Letter: Trump’s immigration policy violates human rights

Published 1:30 am Friday, June 15, 2018

Editor,

Trump’s new immigration policy is even worse than previously thought. Since May 7, they are inflicting pain on children, thinking this will deter their parents from seeking asylum here. They do not take into account where these asylum seekers came from and the abuses and poverty they are trying to escape.

Sen. Jeff Merkley went to the southern border to see for himself what was going on. Unfortunately, he was not allowed to see much, but what he did see was horrendous! Many are left waiting on a bridge, in the heat, for more than a week. When allowed in for their interview, in a cyclone fenced area, the children are taken from parents and held longer that the official 72 hours. The kids are kept in “cages” with a space blanket, no mattress, in an old Walmart. There is overcrowding, a figure of over 11,000 was put out there.

This “policy” was put in effect so quickly with so little thought, there is bound to be problems. How do we know what care these kids are getting? Are they getting food and use of a bathroom? Does anyone tell them what is going on, when they will see their parents again? We have heard that ICE “lost” 1,500 children and did not know where they were sent and have not been found? Have they been located now? We need to know! This whole situation is shocking, inhumane and outrageous. Our ancestors were always treated well when seeking asylum. How can we allow this to go on? The UN is right, the Trump administration is violating these children’s human rights. This is not our America!

Nancy Mayer

Freeland