To Whom It Certainly Concerns

“When Jeff Sessions went to California and announced this program, I thought it would be tied up in the courts and never implemented. But now, here it is, being enforced by the United States. Not only is this a human rights violation, but it smacks of tactics used by violent authoritarian governments. Stalin had a program where children were stolen and put into work camps, Hitler’s program is all too familiar. When and how has the United States fallen to this level of outrageous behavior.”—Helen Noakes

Waking Point

By Helen Noakes

“If you cross the border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you – it’s that simple. If you smuggle illegal aliens across our border, we will prosecute you. If you are smuggling a child, we will prosecute you. And that child will be separated from you, as required by law.”—Atty. Gen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III

“It’s hard to conceive of a policy more horrific than intentionally separating children from their parents as a form of punishment. In addition, parents seeking asylum are being referred for prosecution. Taken together, these terrible policies call into question whether we are in violation of our own laws and our obligations under international law. As the ACLU has documented in recent court filings, young children have been taken from their parents’ arms and federal law enforcement has not given parents even the most basic information about their children’s whereabouts. This is not what the United States of America should be.”—Senator Dianne Feinstein

SAN FRANCISCO California—(Weekly Hubris)—June 2018—What I ask of you this month could not be more straightforward. Please simply copy and paste the letter below into an email, letter, or fax, and send it out to all your senators and elected representatives in Washington DC (all names, titles, and addresses here). Address the letter appropriately, and include your name, address, and other contact information . . . but write. Please write.

Dear ___________,

Late this May, listening to a newscast on MSNBC, I heard case workers inform us of the fact that children were being taken away from immigrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking parents at our borders. These children, some only a few months old, are being placed in precarious, badly managed facilities, their parents not informed as to where they are, and a large number have been reported to be “lost.”

When Jeff Sessions went to California and announced this program, I thought it would be tied up in the courts and never implemented. But now, here it is, being enforced by the United States.

Not only is this a human rights violation, but it smacks of tactics used by violent authoritarian governments. Stalin had a program where children were stolen and put into work camps, Hitler’s program is all too familiar. When and how has the United States fallen to this level of outrageous behavior?

To be honest with you, legalizing marijuana seems minor to me, compared to the flagrant disregard for human rights that this program represents.

Please, I’m asking you to address this horrific situation and make sure that it is widely and repeatedly presented to the American people. I don’t care which side of the aisle the citizens of this country support, this policy should elicit outrage by all. I hold on to the hope that we are, at heart, a moral population, and this is not only a highly immoral program, but a dangerous one as well.

Please, Mr./Ms._____________, do something to stop this dreadful program.

Yours sincerely,

_______________________________