Dear Editor,

According to the American Civil Liberties Union 545 is how many children have been separated from their families by U.S. border officials in 2017 and 2018 and that still (as of Oct. 20) haven’t made contact with their parents.

Separating — ripping from their parents arms — a child (many under 5) from their family are crimes of kidnapping and child abuse. And then in maintaining the children in cages is worse than a crime, it is evil.

According to the Washington Post, “months before the Trump administration rolled out its ‘zero-tolerance’ policy on the U.S.-Mexico border, hundreds of migrant children were already quietly being separated from their families.”

As those children were shuttled around the country, it is estimated that two-thirds of the separated children’s parents have been deported and cannot be located, especially during a pandemic.

These families came to our border seeking asylum against threatening violence and death in their native country. Stealing their children as policy to stop other frightened and besieged people from coming here and being assisted is a damning legacy.

Extremely vulnerable children stolen from their parents will be, according to experts, psychologically scared for the rest of their lives, even if they are eventually reunited with their family.

Causing children to suffer as American policy is an unspeakable crime and unforgivable.

They would have had to shoot me to contain my rage if anyone had attempted to take my three children away from me when my only crime had been to seek help against danger to my family.

Bill Bryant

St. Clairsville