Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern
Tender Age Shelters: Separating and Warehousing Infants and Toddlers
While the Zero Tolerance policy is documented elsewhere, the specific treatment of children under 5 — the 'tender age' population — constituted a distinct category of harm. Infants as young as a few months old were taken from parents and placed in facilities where they were cared for by strangers. Whistleblowers described children crying inconsolably. The American Academy of Pediatrics called the policy 'child abuse.' A federal court gave the government 14 days to reunify this group; the administration missed the deadline.