Witness Radio's Sarah Towle and Camilo Perez-Bustillo kick off a second season with reflection on the Biden administration's one-year record on border and immigration, framed through the civil rights legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

They start with the question, What would Dr. King have said about one of the greatest human rights crimes in recent US history: family separation?

A civil rights lawyer and human rights scholar, Camilo was at ground-zero in El Paso, Texas when the practice of separating migrating families was piloted by the Trump administration before being rolled out across the borderlands, as policy, in April 2018. The burden of responsibility for the crimes then committed now falls to the Biden administration, which faces a Sophie’s choice:

• Acknowledge the irreparable damage done to these families by the US government and negotiate a legal remedy -- at the risk of sparking the further ire of Trump World and the GOP prior to US mid-term elections?
• Or shield the US government from a settlement and, in effect, defend government-sanctioned torture in the form of separating families.

On January 5th, the Biden Administration staked its claim to a position. Tap that play button to find out where it landed.

Click Here for Episode Transcript

But before you go, we have a huge favor to ask... Help us to get more listeners: Please rate and review Witness Radio wherever you get your podcasts.

Thank you in advance!

Sarah & Camilo

Additional Reading:

Biden Administration Makes Cruel Decision to Fight California Families Separated at the Border in Court

Justice Department Halts Settlement Talks With Migrant Families

Separation of Families on the U.S.-Mexican Border as a Form of Torture

“You Will Never See Your Child Again”: The Persistent Psychological Effects of Family Separation

SEALING THE BORDER: The Criminalization of Asylum Seekers in the Trump Era, Hope Border Institute Annual Report, December 2018

Ms. L. v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Amicus Brief by Stanford University psychologists and others documenting all the evidence that proves family separation is experienced by its victims as torture

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