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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2019)
opinion july18 2019 3 An Opinion: They Are Children By Scott Laird At the end of the gathering we held a moment of silence, each of us with a lit candle, some with heads bowed and eyes closed. In the background, we could hear the happy sounds of children – laughing, running, climbing, and play- ing in the park. On July 12, I attended a vigil at Columbia View Park in St. Helens, over- looking the Columbia River. The vigil was protesting the inhumane conditions faced by asylum seekers and refugees being held in U.S. Customs and Border Patrol detention facilities at the United States/Mexico border. The event was organized by my friend Lori Baker, who told me prior to the event she hoped 20 people would attend. Instead, about 50 of us were there, from all across Columbia County – Clatskanie, Columbia City, Scappoose, Vernonia. Most of us didn’t know each other. Lori felt compelled to get a permit and host this event as part of a nationwide vigil, after hearing the most recent report of the wretched conditions in which children were being held in de- tention. At 8:00 pm she stepped forward to start the event and struggled to find the right words, haltingly apologizing for not being a better public speaker. And then something sort of magical happened, as those of us in the audience, most of us strangers, came to- gether and rallied around her. You could feel the generosity and the acceptance. It didn’t matter if Lori stumbled while speaking. What she had to say was im- portant, and we wanted to hear it. Lori read part of the United Na- tions Convention on the Rights of the Child, a human rights treaty which es- tablishes a special set of civil rights con- cerning the welfare of children around the world, noting that children should be brought up in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality, and soli- darity. The United States government played an active role in the drafting of the Convention and signed it in Febru- ary 1995, but unfortunately, has never ratified it. “In all actions concerning children... the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration,” states Article 3. Just last week Elora Mukherjee, the director of Columbia Law School’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, testified for three days in front of the United States Congress after she returned from inter- viewing 70 detained migrant children in Clint, Texas. Mukherjee testified about the horrid conditions she observed dur- ing an inspection visit where 700 chil- dren are being held for weeks, and even months, in a facility designed to hold 100 adults. She said she witnessed chil- dren so dirty they had a stench, with in- adequate bedding, clothing, and no hy- giene tools like soap, toothbrushes, and diapers. She said some of the children she interviewed were too traumatized to even speak their own names, and others cried uncontrollably. She said her team had to intervene to get medical attention and food for several of the detainees. While they were allowed to interview some children, the 10-person team said they were not allowed to tour the full facility and were barred from visiting some of the most vulnerable children who were being held in a “sick ward.” These are children. Some of them are babies. They’ve been separated from their families and are in the care of the United States government. At the vigil, a letter of support Lori had received from Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley was read. Merk- ley has been an outspoken critic of the policies that have led to the separation of families and the forced detainment of children. Later, we heard first-hand ac- counts of children in detention, taken from the interviews during the recent in- spection. “We are in a metal cage with 20 other teenagers with babies and young chil- dren. We have one mat we need to share with each other. It is very cold. We each got a mylar blanket, but it is not enough to warm up. The lights are on all of the time.” -From a 16-year-old girl “I’m hungry here at Clint all the time. Sometimes I wake up from hunger at 4:00 am. I’m too scared to ask the of- ficials here for any more food, even though there is not enough food here for me.” -From a 12-year-old boy “We have not been able to shower. The toilet is out in the open in the cage, there is no door for any privacy. There is water but no soap to wash our hands.” -From a 17-year-old boy “They told us that we could only have one layer of clothing, and they threw away the rest of our clothes in the gar- bage. -From a 16-year-old boy “I was given a blanket and a mattress, but then, at 3:00 am, the guards took the blanket and mattress. My baby was left sleeping on the floor. In fact, almost every night, the guards wake us at 3:00 am and take away our sleeping mattresses and blankets. They leave babies, even little babies of two or three months, sleeping on the cold floor. I think the guards act this way to punish us.” -17-year-old girl “Three days ago my baby soiled his clothes. I had no place to wash the clothes so I could not put them back on my baby. Since then, my baby of only three months has only been wearing a small little jacket made of t-shirt mate- rial. I have nothing else for my son to wear... I have been told they do not have any clothes here at this place. I just want my baby to be warm enough. I am hav- ing to make sure I carry my baby su- per close to me to keep his little body warm. -From a 17-year-old girl Publisher and Managing Editor Scott Laird 503-367-0098 scott@vernoniasvoice.com Contributors Chip Bubl Tobie Finzel Karen Miller Shannon Romtvedt Trish Smith Representative Brad Witt Photography Scott Laird Vernonia’s Voice is published on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month. “I am in a room with dozens of other boys. Some have been as young as 3 or 4 years old. Some cry. Right now, there is a 12-year-old who cries a lot. Others try to comfort him. One of the officers makes fun of those who cry.” From a 17-year- old boy “I started taking care of [a five-year-old whose name has been withheld] in the Ice Box after they separated her from her father. [She] sleeps on a mat with me on the concrete floor. We spend all day every day in that room. There are no ac- tivities, only crying.” -From a 15-year- old girl Hearing these stories was heart- breaking, and some in the crowd sobbed openly as they listened. At first, I too was deeply saddened. Then I started to feel something else. Anger. It doesn’t matter what country they were born in or why they came here. They are children. It doesn’t matter how they got to our border or who brought them. They are children. It doesn’t matter which political party you belong to, or whether or not you support our current administration. It doesn’t matter if they crossed our bor- der illegally. It doesn’t matter who YOU want to try to blame for this. They are children. Seeking asylum in the United States is not illegal, but torturing chil- dren like this should be. Some of these detention centers are privately run facili- ties. Someone is making a profit on the suffering of these children. At the vigil, some members of the crowd spoke. They urged us to make our voices heard and speak out against these inhumane conditions. Then the One year subscription (24 issues) $35 Vernonia’s Voice, LLC PO Box 55 Vernonia, OR 97064 503-367-0098 Want to advertise? Have an article? Contact: scott@vernoniasvoice.com names of six migrant children who had died while being held in U.S. custody were read: Darlyn Cristabel Cordova-Valle, 10, El Salvador Jakelin Caal Maquín, 7, Guatemala Felipe Gomez Alonzo, 8, Guatemala Juan de León Gutiérrez, 16, Guatemala Wilmer Josué Ramírez Vásquez, 2½, Guatemala Carlos Hernandez Vásquez, 16, Guatemala What happened to the United States that used to welcome refugees to this country – the tired, the poor, the homeless, the wretched, the huddled masses, – with a lit lamp and an open door? What about the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, the stranger? Later, we all gathered together and lit candles, like others at vigils all around the country, and held a moment of silence. 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