Gubernatorial candidates talk about children's health at policy forum
One group of young people asked questions of Virginia’s major-party gubernatorial candidates about issues important to children’s health.
Another group shouted concerns about the plight of so-called “Dreamers” — children of illegal immigrants now facing possible deportation — at the end of Republican candidate Ed Gillespie’s presentation to a gubernatorial forum sponsored by Voices for Virginia’s Children on Friday at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Henrico County.
“ICE out of Virginia,” shouted some of the four to five young people in the audience, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “Deportation, not no more,” shouted others, prompted by President Donald Trump’s decision this week to reverse former President Barack Obama’s executive order protecting children of illegal immigrants from deportation.
The outburst briefly disrupted a policy forum Friday afternoon that focused on other big issues facing children — access to health care, including mental health and treatment of addiction; gaps in educational achievement based on income and race; growing up in impoverished households, living in foster care or being caught in the so-called “school to prison pipeline.”
Read more: http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/gubernatorial-candidates-talk-about-children-s-health-at-policy-forum/article_bf5e4a4a-60cd-5662-b3b8-c549951c424d.html
