Monday, July 2, 2018

What's Wrong with the "Zero Tolerance" Immigration Policy

Everything. Thousands of children are being detained, separated from their parents because they crossed the US-Mexico border illegally. Does that sit right? Laura Bush even compared it to the Japanese-American internment during World War II. A CNN article describes one story of how one family from Guatemala was constantly threatened by gangs because they had a lot of money (for Guatemala, at least). The mother in the family and her 10-month-old son crossed the border on May 1st, before the "zero tolerance" immigration policy was passed. They were detained for a week, but then released. When her husband and 7-year-old daughter left on May 8th, both were detained. The 7-year-old soon began complaining of tooth pain, but the workers at the detainment center in Michigan only spoke English. Her mother, a nurse, tried to explain that she could help her daughter, but nobody would listen. When they were reunited, days later, her mother said, "The laws here are harsh. And people don't have hearts ... People dream of coming here, to save their lives, but I don't what[sic] them to experience what I've gone through" (CNN). If you're American, vote for those who defend families separated at the border in your elections, and then maybe we can actually get somewhere in changing things. 

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