Insulting Immigration Policy…

Dear Editor,

Families from Central America are fleeing the worst criminal violence in the world. They are arriving at our borders. These men, women and children are seeking asylum as they are literally running for their lives. They have left behind their family, their friends, their homes, their land, their property and their professions. America has the moral and ethical obligation to accept them. This is a core American value, and it is clearly the right thing to do. It is also international law. In 1948 The United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that every human being has the fundamental right of protection from persecution in other countries. The 1951 UN Refugee Convention asserts that a refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom.

The current U.S. executive administration [Trump and Sessions] says “nope” to the international codes above AND “nope” to American values. They have recently separated thousands of children from their refugee asylum-seeking mothers and fathers. These children are being kept in cages. Can we all agree that it is unethical and immoral to mistreat children? Well, separating children from their mothers and fathers is clearly abuse. And that is exactly what Mr. Trump and Mr. Sessions are doing.

Mr. Sessions then pours salt on the wound: He attempts to justify his horrendous behavior through Biblical verses: Romans 13. However, the Bible is very clear (over and over again) about how we must treat the foreigner, the oppressed, the weak and the poor. For example, Leviticus 19:33: “When a foreigner dwells within your land, you shall not wrong him. The foreigner that dwells with you shall be like a native among you; you shall love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt” … Jeremiah 22:3: “Thus said the Creator: Do what is just and right; rescue from the oppressor he who is oppressed, do not wrong the stranger, the fatherless, the widow…”

Perhaps Trump and Sessions should schedule a weekly Bible study and spend less time mistreating the poor, the weak, the oppressed and their children. These actions and this policy insult every American, past and present. It’s one thing to act immorally and unethically. Its quite another thing to take cover for such acts in Biblical verse. This insults every person of faith.

Danny Strauss
Sandpoint