Concern for immigrant children

The Trump administration has done many things that are inconsistent with traditional American values, but separating children from their parents and incarcerating both crosses a line that no one with a heart should cross.

I have been a clinical social worker for more than 40 years, and I know the damage — some of it irreversible — that prematurely breaking the parent-child bond can cause. A child’s brain is in the process of development, and ripping away attachment figures, especially in a strange environment where people speak a different language, can cause severe emotional, cognitive and behavioral problems.

These are the sorts of wounds that develop in combat zones and massive natural disasters. Such behavior is not only inhumane, but it’s also shameful.

This administration is attempting to deter parents from requesting political asylum by essentially holding a gun to their children’s heads. Then they are telling political opponents (both Democrat and Republican) that they will hurt innocent children “unless you play ball with us.” Despicable!

Ron Langer, Greenwood Village

I am not a biblical scholar, but I am quite sure that the phrase “suffer the children” does not mean what Trump and his minions think it means.

James Whiteside, Denver

I’m sure people can find dozens of Bible verses in answer to the attempt by Jeff Sessions to biblically justify the Trump administration’s policy toward immigrant children, but the one that occurs to me is Matthew 19:14: “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” John 11:35 also comes to mind as I watch many in the once honorable Republican party attempt to cloak their dishonorable acts with Christian morality: “Jesus wept.”

David Forsyth, Denver