Trump abuses children for political advantage

For the last 17 years, two presidents — one Republican, one Democrat — established immigration enforcement policies that avoided abusing children and destroying families. President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions deliberately changed these practices in May by announcing what they called their new “Zero Tolerance” policy (“A nation with zero tolerance for children,” June 15). The explicit purpose was to deter and punish immigrants — many seeking legal asylum from murder, rape and horrific conditions in their homeland — by targeting children and families. The results on the ground of this Trump policy show that 100 percent of the families are being prosecuted, and 100 percent of the families are being ripped apart. This policy was imposed by the executive branch and can be corrected by a telephone call from the president.

The president knows this truth, yet he is shamelessly trying to shift the blame to Democrats and gain political advantage by pretending nothing can be done to solve this humanitarian crisis unless the Democrats capitulate to all of his legislative demands, including a southern border wall, which neither Republicans nor Democrats want.

The reaction to this policy is surprisingly bipartisan. Former and current Republican first ladies, Republican and Democratic politicians, religious leaders and child health care experts all agree that “Zero Tolerance” should apply to this cruel and evil un-American Trump policy that uses child abuse for political advantage.

This policy is unacceptable in the land of the free and the home of the brave, and should be reversed immediately.