Our Country's Shame

About this business of separating children from their parents at our southern border:

1. Stop talking about the law. Separating families is not prescribed by law; it's based on a policy the Trump administration put into effect to discourage families from illegally entering the country (pay attention to "illegally," it's important).

2. The policy is not just being applied to  families trying to sneak across the southern border, it's being applied to families who are openly approaching border stations and requesting asylum.

3. Families and children who request asylum are within their legal rights to do so, based on a law proposed by the George W. Bush administration and passed overwhelmingly by Congress and based on principles of international law the US has subscribed to for decades.

4. By separating families in the absence of laws passed by congress, the administration is placing itself in opposition to laws Congress has passed. Congress can stop this now if they will stand up to Trump and Sessions. Americans of conscience should insist that Congress and the courts move, immediately, to end this shame Trump brings on our country.