Our 1475 Missing Children!

Okay, I thought, if I listed the adjectives I was feeling about or "missing" children, I might allay some of the rage and deep sorrow I have when hearing this past week's news.  There is no doubt, in my mind, that this country is in a severe moral crisis.  Above this rant, I have posted an article, which gives the basics of this massive problem alone.

If you haven't heard this news, no surprise.  Apparently, the administration has snuffed out more than the basic facts, to say nothing of any humanity.  Early this morning, even Googling this news provided scant details. Yesterday, only the "tip of the iceberg" of details was available, in general.

I hoped that by printing the words that I was feeling   ...pretty extreme, for sure .... I might "vent" as they say. I'll print the list here, because that intervention did not work very well for me.  But it did transform my energy into intention to use my skills to participate in action.

Most of my descriptions of this event were, in my opinion:

vile, egregious, ruthless, savage, inhumane, remorseless, nauseating,  merciless, heartless, hateful, brutal, monstrous, barbaric, malevolent, nefarious, despicable ... just for starters. Throw xenophobic  in there just for good measure.

One paragraph reads:

"In FY 2018, we have released 90 percent of children to individual sponsors and of those sponsors, 41 percent were parents, 47 percent were close relatives, and 11 percent were other-than-close relatives or non-relatives." (Look at the way the article minimizes that 90%.)

Read that carefully, because one is tempted to read it quickly ... I know I did. Fifty-eight (58%) of ninety percent (90%)  of the children were placed haphazardly and immediately into foster care, or anywhere other, than their biological parents. Having had much past exposure to the "real world" of "migrant children", the article is a bit "rosy" to the reality of these kids.  To be sure, the intentions of the workers are pure.  I would feel a just as described, but our system is overloaded which children who are basically abandoned for one reason or another. My memories were deeply painful in working with these children. 
          
One parent was told, "we have no idea where your children are", and the parents were sent back to their country.  I closed my eyes and tried to imagine myself in that same position.  I studied the emotions in myself which I was sure would be the same.

If you are a parent, and can imagine your young child literally standing at a gate alone to seek asylum, just try to imagine your pain of separation;  not knowing if you would ever see your child again.