amp fuse ♪ ♪ you can't always get what you want you can't always get what you want you can't always get what you want but if you try sometimes you might find ♪ mccain'ssenator john daughter meghan mccain except the lbj foundation's liberty and justice for all award on behalf of her father. she spoke during the ceremony that was held at the lbj library in austin, texas. her father was diagnosed with brain cancer last year. on today's washington journal, goldman, executive director for the center of law and social policy talked about her group's report on how the trump administration's immigration policies are impacting immigrant children and families.

c-span2's booktv. formerur guest is the health and human services director, olivia golden. thank you for joining us. nonprofit are a advocacy organization. we've been around almost 50 years, and we focus on reducing party, improving the lives -- reducing poverty, improving the lives of low income people, and tearing down the barriers that keep people from economic security. host: a lot in the recent days about immigration because of what is going on at the border. at -- guest: we focus a lot on children, families and we focus on low income people. we started about a year ago

being really worried about the consequences for children, including u.s. citizen children and immigrant families. we've been really working a lot on the consequences on children and what we should do to fix that. host: the pc but i yesterday in light of independence day, "celebrate independence day by fighting back," what kind of argument are you trying to pose? guest: the values the country aspires to, a we certainly never achieve them all, but the values we think about on independence day like liberty and justice for and the motto on the statue of liberty, those are under ateat right now from our clasp. people of color and immigrant families, the policy threats have been very great over this past year, so this is a moment to think about what we can all do to change that and have a vision of the country that will

take us to where we want to be. the specific example i give in that piece is about a next ordinary fourth of july i spent when i was assistant secretary for children and families and the united states intervened in the former yugoslavia to help people in kosovo, a largely muslim country where people were being killed and threatened, and i had the chance to spend a few with refugees who talks to me about what it meant to than the united states offered opportunity regardless of religion. host: the piece is available online if you want to talk to our guest about that and immigration related issues. you can tweak us that you can @cspanwj. tweet us we've all heard the news stories.

what is the specific policy would like to address, or at least would like the administration to address? guest: keep giver cannot in march about the effects of immigration on young children across the whole united states living in families that have been here for decades. it was about the damage they are experiencing and what we should do about that, which i can come back to. of the last month about the separation, tearing children and young children from ,heir parents at the border what is truly devastating as the consequences of separation on children. really what we have to do about that is reverse it. the judge has told the and ministration to reunify those families, and it is not clear they have a plan. the human reaction to hearing those children cry and seen because it wants is also the right reaction based on research.

host: so if families and children are kept together, is that satisfactory to you, then? thinking about those families that are coming in on the border, what is important also is that they not be jailed. we know a lot about imaging -- about how damaging detention is for young children. it is really important that families be in the community while they are waiting for their asylum cases to be heard. thepaper, which talks about cumulative impact of a lot of different things the administration has done over its first year, finds that young children all over this country, we get about 150 interviews with childcare providers and parents in six states, that young children, most of whom are american citizens not newly coming here, are living in fear. it is affecting their behavior, harming themselves, affecting their learning and their

schooling, they are experiencing instability in their housing and economic situation. we know a lot from child developed research about what that does in the long term to their life chances. recentf you are a evidence or asylum seeker and you want to give your -748-8003.e, it is 202 the --reports of on along the border saying in many cases they are well fed, they have people to take care of them. is that satisfactory? guest: when children are taken from their parents, that is devastating no matter what, no matter the quality of the care. because -- again, you can hear it when you read the interviews and when you listen to that tape of children cry and -- particularly for young

children, being torn away creates a level of stress that just has very dangerous consequences for the child's health. reuniting the families is number and makingeating sure you're not jailing families is number two. that is for families coming in on the border. we do have recommendations about what to do for these threats that have been going on for a year that are affecting young children in immigrant families, which is a very large number. about 9 million children under age eight have at least one immigrant parent. about 1/4 of all children. it has consequences for all of us if we create long-term damage in those kids' ability to learn. what we should be doing there, we have a lot of recommendations in the report that include much

more positive policies so parents aren't afraid to get their children the care they -- andnd which improved which include improvements a lot of different aspects. host:'s families are kept together when they come to ports entry, what ports of happens if they do not come back for their asylum case? isn't that a legitimate concern? guest: this clear research which suggests families do appear for .heir asylum cases there's lots of different strategies that include electronic monitoring or telephone check ends. when families are in the community, they are a lot more able to get a lawyer, and just getting a lawyer means people show up. they want to have their cases adjudicated. --re's not evidence that

there's clear evidence of how damaging it is when you do it. host: again, olivia golden of the center for law and policy. our first call is on a republican line. carl from west virginia, you are on with our guest. go ahead. caller: good morning. the words you people used to describe the situation like they are ripping kids right out of the arms of parents, even ripping babies away from nursing mothers, you know, this is inflammatory. this is what turns people like me against people like you is the words you use. you know it is not true. these kids get three hot meals a day. that's a lot more that a lot of kids in this country get. and you know what? isonder if your organization

just spun off from the southern poverty lost her that designates all conservative organizations as evil -- poverty law center that designates all conservative organizations as evil. guest: let me put your views in the context of views of americans in general. , which isof americans really gone up over the past several decades, see immigration is positive. that sort of important context suggests that for most people, the evidence about what does work for children and families and what immigrants do they come into a community, the way they contribute to economic success, is really powerful. specifics about children's conditions, the circumstances on the border are documented in lots of both legal testimonies and eyewitness, as well as video and audio we've all been hearing. the part that we at clasp documented ourselves by visiting early childhood programs, doing

focus groups with parents, those circumstances we researched ourselves, and what we found their was the consequences that i've been telling you about in people's own words. for example, a preschool teacher in georgia who said to us a federal child was -- a five-year-old child was in so much fear and stress he was biting his hands to the point of bleeding. preschool teacher who said i've never before seen classrooms with this much stress and this difficulty learning. preschool teachers and home visitors talking about the level of fear they saw in children, but also parents who were withdrawing the children from a childcare program, perhaps because of fear of enforcement, but also the fear for the millions of children in the united states includes children with documented, as well as undocumented, parents because of the administration's threats to

all of those groups. parents taking their children out of health care and nutrition programs. 'srt of what we do at clasp work hard to document in a lot of detail, and this paper reflects about 150 people that we talk to interviews and focus groups on the ground in california, georgia, north carolina, new mexico, and pennsylvania. host: including direct conversations with parents and/or children? guest: was parents and early childhood teachers. we didn't talk to very young children. we didn't talk to babies were three-year-olds. there was one school we visited where we were visiting because it had an early childhood program, but some of the elementary school children really insisted on talking to my colleagues who was there, and one of the saddest stories for me was a little boy about eight years old talking about what he was doing was trying to focus on

what he could cook, peanut butter chant which is -- peanut butter sandwiches and cheese sandwiches, so he could make them for his sister if his parents were taken. children should not begin with that level of fear. host: on the independent line, joe is next. caller: yes, madam. we are talking about black letter law, and i'm sure you are intelligent enough to know what black letter law means. these children and their families, cross our borders. crime.e committing a according to black letter law, they should be deported. how do you know how they vet , wherevermala, chile they are coming from, even from asia? we must come as your parents taught you, if you want to go out inside -- if you want to go outside and play, you must clean your room. you must eat everything in front of you. if you want to change it, change the constitution.

i far as the child being born in the united states causes automatic citizens, that is wrong. guest: a couple points. let me start with the law and then go to what i think is right beyond that and what my parents tommy, since you raised that. i'm sure that is important -- parents taught me, since he raised that. i'm sure that is important to all of us. come to find safety for their children are following the law. being able to arrive in the united states and claim asylum is legal under that it's a slaw and is -- under united states law and is internationally protected, so that is legal. children andon of families that have lived in the united states a long time for parents who are documented, who are not documented, and the millions of children who have an immigrant parent, i would say couple of things about why we should care about how they are doing. one is just at a personal basis,

for most americans, how children are doing, how u.s. citizen children are doing, is a key measure of us as a country. i don't have my own children, ,ut i have nieces and nephews and i never want to see them in the kind of fear and stress and the consequences for them that we saw. my parents are both immigrants. one fled from germany at the time when hillary was in power, and the other came -- when hitler was in power, and the other came from europe. they told me about the theaordinary opportunity united states inspires to offer, and the fact that trying to make the country better is a key part of who we are. host: from our democrats line,

don in maryland. caller: good morning. first of all, i just want to thank ms. goldman for her courage and express gratitude for standing up. many of us in the united states feel the way she does. she's touched on trauma that affects young children. thed you talk about what trauma is for these young kids? these kids are going to grow up. what lasting effects might there be, and how does that affect the foster care system? i work with foster care kids in the courts. the system is taxed already. i wonder if you could talk about the long-term effects. guest: thank you for your comments. the long-term effects are deeply documented. there's a long history of child develop and research that talks weut the lovers of all, think about children from the

border, the consequence the having a level of toxic stress that creates lifelong impact, potentially. for the children we interviewed, the millions of children who are fearntly being affected by , stress, the lack of access to health and nutrition that they need, by uncertainty in their housing and their parents' jobs, for those children there is also a powerful body of research about the individual consequences of each of those things. the toxic stress they are experiencing, not having access to health care and food that they need. there is also research showing all of those together have even greater effects. what did the consequences look like? i should note that these are consequences that can happen. there is a chance to remedy this , that is partly why we feel such a sense of urgency. substantial can be

consequences on learning, the toxic stress, the other kinds of insecurity and instability, children's lives being more isolated, not being able to have a stable home. all of those things have effects on learning, health, and effects that can go to adulthood. what i want to say to all of the caller is that in addition to the moral reasons for caring, to me there's a very practical reason. about 9 million children under /4 of all and about 1 children have at least one immigrant parent. while because it was his for children are greatest when those children have seen -- while the consequences for children are greatest when those children have seen the effects of deportation, they affect the whole community. in 20 years may need help from a doctor or nurse or home care, i really want

these children to grow up and thrive and be able to move into all of the different jobs that we need from them and to be successful citizens. to meet the long-term effects are really important. you mentioned the foster care system. i did run the child welfare system in the district of columbia. for me, the most powerful even inthere is that cases where children come into foster care, which means there was something really wrong or the courts found that were something dangerous in their home environment, there is a very high standard for separating kids from their parents. a judge has to say it is in their best interest. if you think about just willy-nilly and casually taking kids from their parents at the border, that is terrifying and very different from the law that governs how we do think about children in the united states

and how we ought to think about them. host: cnn reporting this morning that one of the means to reunite families with children is a dna test. what you think about that as a process to help reunite families? guest: i am not an expert on the details of what the process should be. i guess what is striking about that, if that turns out to be the case, is it does suggest the administration didn't put in place good tracking systems to be able to reunify children easily. that is consistent with other reporting, suggesting they don't have other plans. from my perspective, that is frightening. quickly ashem as possible is a crucial next step. host: the previous administrations have this policy? guest: this administration is the pursed that is the first two separate children from their

>> c-span's washington journal, live every day with all of the issues that impact you. coming up friday morning, no labels william. discusses ideas to handle partisan gridlock in congress. matt lewis talks about president trump's supreme court nomination process. be sure to watch c-span's 7:00ngton journal live at eastern friday morning. join the discussion. >> tonight on c-span, professors and researchers look at racism in the united date and how it impacts the country's politics. it's down with senator john mccain's former presidential campaign manager at the lbj presidential library. and president trump attends a campaign rally in great falls, montana.