Yet, a tactic that forcibly separates kids from families fleeing countries because of violence and oppression is not the right answer, and is morally wrong and contrary to America’s foundational values. More than 2,300 children have been taken from their parents at the United States-Mexico border and detained since early May, according to U.S. Border Patrol numbers cited by The Associated Press.
Importantly, the overwhelming revulsion to that policy has come from people who aren’t often politically aligned these days.
Opposition by the nation’s five living first ladies, both Democrats and Republicans, exemplified the diversity of the backlash against the family separations caused by the administration’s “zero tolerance” border crossing policy.
Rosalynn Carter recalled a visit to Thailand during her husband Jimmy’s presidency, when she encountered children separated from their parents while fleeing war in Cambodia. “The practice and policy today of removing children from their parents’ care at our border with Mexico is disgraceful and a shame to our country,” Carter told the Washington Post. Laura Bush said the current situation was “immoral.”
The response from many faith leaders, some of whom staunchly support Trump, included some agreement, too. Franklin Graham, who’s supported Trump’s presidency, told the Christian Broadcasting Network, the border separations were “disgraceful — it is terrible to see families ripped apart. And I don’t support that one bit.” The leadership team of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-ofthe- Woods in Vigo County urged an end to the practice, which they called “abhorrent and inhumane.”
Several Republicans in Congress joined Democrats in condemning the practice.
Finally, Trump signed an executive order Wednesdayto end the separation of kids from families at the border, after insisting that only Congress could do so. As he signed it, the president said what