Constantin Mutu was four-months-old when he was separated from his father, Vasily. The elder Mutu was arrested while seeking asylum at the southern border. So far, Constantin is the youngest child to be separated from his family.
What distinguishes Constantin and Vasily Mutu from the majority of asylum seekers at the southern border is that they are a family of Roma people, two of the roughly 12 million people who make up Europe’s largest, yet hidden minority and one of the world’s most persecuted people.
Caitlin Dickerson's story of the Mutu family is an introduction to a people suffering from centuries of persecution. In a broader sense, it's a story of the power of discriminatory immigration policy to destroy vibrant cultures and opportunities for them to contribute to society.
GUESTS:
- Caitlin Dickerson - National immigration reporter for The New York Times and analyst at CNN
- Magda Matache - Roma rights activist from Romania, director of the Roma Program at Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, and co-author of Realizing Roma Rights
- Cristiana Grigore - Research scholar and founder of the Roma People’s Project at Columbia University; she is a member of the Roma people
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Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.