In contrast to many Republicans — and some Democrats — insisting that children fleeing violence should be sent back immediately, despite the many dangers they fled from in the first place and despite a Bush-era law that gives them due process, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-MD) has encouraged compassion for them.
“We are not a country that should send children away and send them back to certain death,” he said at a meeting of the National Governors Association, adding: “I believe that we should be guided by the greatest power we have as a people, and that is the power of our principles. Through all of our great world religions, we are told that hospitality to strangers is an essential human dignity.”
O’Malley said the facilities housing the children look more like a scene from a “local Humane Society than a humane country.” He called them “kennels” and said the youth should be placed in less restrictive settings, such as with family members or in the foster care system.
