Where are the children?

Re: “Colorado armchair activist takes on border atrocity,” July 8 commentary

Diane Carman provides an eye-opening ac- count of the sickening conditions at our borders as children of all ages are separated from their parents detained at the border and are shipped under armed guard to destinations unknown and unmonitored. At this time, around 3,000-4,000 have been removed from their parents and are kept in fenced holding pens, child-care facilities, tents and worse. Few of these parents know where their children are, and few have had direct contact. Our government has admitted recently that these children may also be turned over to long-term foster care without their parents’ consent!

After the initial flurry of news stories about these sorry conditions devised and carried out by the Trump administration, predictably, subsequent attention has waned (Diane Carman’s column was the only mention of this topic in the entire Sunday Denver Post). This lack of coverage serves the Trump administration well, as it bumbles its way to deny and coverup these atrocities, that in most civilized countries would be considered crimes against humanity.

We know that separating children from their parents leaves emotional scars that will last their lifetimes. In these unmonitored, unknown and poorly supervised holding facilities, we know that conditions are ripe for physical, mental and sexual abuse. The enforced secrecy that the administration shrouds over this operation makes such abuse even more likely. It may take some time and dogged determination by journalists and whistle-blowers until evidence for such abuse comes to light. Although the Trump administration will get the deserved blame, all of us share in the shame of allowing this catastrophe to happen on our watch. It is crucial that the media, as well as all of us, make sure that these children are not forgotten! Peter Raich, Dillon