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Mayim MishegaasMayim Mishegaas

Separating children from their parents is indefensible

Mayim is deeply affected by the plight of migrant children
By Mayim Bialik     Published on 06/18/2018 at 2:37 PM EDT
A child stands on a pavement adorned with chalk drawings at the El Chaparral U.S.-Mexico border crossing, in Tijuana, Mexico, Wednesday, May 2, 2018, where the caravan of Central Americans seeking asylum in the United States have set up camp. AP Photo/Hans-Maximo Musielik

There is something going on at the border of this country that should not be going on. And it makes me furious. And sad. I am devastated by it and I don’t know what to do about it.

I understand that President Trump and the Republicans are trying to be strict about illegal border crossings. I don’t necessarily know what to do with those seeking asylum here and trying to cross the border illegally, but that’s not my issue right now. Because I’m not a politician.

What I am is a citizen. There are families fleeing persecution, poverty, and despair. They have a right to look for a better life with their children. Families are showing up at our borders by the thousands. And at this time, 2000 children have been separated from their parents while their parents undergo “processing” and scrutiny and legal rigmarole.

Our government’s has decided to secure the border by separating children from their parents. It’s disgusting. They take these young children: toddlers, nursing children, babies – and they put them in detention. In facilities where The New York Times recently reported children wail for hours for parents that they can not see. No one knows what to tell them. The parents may be sent to jail or to a processing center and the best that we can do in a supposedly free, democratic society – one built on the backs of immigrants and slaves – is to separate children from their parents like this?

The cruelty sends chills down my spine. My heart hurts, as I recall having young babies and nursing toddlers and how I would have felt like you were pulling my guts out with a crowbar if you took them from me. I think I would lose my mind if you separated me from my children like this. Is this the price they must pay for trying to enter our country?

I know there are lawyers and politicians trying to figure out what to do here, and I admit that I write this with anger, pain, and bitterness. This can not go on. 2000 children are being held separated from their parents and it is not right.

What can we do? I feel so helpless. And my heart will continue to break until this administration begins acting like decent humans beings instead of robots. It’s times like this when I wonder what lies ahead.

UPDATED: Grok Nation has compiled ways you can help these families separated at the border—both with your money and your time. Read what you can do now.

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