Keep families together
I write to share my horror, shame and dismay about our country’s border officials forcibly taking children, some too young to speak, away from their asylum-seeking parents.
These children do not need to be ‘protected’ from their parents, and I see no coherent plan for their care once they are taken.
There is ample evidence that, even when children are removed from parental care for good reasons — familial abuse or neglect — the short- and long-term impact on their physical and mental health, as well as their ability to learn, to love and to be responsible adults — is very dire.
I spent my working life trying to help such damaged children find some measure of healing.
This monstrous policy must not stand.
Marian Birch,
Port Angeles