U.S. Sen. Tina Smith focuses on our poor immigration processes and the humanitarian crisis within our borders as misguided and oppressive, but offers nothing to remedy the proximate causes that are driving millions from their homelands ("Ending a bad policy won't fix humanitarian crisis," Opinion Exchange, June 21). There are an estimated 68 million individuals displaced from their homelands fleeing much worse crisis situations. These desperate individuals and families are lost to an often-unwelcoming world, at the mercy of many leaders and citizens of countries to various levels of acceptance.
Many countries provide humanitarian aid but little else to remedy the ruthless atrocities that have displaced millions. The U.S. announced Tuesday that it is withdrawing from the ineffective United Nations Human Rights Council for its lack of effort to remedy these situations. The world has united on trade, banking, treaties and even climate change. How about uniting to work to make life tolerable for all the displaced migrants back in their home countries? We need to rein in corrupt governments and gang violence, stop war and oppression, and improve economies. Bring the world back home, and we end the migration problem.
Michael Tillemans, Minneapolis
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Thank you, Sen. Smith, for calling attention to what you rightly call a humanitarian crisis in our immigration system and for sponsoring the HELP Separated Children Act. Whatever political party you belong to, it should be a no-brainer to support policies to provide basic child welfare for innocent children. Still, we need to address the inhumane practice of deporting people who are simply working hard to provide safety and food for their children. To those who are angrily yelling about people breaking our laws by coming into the country illegally, please take a breath and consider a few questions: What did your ancestors do to deserve to come to the U.S. legally (considering that before the 1920s, most immigrants were able to come without any legal documents)? If you faced a situation where your life or your children's lives were threatened in your home country and your only access to legal entry to a safe country is to go to the U.S. border and ask for asylum, what would you do to protect your children? If we love families, why not offer paths to legal status for hardworking parents and keep all families together?
Susan Ranney, Plymouth
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The president has done a sudden reversal and issued an executive order to reunite parents and children separated by his disastrous policy. Some commentators have stated that it could be that some parents and children may never be reunited, as the children are too young to provide needed information about their parents. They will be placed in foster homes while their parents wait for trial and possible expulsion without their children.
It will take a great effort, but we must do everything we can to reunite a family. Children old enough to give their name and other information can quite easily be reconnected with their parents who mention their kids' names and more.
For the very young — and sadly there are such children who have been separated from their families — modern technology can be set up to assist the search. One of the easiest and most reliable is through DNA matching. Law enforcement does this all the time to track criminals — or exonerate an innocent person. The systems are already in place and effective. There is no reason for our government not to use every possible means to right this terrible wrong.
