Editor,

As a parent of three and a child advocate, I am shocked, saddened and disturbed by the Trump administration’s attacks on asylum, particularly with how they are affecting children. With the adoption of the Migration Protection Protocols, more commonly referred to as the Remain in Mexico Policy, the U.S. has returned nearly 70,000 asylum seekers and migrants to Mexico to await court dates, which will decide if they can claim asylum in the U.S.

More than 13,000 of these returnees are children and nearly 400 of them are infants. In Mexico, these children and their families are forced to live in insecure environments, where acts of violence and crime are often reported.

Children and families have the right to seek asylum under U.S. and international law. Therefore, these blatant attacks on asylum are violating not only migrants’ human rights but also legal rights.

I urge you to contact your members of Congress and urge them to support passage of the Strategic and Humane Southern Border Migrant Response Act, or HR 3731. This bill would repeal the Migration Protection Protocols and allow children and their families to remain in the U.S. until their cases are heard, helping to ensure their protection and humane treatment.

Children need to be protected, no matter where they are from.

Fe Mischo

Save The Children Action Network volunteer

Oak Harbor