Stop punishing children for the sins of their parents

Between April 19 and May 31, nearly 2,000 children have been forcibly separated from their parents at the Mexico-U.S. border. They were sent, and remain for the most part, in detention centres and foster care.

They are the children of migrants seeking to enter America illegally.

You can argue over whether forcible confinement is a reasonable response to people who are, for the most part, only seeking to find better lives. But the fact is, countries do have the right to open, close and control their borders.

But this interpretation of border-control policy takes a whole new step too far. This abhorrent practice stems from Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ insistence that authorities adopt a zero-tolerance policy when prosecuting people for violating immigration laws. That means that adults accused of trying to enter the U.S. illegally are prosecuted to fullest extent of the law, including being detained in jail-like facilities.

But thanks to a 1997 court decision, children of illegal migrants must be held in the least restrictive facility available. In other words, these kids — 100 of whom are younger than four years old — cannot be detained along with their parents in maximum security facilities. And that, in the eyes of the current White House administration, means they must be separated from their parents.

How’s that for irony. A legal precedent intended to protect children from being detained in inhumane conditions actually results in even more inhumane treatment of the same kids.

Based on public reaction since this story began to gain momentum, it’s clear many Americans — quite probably a majority — don’t support this cruel and unusual treatment of innocent children. Their president, however, does.

“The United States will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee-holding facility — not on my watch,” said Trump from the White House, defending the forced separations. “A country without borders is not a country at all.”

What does that make a country that intentionally inflicts emotional cruelty on children?

The detention facilities tend to be repurposed large buildings, like big box stores. Colleen Kraft, who leads the American Academy of Pediatrics, visited one. She reports that there are beds, toys and crayons. There are diaper changes. And there is a playground.

But staff at the facilities are instructed not to pick up or touch the children to comfort them. Children, many in diapers, are cut off from adult contact after being ripped from their families. How even Donald Trump can defend this is a mystery.

His wife cannot. She has said America must be a nation that “governs with heart.”

Former first lady Laura Bush put it this way: “Americans pride ourselves on being a moral nation, on being the nation that sends humanitarian relief to places devastated by natural disaster or famine or war. We pride ourselves on believing that people should be judged for the content of their character, not the colour of their skin. We pride ourselves on acceptance. If we are truly that country, then it is our obligation to reunite these detained children with their parents — and to stop separating parents and children in the first place.”

Amen.

It’s clear many Americans — quite probably a majority — don’t support this cruel and unusual treatment of innocent children. Their president, however, does.