On the recordSeptember 4, 2018
today I wish to express my opposition to the confirmation of Lynn Johnson to become Assistant Secretary for Family Support at the Department of Health and Human Services. Time and again, this administration has shown a complete lack of good judgement on immigration policy. Most recently, the Trump administration implemented their family separation policy, which caused the cruel separation of thousands of children from their parents, a number of whom have still not been reunited. The sheer inhumanity of a policy that involves forcibly separating children from their families has traumatized these children. Experts have said that this trauma will compound the trauma many of these children have already experienced fleeing their violent home countries, exacerbate learning difficulties, increase depression and post- traumatic stress disorder, and may make some children more prone to substance use disorders. These traumatized children have then gone into the care of facilities overseen by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which Ms. Johnson will oversee. There have been a number of concerning reports about facilities caring for these separated children, including medical neglect, physical and sexual abuse, overzealous restrictions on phone contact with their parents, and inappropriate use of psychotropic drugs without parental consent. While I understand that Ms.…
