Trump’s Family Separation Policy at the Border

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/18/opinion/trump-family-separation-immigration.html

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To the Editor:

Re “Bipartisan Cry Over Families Split at Border” (front page, June 18):

Picture this: On your next flight abroad, as your family deplanes, legal authorities of that country physically separate your children and disappear with them. Despite your protests and the screams of the children, the foreign government claims that it has the right to tear the family apart and will not provide any information on where the children are going or, indeed, if you will ever see them again.

Try to imagine how you would feel at that moment. I doubt that most of us can perceive the level of panic, confusion, anger and desperation that these children and parents experience.

Now imagine how refugees of limited means and limited English language must feel as their children are kidnapped by the very state that they labored so hard to reach — what guilt for their well-intentioned efforts to give them a better life away from violence and poverty.

Forced separations will sow seeds of hate for generations. That the administration practices this depraved process erases any higher moral ground the United States may have once held. To separate babies and toddlers from their parent is unconscionable.

Each of us to needs to speak up now to persuade President Trump that this is an immoral practice. I urge Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, as the parents of three children, to join me in asking the president to authorize an immediate stop to this.

MARJORIE ROGALSKIHANOVER, N.H.

To the Editor:

Re “Sessions’s Use of Bible Passage to Defend Immigration Policy Draws Fire” (nytimes.com, June 15): I am outraged that Attorney General Jeff Sessions uses the Bible to defend separating young children from their parents. He talks about the sanctity of following the law. History has taught us all too well about blindly following orders.

What about instead following the example, from the Book of Exodus, of Shifra and Puah, two brave Hebrew midwives who defied Pharaoh’s orders and saved children’s lives? Following the law doesn’t justify cruel, inhumane behavior.

JULIA STERN KLAHR, BRONX

To the Editor:

Let’s not let President Trump turn around blame for his policy of separating children from their families. We have all become accustomed to his blaming the Democrats for virtually all of his administration’s moral lapses and failings. It’s time for Democrats to stand up and tell it like it is. From now on, let’s refer to his policy the same way that Republicans referred to the Affordable Care Act as Obamacare — it is Trump’s Family Separation Policy.

PAUL NEWACHECKBERKELEY, CALIF.

To the Editor:

Re “A Mother’s Plea: ‘I Can’t Go Without My Son’ ” (news article, June 18):

After leaving their homes and almost all of their possessions behind, immigrants who have made it to the border have almost nothing left but their families. For many, bettering the lives of their family members was the sole reason they decided to leave everything behind and cross into the United States.

So when a mother is separated from her son, as in this article, she is not just losing her child — she is losing her whole world. As lawmakers consider alternatives to separating children from their parents, they need to keep that in mind.

SAMUEL DAVID GARCIA, HOUSTON

To the Editor:

Separating children from their parents is a heinous crime against humanity. Instead of blaming others for the policy, President Trump could end it today. He wants the admiration of the people; let him do something that can be admired.

ADA ALPERT, NEW YORK