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
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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. And listened to the sounds
of the children nearby, who were play-
ing.
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