention. They took her baby when she arrived. It took forever to track down this five year old, and she isn't in a "tender age facility" in Texas. They shipped this kid TO CHICAGO. And they can't explain why. This little girl took a long journey with her mother, wound up in a country where she doesn't speak the language, was separated from her mom, and then was put on a bus for 24 HOURS from South Texas to Chicago with strangers. We finally track the kid down, and mom has to PAY to even talk to the very confused child on the phone, and when we inquire as to how to get the child back with mom the US government WANTS FOURTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS. From the mom. Who came from Central America with nothing but a backpack and no shoes. I told them it was RANSOM. The whole thing is a racket. I'm seriously doing all I can to help make calls and support this client and the people helping them, but yesterday was seriously one of the hardest work days I've ever had. We still don't have this kid. We sent the money and now they're saying they don't have "clearance" to release the child. We don't even really know what that means! And NO ONE is in charge. There's no system. And no one can tell me why on earth these kids are being shipped out of state. It's so scary. I can't imagine being a Border Patrol agent right now. I don't know how they're doing it. I don't even speak this mom's language, but I understand despair. All I can do is just support her case manager and try not to cry in front of her. It's really hard.