When asked about Trump’s new immigration policy of separating children from parents, John Kelly thoughtfully responded “foster care or whatever.” We now have an estimate of the “whatever.” Around 1500. That’s the number of separated immigrant children the U.S. cannot account for.

Imagine you are 7 years old. You have no idea why your parents left the only home you knew and dragged you for months across foreign lands. You are miserable. Little food, little sleep, rough strange men all around. You just want it to end. And you know it will because your parents keep telling you so.

Suddenly you are violently ripped apart from your parents and forced to live with a strange family. You cannot understand anybody. You hate the food. You don’t know where your parents are. You are terrified. You would do anything to be with your parents.

What I attempted to describe is a best case scenario — children in monitored foster care. For the other 1500, feel free to add in child abuse.

Adults break laws for a variety of reasons. It is legitimate to discuss consequences of their law breaking. But children! I hope we live in a society that puts certain red lines around children. All children. All circumstances. Do not cross!

Sankar Ray

Sammamish