This June 20 file frame from video shows the entrance of a Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has told a Texas congresswoman Monday, June 24, that the agency is quickly removing children from the patrol station following reports that children locked inside were in a perilous situation.
This June 20 file frame from video shows the entrance of a Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has told a Texas congresswoman Monday, June 24, that the agency is quickly removing children from the patrol station following reports that children locked inside were in a perilous situation. Credit: AP photo

I continue to be utterly appalled about the treatment of children separated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump’s disastrous immigration policies.

Trump is now demanding more money for these agencies under the threat of massive raids nationwide to round up undocumented individuals. The only way I can see to put to stop to this nightmare is to suspend funding for ICE and to severely limit CBP’s activities at the border.

Congress should direct funding to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, with strict directions on how the money may be spent — namely, to prioritize family reunification or placement with sponsors immediately.

Further, Congress must direct CBP to release asylum seekers on recognizance without separating parents from children. The current practices of both CBP and ICE bring nothing but shame on this country and must stop.

My mother was an orphaned refugee in 1921, escaping the murderous Russian Civil War. If policies like Trump’s had been in place then, she would have ended up in a concentration camp, and I probably wouldn’t be here.

Please take whatever steps you can to restore this country to a place of respect for human life and dignity.

Michael Dover

Leverett