BROWNSVILLE, TX — The court-ordered deadline for the government to reunite all immigrant children separated from their parents at the border is July 26. Until then, one New York mother and her son are camping outside a migrant shelter in Brownsville, Texas to send a message:
“’We will go home when the children are reunited’ is kind of our main message,” said Ashley Casale, who, along with her 7-year-old son Gabe, had more than one reason to be camping out in front of a children’s shelter for three weeks in the blistering 100-degree weather.
They traveled nearly 2,000 miles to the border from New York, about the same distance many immigrants trek from their native countries in Central America.
“We picked this shelter because we knew it was a tender-age shelter, and we decided to camp here,” she said.
The 30-year old who goes by @BorderPatrolMom on Twitter, has all the essentials: food, clothes, toys, and, of course, protest signs. She said that she’s teaching her son about the importance of activism.
“We got most of the questions out of the way in the car ride down, and he asked me what it was all about, what we were doing,” Casale noted. “He feels similarly compelled to be here because he also feels that it is incredibly unjust that the children have been taken away from their parents.”
The Casa Presidente shelter in Brownsville is one of nine in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley housing unaccompanied and separated minors.
It’s uncertain how many are left to be reunited with their parents. The government is working to reunite all 2,551 children age 5 and older by July 26. That’s the deadline imposed by California Judge Dana Sabraw following a lawsuit by the ACLU.
“The government cannot deport parents who have been separated from their children, for a few days, until the judge has an opportunity to meet with the parties and rule on the substantive issues of law,” said Texas Civil Rights Project visiting attorney Laura Pena.
Pena updated protesters in McAllen during the conclusion of a 24-day hunger strike in honor of separated families. They, like Casale, hope their efforts have garnered enough attention to keep the public engaged, at least until the reunifications are done.
“If it doesn't happen by then, we will probably change up our protest tactic and try to get activists together and do direct action,” Casale promised.
In other words, they’re not holding their breath.