Lynne Weintraub: Cites irony in border treatment of immigrants

Desperate families fleeing violence in Central America arrive at the United States border, and instead of processing their asylum claims, (our obligation under international law), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security locks them up, tears away the children, and transports them to unknown locations where they will be detained indefinitely.

As any parent will tell you, these actions are beyond cruel — they constitute a profound human rights violation. The people who sent the orders, and the DHS workers and for-profit subcontractors who carried them out, deserve condemnation and prosecution. When it comes to human rights violations, no one can morally claim that they are “just following orders.”

How ironic that when immigrants apply for U.S. citizenship, the very same agency, DHS, screens every one of them for involvement in human rights abuses such as torture, detaining others against their will, or persecuting people on the basis of race or national origin.

I think we can all agree that the perpetrators of such abuses should not be welcomed into American society. But what do we do about the monsters who are committing these same abuses with our tax dollars, and in our name?

Lynne Weintraub

Amherst