Do No Harm
The world is a very different place today. Many times, I do not
recognize it.
The United States is a very different country today. Many times, I
do not recognize it at all.
There are so many things that are wrong with the United States in
this moment that I don’t even know where to start.
On second thought….
On November 8, 2016 the Electoral College of the United States of
America elected a reality TV show host to be the “President” of the United
States. This person has a history of racism, sexual assault towards women, and
a nationalist belief system. His personal demagoguery has become the battle cry
of his party. Now women, children, those who are not the same color as him, people not born in the United States, have all become a target.
The "President" has referred to Mexican citizens as rapists and murderers. He recently made a remark about immigrants infesting the United States. These views have brought on a human rights crisis that hasn’t happened in the United States since World War II.
The "President" has referred to Mexican citizens as rapists and murderers. He recently made a remark about immigrants infesting the United States. These views have brought on a human rights crisis that hasn’t happened in the United States since World War II.
In May of this year, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced
a “Zero Tolerance Policy” for anyone entering the U.S. border at Mexico. This
meant that the United States began prosecuting everyone that came across the
border. That also meant that men were separated from women, and, in a stunning
policy change, children were separated from their parents.
One by one, children began being ripped away from their parents,
and taken to detention facilities. Within the facilities, the lights were never
turned off. Children were given a mat to lie on, and a solar sheet as a
blanket.
Journalists were able to capture one photo of one little girl
whose parents were stopped by border officers.
As it turns out, this girl was never separated from her parents.
Still, this image was representative of the horror of thousands of children
separated from their parents. The image had such an impact on the country that it has been adapted for the latest cover of Time magazine:
It has been hard to go into these detention facilities to take
photos or videos. Recent audio files have been leaked from inside the
facilities, which is heartbreaking and disturbing to hear.
As for the younger children in detention, babies and children up
to age ten, that had been taken from their parents, would transported to
“tender age shelters.” Three of these shelters already exist; they are
currently building a fourth.
When asked about this zero tolerance policy, and about kidnapping
children at U.S. borders, the “President” wrote on Twitter:
“It is the Democrats fault for being weak and infective with
Boarder Security and crime. Tell them to start thinking about the people devastated
by Crime coming in from illegal immigration. Change the laws!”
(I must point out that the word “Boarder” was misspelled. The
correct spelling of the word is: “Border.”)
A week later, the “President” spoke again on the crisis:
“I hate the children being taken away…The Democrats have to change
their law — that’s their law.”
The “President” looked to Congress to pass legislation to renounce
this heinous practice of abducting children at our borders. He remarked that
the crisis could not be resolved through an executive order.
I must point out that the “zero tolerance policy”, and the practice of abducting children, came directly from the White House. This was a White House decision, announced and enforced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
I must point out that the “zero tolerance policy”, and the practice of abducting children, came directly from the White House. This was a White House decision, announced and enforced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
An outcry arose throughout the country to put a stop to this.
People angrily shouted, “This is not America.” “This is not what we do here.”
“Other regimes around the world kidnap children. We don’t kidnap children.”
However, the country was reminded of our putting Japanese
Americans in internment camps in World War II. Actor and activist George Takei
was a prisoner in an internment camp during the war. He spoke on the
parallels:
“…‘in one core, horrifying way, this is worse.’ At least during
the internment, Takei and other children were able to stay with their families,
he wrote. His parents told him they were ‘going on a vacation to live with the
horsies.’ When they were moved to a mosquito-infested camp in rural Arkansas,
his parents ‘put themselves between us and the horror,’ Takei said. ‘At least
during the internment, we remained a family, and I credit that alone for
keeping the scars of our unjust imprisonment from deepening on my soul,’ Takei
wrote. In some ways, what’s going on now with migrant families is very
different from the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Notably, most of those forced into internment camps — 70 percent — were
U.S. citizens.”
As news reached other countries, thousands around the world spoke
out against this policy. Every living former First Lady spoke out about this
policy:
“When I was first lady, I worked to call attention to the plight
of refugees fleeing Cambodia for Thailand. I visited Thailand and witnessed
firsthand the trauma of parents and children separated by circumstances beyond
their control. 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.”-Rosalynn Carter
“What’s happening to families at the border right now is a
humanitarian crisis. Every parent who has ever held a child in their arms,
every human being with a sense of compassion and decency, should be
outraged.”-Hillary Clinton
“I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and
protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel.
It is immoral. And it breaks my heart.”
-Laura Bush
-Laura Bush
“Sometimes truth transcends party.”-Michelle Obama
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, denounced this
policy:
“…what’s going on in the United States is wrong….I can’t imagine
what the families living through this are enduring. Obviously, this is not the
way we do things in Canada…”
The United Nations made a statement against the United States,
condemning its actions:
“The United Nations called on the United States on Tuesday to stop
detaining irregular migrant families and separating children on its frontier
with Mexico, saying this broke the law. ‘The U.S. should immediately halt this
practice of separating families and stop criminalizing what should at most be
an administrative offense – that of irregular entry or stay in the U.S.,' U.N.
human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a briefing in Geneva.”
Days later, in what was seen as a selfish and childish tit for
tat, the United States left the U.N. Human Rights Council.
His Holiness, Pope Francis, also made a statement condemning this
zero tolerance policy:
“Speaking to Reuters, the Pope said he supported recent statements
by U.S. Catholic bishops who called the separation of children from their
parents ‘contrary to our Catholic values’ and ‘immoral’.”
Pope Francis later wrote on Twitter:
“A person's dignity does not depend on them being a citizen, a
migrant, or a refugee. Saving the life of someone fleeing war and poverty is an
act of humanity. #WithRefugees”
While the children were being ripped away from their parents, what
happened to their parents? Many are being held awaiting a hearing. At the
hearings in the court, men are being tried as a group, for the crime of
entering the U.S. illegally.
“….The courtroom was filled with exhausted immigrants, with hands
cuffed and shackled to their waists, their legs in chains — dozens of
defendants stumbling, shuffling, clanking, and clanging in tandem. ‘Raise your
right hand,’ Morgan commanded as a translator spoke Spanish into their
headphones. The shackled defendants struggled to comply…."
The practice of separating children from their parents, while
unconscionable, is torturous. Human rights organizations have spoken out on the
matter:
“...organizations such as Amnesty International have
argued that this policy change is inhumane, and it is. But evidence from
developmental neuroscience suggests it is more than inhumane. It’s also, by
definition, torture. Under federal law, which adopts the United Nations
definition, torture is:
‘any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether
physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as…punishing
him or her for an act he or she or a third person…has committed or is suspected
of having committed.’
And though in theory any action inflicting such
suffering is banned, that is what is inflicted by separating parents and
children in border detention.”
Torture is specifically admonished in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, written in 1948.
“Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
Also pertinent to immigrant detention, article 9 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights:
“Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest,
detention or exile.”
This has had a profound effect on the parents and children alike. Yesterday,
New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood, filed a lawsuit against the
“President” and his separation of families. In her statement, AG Underwood
shared the story of a young man who attempted suicide in a fit of
despair:
"….a South American boy who was separated from his father at
the Mexican border was rushed to the hospital because he was about to jump out
of the second-story window of the group home where he was sent in early June
after being forcibly separated from his family; the distraught child verbalized
that he wanted to jump because he missed his parents. Twelve other young
immigrant children who were separated from their parents at the border have
been treated for physical and mental illnesses at New York City hospitals. One
child was suicidal and others were treated for depression and anxiety.”
After months of the United States inflicting torture on detained
immigrants and refugees, and after weeks of world outcry, after insisting there
was nothing he could do on the matter, the “President” signed an executive
order on June 20, 2018 to immediately stop separating children from their
parents while they await trial.
Now the arduous task of reuniting abducted children with their
parents has begun. This is easier said than done, as many parents have already
been found guilty of entering the U.S. illegally and have been deported. For
the children that remain in custody, many are too young to know their parent’s
names. That is but one of the challenges ahead:
“Connecting families presents an enormous challenge because once
they are detained at the border, children and parents enter two separate
systems: for parents, the US Department of Homeland Security and criminal
prosecution; meanwhile, children are classified as an ‘unaccompanied alien
child’ and transferred to the US Department of Health and Human Services. ‘We
are dealing with several agencies all trying to coordinate in a disastrous
way,” said Zenén Jaimes Pérez from the Texas Civil Rights Project, which
provides legal counsel to immigrant families. Some parents have struggled to
find their children, some of whom are being flown to shelters around the country.
With no clear process in place, it’s possible some families will never be
reunited.”
An article in the New York Times dated June 24, 2018 reported that
500 children had been reunited with their parents. Thousands more await their
reunions.
“While adults were sent to jail or indefinite detention, more than
2,300 children were separated and sent to government-licensed shelters or
temporary foster care.”
Forcing children away from their parents is said to have had, and
will continue to have, psychological ramifications on parents and children
alike. Reuniting parents and children can also prove damaging.
“On Friday in The New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Fiona
Danaher, a pediatrician at MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston, warned
that traumatic experiences like those experienced by migrants could lead to
‘changes in physiology that promote physical and mental illness throughout the
life course.’ The effects can be felt for generations…."
Yesterday, a federal judge ordered that children that have been taken into U.S. custody must be reunited with their parents:
“The court order specifically requires federal officials to stop
detaining parents apart from their minor children, absent a determination the
parent is unfit or the parent declines reunification; reunify all parents with
their minor children who are under the age of 5 within 14 days and reunify all
parents with their minor children age 5 and older within 30 days. The order
also mandates that officials provide parents contact with their children by
phone within 10 days, if the parent is not already in contact with his or her
child.”
Reuniting the children with their parents will be cumbersome at
best. The administration reports that more than 2,000 children were separated,
and are now being held “…at more than
100 sites in 17 states.”
Once the families are reunited, what happens then? The government
is building “austere detention camps” to house families until their trials. The
families could be there a matter of days, or indefinitely.
Time magazine reports that there are:
“…plans to build “temporary and austere” tent cities to house
25,000 migrants at abandoned airfields just outside the Florida panhandle near
Mobile, Alabama, at Navy Outlying Field Wolf in Orange Beach, Alabama, and
nearby Navy Outlying Field Silverhill. The memo also proposes a camp for as
many as 47,000 people at former Naval Weapons Station Concord, near San
Francisco; and another facility that could house as many as 47,000 people at
Camp Pendleton, the Marines’ largest training facility located along the
Southern California coast. The planning memo proposes further study of housing
an undetermined number of migrants at the Marine Corps Air Station near Yuma,
Arizona.”
In recent days, the “President” made a statement in favor of
deporting people immediately upon their entry into the United States:
“We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country. When
somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring
them back from where they came. Our system is a mockery to good immigration
policy and Law and Order.”
This cannot happen. It is against the Constitution of the United
States. Omar Jadwat, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s
Immigrants’ Rights Project, made this rebuttal:
“What President Trump has suggested here is both illegal and
unconstitutional. Any official who has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution
and laws should disavow it unequivocally.”
Why was this done? Why would someone intentionally adopt this
policy of zero tolerance? The answer is simple: to deter others from entering
the United States.
“The Trump administration's zero-tolerance policy that has
resulted in thousands of family separations at the border hasn't deterred
immigrants from trying to enter the country illegally, despite the
administration's predictions that it would, internal Department of Homeland
Security documents obtained by CNN show.”
Where does that leave us? It leaves us a divided nation, a divided
world. There are those that strongly agree with what the “President” is doing.
However, the majority of us in the United States do not agree with this in any
way shape or form.
Thoughts drift to all of the politicians that are standing behind
the current “President” and doing his bidding. Of course, others are in
opposition to the “President” and everything he stands for, and are out there
fighting for the U.S. as we know it, trying to do the right thing.
I titled this piece “Do No Harm.” When a physician takes the
Hippocratic Oath, this key phrase is one of the tenets of the oath. If
you are a physician, you swear to not do anything that would intentionally harm
your patients.
Likewise, I believe that, as a politician that takes an oath of
office, part of that oath should be a pledge to “Do no harm.”
Of course, I am a realist. I know that some will have a different
definition, or perhaps interpretation of the word “harm.” Many could write the
laws and create policies to cater to their belief systems. Just as the
“President” has done.
When I cast my vote for a candidate for public office, I am giving
my support for that person and their policies, as well as the belief that that
person will do no harm do their constituents. That shouldn’t be too radical a
thought or expectation.
Make no mistake, there has been countless harm done by this
“President.” In the specific issue of the intentional separation of children
from their parents, the harm has been done. It may be irreparable. It cannot be
undone.
Once a populous has seen that harm has been done, it is incumbent
upon them to right the wrong. That is what made the “President” reverse his
stance on separating children at the border-the insistence and indignation of the nation and the
world in response to these human rights violations.
To my fellow Americans, midterm elections are coming up this
November, Please investigate the people running for office in your state, town
and jurisdiction. Where do they stand on this issue? Where do they stand on
human rights issues?
We must be better than this. We as a people, as a nation, must be
better than this.
In addition to preserving, protecting, defending the Constitution
of the United States, all lawmakers, legislators, public servants, we as a people,
as a nation, must resolve to do no harm.
To help with this human rights crisis, please consult the following organizations:
-ACLU-American Civil Liberties Union: https://www.aclu.org/donate-aclu
-RAICES-the
Refugee And Immigrant Center for Education and legal Services
-TCRP-Texas
Civil Rights Project
To volunteer your time:
-SPLC-Southern Poverty Law Center
To volunteer your time, pro bono attorney work, or translation services:
-The
Florence Project
© Esperanza Habla All Rights Reserved
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