“We have a responsibility to repair the damage done and to ensure it never happens again”
Washington, DC – With family separation back in the news and Republicans trying to whitewash and defend the policy, two powerful columns remind us of the horrors committed by former President Trump and his White House advisor Stephen Miller in our name and call on us to make sure it never happens again.
Marcela García, a columnist for the Boston Globe, writes:
“Trump’s zero-tolerance policy was intended to act as a mechanism to deter other migrants from attempting to seek asylum at the border. The cruelty was always the point. But Trump officials misled the public and Congress about it. And the federal agencies involved did not adequately keep track of separations, so reuniting families had not been a key consideration in the first place, according to a report from the US Department of Homeland Security inspector general.
…Ultimately, the horrific trauma inflicted on parents and children who were separated is lasting and has long-term consequences; no amount of money can erase it. But it’s crucial to create an economic-justice precedent so that future presidents never again consider enacting this harmful and cruel policy.”
A recent column by Elvia Díaz in the Arizona Republic notes:
“Republicans make it abundantly clear that they view people showing up at the southern border as less than human, people who apparently deserve everything that happens to them – including forcibly taking their children away by the U.S. government
… Republicans crying foul shouldn’t blame Biden. They should blame their guy, who created this mess in the first place. Instead, expect them to use this human tragedy as just another election tool.
But how about you? What do you think the appropriate compensation should be if the government forcibly takes your child from you?”
According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
This dark chapter was brought to you by Donald Trump and his cruel, cynical and xenophobic minions.
Family separation remains a moral stain on America. The American Academy of Pediatrics called family separation ‘torture.’ Government agents, acting in our name and with our tax dollars, ripped little kids from the arms of their parents and separated them without so much as a tracking system. No one has been held accountable. Hundreds of families remain separated.
We all have a responsibility to repair the damage done and to ensure it never happens again.
