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[Snacker]

What are your thoughts on 7-year-old refugees being arbitrarily separated from their parents by the US government?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/gratuitous-cruelty-by-homeland-security-separating-a-7-year-old-from-her-mother/2018/03/04/98fae4f0-1bff-11e8-ae5a-16e60e4605f3_story.html?utm_term=.844e3ca380ff

I hesitated to put "arbitrarily" in the title, because it sounds biased. But it's correct: DHS does not have a policy of separating detained children from their parents, however they opted to do so in this case. Opting to do something for no stated reason or policy is the definition of the word Arbitrary.

[jimwalton]

I really don't think the answer to this question has anything to do with what one's religion is. The issues at stake are the country's overall immigration policy, the fairness or unfairness of various parts of it, how best to protect our borders, protect our people, and yet be a welcoming nation. I don't think it matter if you're atheist, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddist, or Muslim. I think the US needs to rethink its entire immigration vision, strategy, and subsequent policies to be able to make the wisest decisions for all involved. And I'm certain that no matter what structure is settled on, there will be cases like this one that seem so unreasonable and tragic. Even in the best of situations, there are going to be problem areas.

[Snacker]

59 families have been split up in this manner. The Trump administration says it is considering splitting up families as a deterrent to illegal immigration. How do you feel about that policy?

The reason I'm asking Christians, specifically, for their thoughts is because every Christian I personally know has been silent on the issue of the treatment of migrant families. I want to know what Christians think about this precisely because I haven't heard what they think about it. The silence has surprised me so I decided to look for answers.

[jimwalton]

> How do you feel about that policy?

What I feel about the policy would only be my personal opinion according to my personal worldview or my personal political positions. It has nothing to do with whether or not I'm a Christian.

I think (my opinion) the immigration policies of America have been askew and imbalanced for many decades, if not for a century or more. To some extent we want illegal immigrants in here because they do work no American wants to do. So we welcome them, but repudiate them. That's hypocritical. On another front we have created financial abuses for the countries south of our border, economically raping their countries for so long that too many of the people live in squalid conditions if not outright poverty, yet when they try to sneak into our country to earn an honest living, we arrest them. On another hand, the drug cartel indigenous to these same countries (yet feeding the drug addictions of North Americans) are also raping their own people, so we aren't to be blamed for all of it (though a bunch of it comes back to our shoulders anyway). And then we have to add political tyrants (like Noriega in Panama a while back, and all of the political problems in Venezuela et al. that are economically raping their own people.

All of these factors and so many more are part of the immigration system morass that we find ourselves in the middle of right now. It's not just Trump's policies that need to be discussed, but Obama's, Bush's, Clinton's, etc. etc. etc.

Now Trump is trying to control the borders more and creating a firestorm. Obviously some families are getting split up, and it's horrible. But there are also illegal immigrants committing crimes. There are also illegal immigrants doing valuable work. There are also illegal immigrants just trying to make a life for themselves. There are also illegal immigrants trying to take advantage of the system.

There is no policy that's going to solve the problem. Every plan will have its pros and cons. Trumps certain does, but so did Obama's, etc. Splitting up families is not going to be a deterrent to illegal immigration. Building a wall may help slow the traffic but still won't stop the problem. Immigrants are smuggled in the backs of trucks, etc.

Migrant workers are a valuable asset to the farms and to the country's food supply. These are all very complicated systems. There is no perfect plan to protect the country, close to borders to only desirables, allow free immigration but not irresponsible or dangerous immigration, and to get the criminals out. Any immigration policy dragnet is bound to do some good and some harm.

That's enough for one post. We can talk more as you wish.

[Snacker]

Thank you for the informative comment. I agree 100%.