U.S. actions have led refugees to our borders

THE ADMINISTRATION is engaged in immoral and un-American actions separating children from parents as they come to our borders to seek asylum and safety for their families here in the United States. It is said this a bargaining chip to get funds from Congress to build the president’s southern border wall.

... I recall when I was a young child watching as a police officer somewhere in our southern states disobeyed a similar order of a superior to unleash his police “attack” dog on a group of young African-Americans protesting segregation. He simply looked at the dog on its hind legs pulling the leash ever taut and knew in his mind he would be crossing a line of decency that would have haunted him forever. Not only did he disregard the order, he initiated the movement that caused his fellow officers to question and disregard the order. Obedience to authority was only necessary in following morally justified orders . ...

It is our very society and the inequities in opportunities we have allowed to flourish in our communities that are responsible for so much of the anarchy and violence in Latin America. Our abandonment of our children’s education, safety and opportunities has led to the drugs and human trafficking of our neighbors’ children. That is why these families are forced to make an exodus from their homes and come to our borders . ... Perhaps you, too, can see a great-grandparent, grandparent or parent in their faces. Let us unite in opposition to this injustice. Let not our nation feel the permanent stain on its soul from these so un-American actions.

JIM GANNON Rio Rancho