Letter: Disgrace at the southern border

Posted 6/19/18

To the editor:

My uncle, Ken Mize, died fighting Nazis in the Battle of the Bulge. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for his heroic actions that day. I am so grateful that he never had …

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Letter: Disgrace at the southern border

Posted

To the editor:

My uncle, Ken Mize, died fighting Nazis in the Battle of the Bulge. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for his heroic actions that day. I am so grateful that he never had to see Nazis in the White House. That we, today, have put people who act like Nazis into the highest offices in the land is to our discredit and our shame.

The Trump administration has enacted a policy decision to separate babies and children from their mothers at the border. They have acknowledged that the intent of this policy is to dissuade refugees from entering the United States. The harm done to these children and their families is more than I can comprehend. Those of you with children: imagine the trauma to them if they had been taken away from you as babies or toddlers, perhaps never to be returned. How many days being panicked and distraught until they would never be quite the same again? Do you think they would be able to fully trust? Do you think they would forever hate the people who did this to them?

Sarah Sanders has the effrontery to claim that the law requires this horror. I call BS. Name the law. And so what if there were such a law? Worthless laws are ignored by law enforcement every day. Whether it is a law or not is beside the point. It is wrong and should not take place.

Jeff Sessions has the temerity to quote a Bible verse incompletely and out of context as a justification for these actions. Why didn't he continue his biblical quotation and read on into Romans 13? Verse 8 and 9 say 'Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet," and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.' Nonetheless, despite the fond wishes of certain of my fellow citizens, the Christian Bible is not a part of our government. Nor is the Koran or the holy book of any other of the 4,200 religions estimated to be practiced on the face of the Earth today. 

Trump, who pretzels the truth or outright lies every time he speaks, has the audacity to blame Democrats. His theory is that if only Democrats would agree to his unacceptable demands regarding immigration reform — including making it harder for refugees to qualify for asylum, allowing immigrants to be detained indefinitely and funding his ridiculous wall — he wouldn't have to separate families. It's like the man who says to his wife "Don't make me hit you again!"

Some people claim "Obama did the same thing!" (as if that would be relevant) and point to a Snopes.com article. But I read the article and it is about temporary facilities used when there was a surge in child migrants. It relates to children who arrived without parents. No children were removed from their parents. I would have demanded that Obama stop the practice immediately too. But he didn't do it. Do you imagine the Republican machine wouldn't have deluged us with attack ads if they knew Obama was taking children from families? Anyway, people who cry "But Obama!" or "But Hillary!" as a way to change the subject make me sick to my stomach.

Some people have said that only families that cross the border illegally are being separated. Let's overlook the fact that CBP agents are sometimes physically preventing people from crossing the border legally to seek asylum. I looked at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services website. It says: "You may apply for asylum regardless of how you arrived in the United States or your current immigration status." I found nothing about "your children may be taken from you, perhaps forever…"

The bottom line is that an inexpressibly cruel and inhuman practice is taking place in our name. Silence equals assent. I hope every one of you reading these words will put down the paper and pick up your phone. Call the White House (202-456-1111) and the Attorney General's office (202-514-2000) to demand that the practice of separating families stop immediately and all separated families be reunited at once.

Sincerely,

Tim Mize

Barrington

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.