Good morning, Quartz readers!
Donald Trump’s reversal of a policy of separating the children of immigrants and refugees from their parents at the US-Mexico border may seem like a relief. But it’s cold comfort in the context of a global migration crisis that will have lasting effects on millions.
“The unexpected forcible separation from your parents is worse than the ravages of being in a war zone, or being a victim of oppression, or living in deep poverty,” Jack Shonkoff, director of the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard, tells Quartz. “In all of those, the only buffer you have is a parent. Take that way and everything falls apart.” Neuroscientists and psychologists say family separations can also hurt children’s immune, cardiovascular, and metabolic systems, even potentially altering the architecture of their brain.
The US is far from alone in clamping down. This week, Italy refused to allow a migrant rescue boat to dock on its shores. Germany’s interior minister demanded the right to reject asylum-seekers who register first in other EU countries. And Austria’s chancellor, who takes on the EU’s rotating presidency next month, has indicated he will take a hard line on migration.
Meanwhile, those who refuse to shutter borders in the face of unprecedented need risk handing over power to the latest right-wing nationalist. Just ask Angela Merkel. Her 2015 decision to let more than 1 million refugees into Germany made her a hero to many. It also cost her dearly at the polls.
The crisis isn’t going anywhere: Between 2005 and 2015, the number of child refugees more than doubled, to 9 million (pdf). In the years ahead, war and conflict will drive even more people to flee their home countries; many people in Europe and North America, suffering from the twin shocks of globalization and automation, will want to reject them. But the risks many refugees and migrants face at home are far greater than any a border officer could impose, and so they will continue to seek safety for their children.
Trump’s policy inspired a wave of compassion for migrants, and a tsunami of outrage over separating children from parents. Can that potent cocktail of love and rage be sustained?—Jenny Anderson
Five things on Quartz we especially liked
Let the pandas die, we argue. How often do you read a debate about whether a lovable furball deserves to live or die? Elijah Wolfson and Katherine Ellen Foley argue that evolution has made it difficult for pandas to keep going without humans, while the best that Olivia Goldhill can retort is to link to a video of pandas rolling around.
How soccer helped an ethnic slur take over Europe. While “hooligan” is now heard among the World Cup fans of many nationalities and has Irish origins, Nikhil Sonnad explains how the word хулига́н has a separate and distinctly Russian meaning. It’s also an official crime.
Money makes the world go around. Research on programs in Malawi, South Africa, and Mexico show that a novel idea called cash transfers can liberate young women. “The world is often quick to blame young people for their circumstances,” writes Dan Kopf. “But often, all these women need to advance in life are the privileges that come from having a little extra money.”
Dogs deserve an extra pat for being good. Ephrat Livni’s kinship with her own pup, Mu, prompted her to explore the evolution of human thinking on animal morality. Her conclusion? Philosophy and science suggest that animals may indeed be capable of showing compassion and concern for others.
How Atul Gawande became the man he is. Maria Thomas recounts how the journey of the surgeon, writer, and professor was guided by his pioneering doctor parents—who emigrated to the US from India—and their commitment to social justice. He will draw deeply from that upbringing as head of the new Amazon-JPMorgan-Berkshire Hathaway healthcare venture.
Five things elsewhere that made us smarter
The ultimate graduation speech. Inspiring oratory after years of study can have a profound impact on young adults. Lauren Hard and the New York Times gave readers a chance to share some hypothetical wisdom with graduates (paywall)—the highlights of which included, “Never type anything, anywhere, that you’d be embarrassed if your mother read it.”
What happens to a country if it loses access to money? As an unintended consequence of new rules to prevent money laundering, the Marshall Islands is about to be cut off from the international banking system. Julie Wernau, for the Wall Street Journal, examines what happens when a small country is reduced to sending crumpled dollar bills between islands by boat (paywall).
Gender is even more complicated than we thought. In a cover story for the Atlantic, Jesse Singal dives into the struggle of “detransitioners” (the men and women who have transitioned, only to return to the sex of their birth) in an accessible way for lay audiences. What should a parent do when their child believes they are trans?
Time is money. With this somewhat hokey and participatory work of reporting, the Los Angeles Times’s James Rufus Koren shows that while exorbitant interest rates and copious fees put the poor at a great disadvantage, the extra time it takes for them to participate in the economy could be holding them back just as much.
Mr. Trump’s people go to Washington. The newly hip US capital’s residents hate Trump. So the president’s millennial staffers are reduced to living on the fringes of the city, where they’re heckled on the street and can’t get a date. For Politico magazine, Daniel Lippman and Ben Schreckinger get the scoop on life when you’re in power yet made to feel like an occupying force.
Our best wishes for a relaxing but thought-filled weekend. Please send any news, comments, cash transfers, and your favorite graduation speech to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day, or download our apps for iPhone and Android. Today’s Weekend Brief was edited by John Mancini and Kabir Chibber.