Cannot look away from immigrant children

We cannot forget. We cannot look away, I cannot look away.

And our country cannot look away from the children taken from their parents. All the babies and toddlers, little girls and boys and teenagers taken from their parents and separated so far from those who love them and placed in unknown locations, and moved all over the country. Where are the 2,300-plus, and when will they be returned to their parents?

As someone recently stated when you go to jail, you are given receipts for your belongings, but these parents were given nothing informing them about their kids' whereabouts.

What will become of these children? Abandonment trauma and separation and health issues will follow those children for the rest of their lives. Having beds on the floor, mylar blankets and television does not make up for the loss of your mom or dad who love you.

In a country that says it values families and children, we simply cannot look away, nor forget these children. Parents in this country, and indeed the world over, sacrifice a lot to make sure their children are safe, healthy, educated, well cared for and loved, and the children now who have been taken away from their parents are also loved by their poor refugee parents.

Right now, at this time in our history, we cannot look away nor forget that these children have been seized from their parents. We cannot forget that these children must be returned to their parents.

Sandy Spiegel

Geneva