Gov. wrong to back family separation policy
Without their parents for support and safety, migrant children suffer high stress and trauma
President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy to criminally prosecute anyone unlawfully crossing our southern border causes children to be separated from their families. It is a devastating human tragedy that promises to leave these children with deep emotional and mental scars for life. All of us in New Mexico, leaders and ordinary citizens alike, being on the doorstep of where this is taking place, have an absolute obligation to raise our voices in strong opposition. Unfortunately, our governor has endorsed Trump’s inhumane policy and should be called to account.
Thanks to the enormous public outrage at his policy of ripping children away from their parents at the border, the president backed down to a degree. But make no mistake, his new executive order allegedly rescinding the separation policy does not go nearly far enough. Over 2,300 migrant children, including infants and toddlers, apparently will remain in congregate care — sometimes in fenced-in cages, as shown by the media — far from their parents and families.
To try to get some answers, I made the short drive myself down to Tornillo, Texas, last week to the federal holding facility where hundreds of unaccompanied migrant boys are being detained. I saw the prison-like atmosphere and the makeshift tents lined up in rows with portable air conditioning units in the 100-degree desert heat. I wondered what the children inside must be experiencing.
As an advocate for people struggling with mental health issues in New Mexico, I am seriously concerned about the scars that traumatic separation from their families, carried out by U.S. border officials, will leave on these children for the rest of their lives. Much is already known.
Study after study shows that prolonged separation from parents causes long-term damage, both physical and mental. The chance for children in these circumstances to live productive and happy lives is significantly reduced by their experience. The leading causes of death — heart, lung and liver disease, as well as alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide, are all powerfully linked to the kind of separation occurring on the southern border today. Without the presence of their parents for safety and support, children suffer high stress that causes a lifetime of continual, experienced trauma, or PTSD-like symptoms.
Will we see all these children later in our mental health institutions when they turn up with severe problems being created today?
How bad is this policy? All four living former First Ladies have publicly condemned it, calling the practice “immoral,” “disgraceful” and a “humanitarian crisis.” The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, and the United Nations human rights office, among others, have all called for an immediate end to the policy and its practice.
Gov. Susana Martinez is seen reading to young children frequently, but where is she when they really need help? She did grave harm to the behavioral health system of care in our state when she shut down 15 providers in 2013. We are still living with it. That experience should have made her more sensitive to the effects of the separation policy she now has endorsed. It is frankly appalling. New Mexico’s leaders should condemn, not applaud the Trump policy. It makes one wonder about her motivations.
I respect good immigration laws, and I hope we will work really hard to get better laws. But we must also protect migrant children from trauma and harm in the process. Our nation desperately needs humane, bipartisan reform that protects our borders but rejects the cruel practice of the so-called ‘zero-tolerance’ policy. It is wrong to use children as pawns.