Clergy, community leaders and Democratic elected officials interlocked arms as they sang “We Shall Overcome” at a prayer vigil and rally on June 22, calling for the reunification of immigrant families detained at America’s southern border.

The event saw legislators from the city, state and federal governments weighing in on a policy that, up until June 20, saw families of illegal immigrants separated. It was a policy done away with by an Executive Order President Donald Trump had signed. Legislators saw this as a moment to pounce on Mr. Trump despite the reversal.

“There is no substitution for the care of a mother or a family,” said Congressman Joe Crowley. “We are starving the souls of these children.”

Crowley expressed his outrage in the aftermath of the Trump administration’s policy to arrest and separate families who’ve come to the country illegally. “They must be reunited with their parents. Nothing else matters,” Crowley said. He compared these events to the experiences of African slaves.

Senator Jamaal Bailey, who represents Norwood, empathized with the parents afflicted by the “zero tolerance” policy that mandates criminal prosecution of illegal immigrants, triggering the separation. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, with the approval of President Donald Trump, instituted the policy on April 6.

“Yes, an Executive Order was signed, but what about the thousands of families who need to be reunited? We don’t know what steps we’re going to take to remedy that,” said Bailey. “This isn’t a political issue. This is simply what’s right.”

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said that he has been assured by leadership of both the Catholic Guardian Services and Lutheran Social Services of New York, two nonprofits contracted by the federal government to provide services for children who have been separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border, that they’re receiving proper treatment.

“The damage has been done,” said Diaz Jr. “The long-term psychological scarring is something that children will suffer from for the rest of their lives.”

The borough president went on to demand the return of the 2,300 children separated from their parents. According to published reports, several hundred undocumented minors who’ve been separated from their families have been relocated to New York. It’s unclear where these children are being held.

Lutheran Social Services of New York, a 130 plus-year nonprofit, is federally funded to provide services to minors who arrive in the U.S. without parents or guardians, according to its website. The program provides temporary shelter and foster care services to unaccompanied children, supporting 58 children in 2016, in addition to putting together teams of clinicians, teachers, and child care workers to offer case management services to children.

The Norwood News reached out to the group’s Fordham branch, and left a message with its president and CEO Damyn Kelly, who did not return a message.

The Norwood News also reached out to Catholic Guardian Services (CGS). David Koller, director of fundraising at the CGS headquarters, said he could not confirm the information at this time and referred us to Paul Costiglio, the director of marketing and communications. The Norwood News left a message for Costiglio but has not heard back.

CGS has various locations in the Bronx. One of those facilities is located in Norwood, on 202nd Street near the Grand Concourse, across the street from a daycare center.

An elderly black woman, who declined to give her name, said she worked in the CGS facility and that it was an adult group home. “There are no children here,” she said.

At the rally, clergy members raged over the separation. Bishop Angelo Rosario of the Bronx Clergy Task Force said, “The way they use the Bible to defend their actions is an abomination.”

Fr. Eric Cruz of the Catholic Charities of New York spoke after arriving from McAllen, Texas, where he and 39 other faith leaders visited the Catholic Charities of Rio Grande Valley where undocumented immigrants were held.

Cruz said of the Trump administration, “They think that God is there to serve them, but they are there to serve God and his people.” He continued, “If we don’t help them now, then when? If not us, then who?”

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.