Family separations at border stir controversy
Citizens gathered outside the Capitol Building this summer to protest the Trump Administration’s immigration policies.
November 6, 2018
Between April 18 and May 31, nearly 2,000 children were separated from their parents at the border, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The dilemma has incited a question that many have been debating for months: Who is at fault— families crossing the border illegally or the U.S. government?
Immigrants crossing the border have been an issue for quite some time now, and many policies have been enforced to try to prevent this from continuing. Beyond immigrants crossing the border, there is yet another issue at hand. Children of immigrants are being separated from their parents and they are not always reunited.
Armando Castillo, Spanish teacher, said, “Separating a child, an infant, from 2-6 years of age from their parents for extended periods of time causes psychological damage, and any child therapist in the world will tell you it is so.”
There is much controversy surrounding the situation, whereas there is no actual law saying prosecuted, which leads to children being taken from their parents until they are released. Alleged child abuse has stirred that families must be separated. However, there is a policy that states all undocumented immigrants must be criminally the controversy and outrage even more. In late July of this year, two workers at a migrant children center in Arizona were arrested on charges of child molestation and child abuse.
The allegations involving the two men came shortly after First Lady Melania Trump’s visit to the border in Arizona. The issue with much of this is that people tend to jump to conclusions (on both sides) and don’t consider investigating further information on the issue.
The reality is that there are different facilities used for holding the separated children— those that are administered by the state or ones that are privately funded, which is where the abuse allegations come from.
Jeff Isola ’98, AP Government and U.S History teacher, said, “Nobody wants to see parents separated from children, but at the same time, we also want to be a nation of laws and that we enforce those laws.”
