On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order reversing his administration’s policy of holding immigrant children separate from their parents at detention centers on the U.S.-Mexico border.
However, there are still many unanswered questions as to what comes next.
Kishwer Vikaas is a lawyer with the University of Pacific’s immigration legal clinic in Sacramento, California. She represents immigrants and their families who are seeking asylum or those who may be undocumented.
A majority of those being held at the border are asylum seekers from mostly Central American nations like Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico. Some are fleeing persecution under threats of torture from their home nation.
"It's heartbreaking,” Vikaas said. “I think we are all devastated here at the clinic as we watch this tragedy unfold in our own borders.”
The issue hits close to home for Vikaas, whose family is from Pakistan. Her family is a part of a minority group that was knowingly discriminated against in Pakistan. Some of her family members and friends were offered asylum in the U.S.
She said, while the executive order aims to stop the practice of separation, it offers no timeline for when families will be reunited. It also does not end the practice of family detention, which Vikaas is strongly against.
“So, in fact, they are working to now prolong that detention,” Vikaas said. “So, it needs a lot more work."
Immigration law experts are hoping they’ll have answers soon, but they say those answers will need to come from the administration. To get those answers, Vikaas said, it will take pressure from the public through demonstrations, reaching out to lawmakers, and supporting local immigrant groups.
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