Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door– Emma Lazarus –
The creative processes involved in crafting this piece caused me to spend a lot of time in thought about my children. About the important relationship that develops between a mother or father and their child, especially at a young age. Such relationships will affect the life of both the parent and the child for the remainder of their days. There are many aspects to parenting. Keeping a roof over their head, clothing on their back and their belly full each meal being some of the most basic parts. However, keeping your child safe is a primary aspect of parenting. Making sure that when they fall asleep at night, they are secure, et cetera. It seems that many Americans take this necessity far too lightly.
Otherwise, no child would ever suffer being taken from the loving, secure embrace of their parents. This is precisely what’s happening at our borders and there is no law requiring us to do so. This is a choice, and it’s a choice that is being made that will irreparably harm innocent children. Make no mistake, it is inhumane.
As adults, we know that a child’s needs are varied. There are, of course, basic needs such as shelter, food and clothing. There are also basic emotional needs, such as those cited in an article titled “The Effect of Separating Children From Their Parents.” For instance, “Studies have shown that if a child suddenly loses a parent, either through death, abandonment, or a prolonged separation, the child experiences intense fear, panic, grief (a combination of sadness and loss), depression, helplessness and hopelessness. The child has lost his lifeline, and often his sense of self. The world, and life, become disorganized and terrifying.”
Such losses are occurring at this very moment. Each time a child is separated from their parent at America’s borders, we are harming the development of that child. While children are innocent, it is what we do (as adults) around them that affects their development. In fact, The American Public Health Association stated that the practice is inhumane and that it would have “a dire impact on their health, both now and into the future.”
We are watching, at this very moment, cruel practices that will cause severe psychological trauma to children.
An article in Fortune titled “Doctors: Trump’s Border Separation Policy Is Causing a ‘Mental Health Crisis’ for Families” takes this head-on. In it, Kevin Kelleher states that, “The APHA (American Public Health Association) said the trauma from such separation could lead to alcoholism, substance abuse, depression, obesity, and suicide. More alarming is the interruption of these children’s chance at achieving a stable childhood.” The APHA continued, “Decades of public health research has shown that family structure, stability and environment are key social determinants of a child’s and the community’s health.” 
Doctors such as Colleen Kraft (president of the American Academy of Pediatrics) agree. In The Washington Post author Kristine Phillips reported on some of Colleen Kraft’s experiences. The first child who caught Dr. Kraft’s attention was “a little girl no older than two, screaming and pounding her fists on a mat.” Although workers tried to calm her down, they could not console her. As Dr. Kraft stated, “as much as she wanted to console the little girl, she couldn’t touch, hold or pick her up to let her know everything would be all right.” Ultimately, they all, “knew what was going on with this child. We all knew what the problem was…she didn’t have her mother, and none of us can fix that.”
These children are being fed. They are getting a place to sleep and even have toys. However, the psychological damage is occurring due to lack of food or a bed or the ability to play. They are being harmed because their parents have been taken and the most basic emotional needs such as being picked up or consoled are not permitted. Dr. Kraft went on to say that the children “are likely to develop what is called toxic stress in their brain once separated from caregivers or parents they trusted. It disrupts a child’s brain development and increases the levels of fight-or-flight hormones in their bodies. This kind of emotional trauma could eventually lead to health problems, such as heart disease and substance abuse disorders.”
For the sake of clarity, let’s outline a few basics on exactly why this is happening. I am currently seeing social media sites bombarded with statements saying that separating children from their parents is a law that is being followed by the current administration. I’ve even read some that said that this law wasn’t even passed by the current administration, but rather went through years ago during the time that President Clinton was in office. Let’s be clear in that there is no law mandating that children and their parents must be separated at the border.
The reason children are being separated from their parents at the United States border is not based on a law. It is based on a policy, and a policy outlines the intentions of a governing party where they intend to do to achieve specific goals. A law sets specific procedures in place that must be adhered to. There is no law stating that it is necessary to separate children from their parents at our borders. In fact, prior administrations, including those of former George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama, have avoided removing parents from children for any lengthy amount of time. From a political perspective, it would have guaranteed a backlash from human rights organizations like what the current administration is experiencing now. From a fiscal perspective, the actions would inevitably create a health crisis devastating to America’s economy. From a humane standpoint, it’s downright cruel and would thus alienate much of the voters a politician hopes to woo.
On PolitiFact, writer Mirian Valverde reported that Peter Margulies, a professor of immigration and national security at Roger Williams University School of Law, explained it this way: “referring immigrants for prosecution is not new policy. But prior administrations did not enforce the practice the way Trump has. Before Trump came into office, families were detained together, sent back immediately or paroled into the country.” He later elaborated, saying, “Prosecutions were rare prior to the Trump administration, partly because they cost a lot of money and are time-consuming. Previous administrations felt broad use of the ‘prosecute-first’ option was needlessly harsh.”
Is this abuse according to American standards? Yes. The US Department of Health and Human Services defines child abuse as follows: “The types of maltreatment defined include physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse.” The U.S. Department of Justice defines emotionally abuse, in part, as forced isolation from family. The headlines that we are all seeing in the news right now are not some sort of oversimplification of abuse on the people attempting to seek asylum and/or immigrate into America. They are parameters that are being pointed out based upon definitions from our own Federal agencies. This policy was enacted by our Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice, a policy that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has described as “zero tolerance,” and it allows any who cross the border illegally to be detained and prosecuted, to include those seeking asylum.
To seek asylum, a person or people must do so while on American soil. However, both those seeking asylum and attempting to immigrate into the United States aren’t being permitted onto American soil, as the borders have been closed. So, if a person fleeing war, human trafficking, et al, wants to seek asylum they have to walk into the United States but will be doing so illegally. In desperation, many seeking asylum do so when official ports are blocked (as many are at this very moment).
Recent reports on how children are being taken make the horror even more unfathomable. For example, in Fortune, Kevin Kelleher further reported that “an infant…was seized from her mother during breastfeeding.” However, trauma is also happening to the adults. A heartbreaking example of this is a Honduran man who entered the US seeking asylum only to later commit suicide after being separated from his wife and child. Jennifer Podkul, director of policy for “Kids in Need of Defense,” stated that a United Nations convention “specifically states asylum seekers should not be criminally prosecuted for entering without documentation because those fleeing persecution often do not have time [or the] ability to get proper authorization before they are forced to flee.”
As a mother, I find it horrific. As a voter, I assure you that I will remember what every single American politician is doing to help (or not help) these children. As an American, I believe that we need to ask ourselves what we are willing to put up with for the premise of safety. When we commit acts against innocent children, it leaves scars on both ourselves and our country, but most importantly on those children.
AG Sessions has admitted that separating parents and children at the border is a deterrent, an elaborate attempt to dissuade immigration. Human beings, many who are innocent children, are currently undergoing severe and long lasting psychological damage to dissuade potential immigrants from seeking freedom on American shores. Is this an America that we can live with?
