Splitting Up Families: A Heartless Migrant Policy

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/opinion/migrants-families.html

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To the Editor:

Re “White House Weighs Separating Families to Deter Migrants” (news article, Dec. 22):

The Trump administration’s plan to separate families caught entering the country illegally is not only cruel, but also runs counter to the tenets of sound, compassionate child welfare practice developed over decades. Doing everything possible to avoid unnecessary removal of children from parents is considered vital because it is in children’s best interest and because it makes fiscal sense.

For children who must be separated for safety reasons, every effort should be made to place them with families. Child welfare systems everywhere are reducing their reliance on residential care because institutions are no place for children to live even briefly and because they are extremely costly.

Simple humanity tells us that children and families who have endured the fears and dangers of fleeing their homes owing to poverty and violence will suffer lifelong trauma if also subjected to the destruction of the family unit. As a society we will be judged by how we treat the most vulnerable among us, and the draconian policy being contemplated here betrays a decidedly un-American heartlessness.

SUSAN NOTKIN, WASHINGTON

The writer is senior vice president, Center for the Study of Social Policy.