On a summer day, when my oldest child was very young (probably two or three years old), I put him in the child seat on my bike and took him for a ride. The weather was fine when we left our house, but after a few minutes it began to rain.
Fortunately, a friend of mine happened by in his car just as the heavens opened. He pulled over, I unbuckled my son from the bike seat, and I handed my little boy to my friend. My son immediately began screaming as I gave him away to a person who to him was a perfect stranger. My friend drove off with his terrified passenger, and I rode my bike as fast as I could behind them in the pouring rain. When I got home, I was drenched, my son was shaking in his mother's arms, and my friend accepted our thanks for rescuing our precious little one from the storm.
In the decades since that ill-fated ride, I never forgot the look of absolute terror in my son's face as I handed him over to a person he didn't know. I knew he would be home in short order, but all he knew was that he was suddenly being separated from his father and delivered to a total stranger who was taking him away. I've never doubted that I did the right thing, but my son's piercing wails still haunt me any time I think back to those brief but, for him, frightful moments.
That memory helps me imagine the terror that is now taking place among parents and children who reportedly are being separated by American immigration agents. Unlike in my story, those very young children are not being removed for their safety, and they will not be reunited quickly with their parents. They are being removed indefinitely, inhumanely, and for political purposes. What haunts me this time is not only that parents and children are being horrifically torn apart, but also that it is happening in the name of my country, by agents of my government.
Through its words and actions, the present Administration invites controversy on more than a daily basis. Sometimes the controversies concern the Administration's long-term agendas, and sometimes they concern near-term harm that its new policies are expected to cause to children and adults within our borders. But this one, this forcible removal of child from parent, this kidnaping (isn't that what it really is?), represents a new red line that no American President, Attorney General, or immigration or law enforcement official should ever have crossed. Whatever one thinks about immigration policy generally, all Americans of every political persuasion should be demanding an immediate end to this inhumane assault on families.
We are better than this.
Fortunately, a friend of mine happened by in his car just as the heavens opened. He pulled over, I unbuckled my son from the bike seat, and I handed my little boy to my friend. My son immediately began screaming as I gave him away to a person who to him was a perfect stranger. My friend drove off with his terrified passenger, and I rode my bike as fast as I could behind them in the pouring rain. When I got home, I was drenched, my son was shaking in his mother's arms, and my friend accepted our thanks for rescuing our precious little one from the storm.
In the decades since that ill-fated ride, I never forgot the look of absolute terror in my son's face as I handed him over to a person he didn't know. I knew he would be home in short order, but all he knew was that he was suddenly being separated from his father and delivered to a total stranger who was taking him away. I've never doubted that I did the right thing, but my son's piercing wails still haunt me any time I think back to those brief but, for him, frightful moments.
That memory helps me imagine the terror that is now taking place among parents and children who reportedly are being separated by American immigration agents. Unlike in my story, those very young children are not being removed for their safety, and they will not be reunited quickly with their parents. They are being removed indefinitely, inhumanely, and for political purposes. What haunts me this time is not only that parents and children are being horrifically torn apart, but also that it is happening in the name of my country, by agents of my government.
Through its words and actions, the present Administration invites controversy on more than a daily basis. Sometimes the controversies concern the Administration's long-term agendas, and sometimes they concern near-term harm that its new policies are expected to cause to children and adults within our borders. But this one, this forcible removal of child from parent, this kidnaping (isn't that what it really is?), represents a new red line that no American President, Attorney General, or immigration or law enforcement official should ever have crossed. Whatever one thinks about immigration policy generally, all Americans of every political persuasion should be demanding an immediate end to this inhumane assault on families.
We are better than this.
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