So, what if, 100 years ago, the immigration authorities at Ellis Island routinely separated parents from children (they didn’t) as they entered, and assumed that anyone who was trying to enter the US was from the worst part of humanity and needed to be kept out? And parents were put in distant jails or camps while children were detained in facilities in the area. And then, a year or two later, someone charged with reuniting families discovers that they had records of the children but no records of the parents who were sent away. Even with the beginning of restrictions being placed on immigration 100 years ago by lawmakers with anti-immigrant and isolationist attitudes back then (much like some leaders today), it seems that they did a good job of keeping records. The fact that 545 children cannot be reunited with their parents reveals a breakdown in such record keeping. It may also reflect a disdain for asylum seekers as unworthy of human consideration. This is certainly where some people are now in our country. One of my FB friends had recently posted something about how one party wants “open” illegal immigration (NOT TRUE) and the other party wants legal immigration. For the party in power, it’s not about legal immigration only. It’s about LITTLE TO NO immigration, as far as I can tell from executive orders and other suggested rules and legislation. We have been enriched as a nation by immigrants. Vote in a way that such historical enrichment will not come to an abrupt end.
And pray for the reunion of these children with their parents.
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