Seeking Freedom

     Over the last several weeks I have been able to visit my father, step-mother, and all 10 of my siblings. Additionally, I saw 16 of my 22 nieces and nephews, and 4 of the 5 great-nieces and nephews. All of my siblings live in Wisconsin extending from Green Bay to Oshkosh, Milwaukee to Madison, Watertown, Janesville, Juneau and on the farm near Lowell. I enjoyed hearing about their family activities.

     My freedom to move about the country to visit loved ones was in sharp contrast to the recent experience of those seeking asylum in the United States. Families primarily from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras have arrived at the border seeking to escape violence. Their freedom to move is greatly limited. Because Mexico is not their home country, they attempt to enter the U.S. as quickly as possible; however, if they do not cross at border stations, they are arrested for illegal entry and their children taken from them. The adults were charged, prosecuted, and often deported within weeks. This had been a new policy which President Trump and his administration enacted about 2 months ago.

     While the adults were detained, the children were placed in temporary facilities awaiting placement with foster families. Reports have emerged about how babies, toddlers, and other children of “tender age” were placed in these shelters, some caged within cyclone fences. The care-givers were limited with regard to touch and holding these small children, something that is required at that vulnerable age and which is natural to parents. The long-term effects of the separation for these children have yet to be seen, but earlier cases show that the trauma of separation from parents is significantly negative and long-lasting

     As I write this article, Pres. Trump has signed an executive order to end this policy which resulted in family separation. Earlier he and other officials had said that an executive order was not possible. Meanwhile, on a daily basis, up to 70 children were being separated from their families, around 2,300 total. The significant question now is how to unite parents and children. Some of the parents already have been deported without the financial means to return and search for their children.

     I encourage you not to judge and condemn the parents who have brought the children to our borders. Instead, do some reading about the conditions from which they come. Read about their reasons and the decisions that parents are making for their vulnerable children. Remember the history of the U.S. and our pride in inviting immigrants as on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore…”

Peace, Fr. Andy