Families Belong Together

At the southern border between the US and Mexico children are being separated from their families by the government. It is reprehensible, terrifying, and extremely sad. And it makes me think about my children. The government removed them from their original families. They were taken away without their consent and placed somewhere else with people they didn’t know. They are never going back to live with their biological families. Of course there are vast differences between my children and the children being confined at the border. My children were determined to be in danger with their biological families, for one. Yet, they were still allowed to see their families and their families had ways to reunite with their children. My children were taken with the purpose of reunification. Their parents retained their parental rights and were not themselves detained. Do the immigrant parents have the expectation of reunification with their children? It doesn’t seem they are granted visitation since in some instances their children are moved thousands of miles away from them. I guess, for me, when I see people decrying the plight of these families (and don’t get me wrong, I think people should be outraged by the treatment of immigrant families) I can’t help but thinking why they don’t fret for children in their own communities who are removed from their families. Do they think the government never gets it wrong and all children in foster care deserve to be removed from their parents and families of origin? Removing children from their families is not something that should ever be easy or taken lightly. Callously ripping families apart because they crossed an imaginary line on the ground should never be permitted. Should there be safety guards to ensure the children aren’t being trafficked? Yes, I think that would be important. But, for the vast majority of the children, their parents are trying to make their lives better. They did not travel thousands of miles through dangerous conditions simply to put their lives and the lives of their children at risk. They are trying to find a way to a better life. Having lived the experience of helping someone immigrate to this country, I know how expensive and confusing it can be. The entire system needs a massive overhaul so that the steps to take are more clearly laid out. In the meantime, families need to be reunited and incoming families need to remain intact.

 

In the news I have been reading, there has been a shift in the types of immigrants crossing the border. Previously, it was men traveling alone coming to the US to earn money they could send back to their struggling families. Now, there are more whole families or single parents traveling with their children. And these families are coming from Central America whereas the previous immigrants were mostly coming from Mexico. I can’t speak for all Central American countries, but I know right now in Nicaragua the government is lashing out at the young people and anyone willing to protest governmental decisions or their President/Dictator Daniel Ortega. I’m not sure of the current statistics, but a few years ago Honduras, Nicaragua’s northern neighbor, was rated as one of the most dangerous countries in the world and El Salvador (also a neighboring country to Nicaragua) was also incredibly dangerous with gangs demanding bribes to keep families and businesses “safe” from other gangs. If I were living in fear every day that my children could be killed just for walking to school or playing outside, I would do whatever I could to get us out of that situation.  I think any parent would do the same thing. I simply cannot imagine thinking I’ve reached safety only to have my children torn from my arms, not knowing when or if I will see them again.

 

I don’t have any concrete answers to the problem. I understand the need for a country to know who is entering their territory but I feel like so much humanity is lost in the politics of it all. The bottom line is, families belong together. And compassion goes a long, long way in helping another human being to not feel stripped of their humanity.