4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| JUNE 23, 2018
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
C
The First Amendment
ongress shall make no law respecting an es-
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free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
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people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.
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Jenna B ar tlett
Ned H ickson
E r i k C hal h o ub
Publisher, ex t. 3 18
Editor, ex t. 313
Co n sul t i n g E d i to r 8 3 1 -7 6 1 -7 3 53
ech al houb@regis ter-pajaron ian .com
M ark et i n g Direc to r, e x t . 3 2 6
O ffice Super v is or, ex t . 3 12
Pro d uc t i o n Su p er v i s o r
Pres s M an ager
Su s an G ut i errez
Cat hy Diet z
R on A nn i s
Je remy G en t r y
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Letters to the Editor policy
LETTERS
How will history judge
our actions today?
There are those who make a lot of
noise about the word “illegal.” We all
know what it means: unlawful.
Let’s explore the legal definition of the
word “genocide” according to the UN
convention in 1984: Article Two of the
convention defines genocide as: “... Any
of the following acts committed with the
intent to destroy, in whole or in part,
a national, ethnic, racial or religious
group; killing members of the group,
causing serious bodily or mental harm
to members of the group.”
Regardless of the nuances of immigra-
tion law, and whether or not those seek-
ing asylum (because their lives are in
danger) must be deported, is something
for the justice system to decide.
But to take children and babies and
lock them in cages is unconscionable. To
take children and youth who have done
nothing but follow their parents to a land
where they hoped to find sanctuary, and
make them stand handcuffed, nude and
shivering — as was recently reported re-
garding a Virginia detention center — is
not only illegal but a crime against hu-
manity, i.e. qualifying as genocide.
President Trump’s recent Executive
Order concerning separation of children
and babies from families does not ad-
dress the 2,300 already taken from their
parents with no plan for reunification
and who will remain incarcerated.
What psychological and physical trau-
ma have those children already expe-
rienced at the hands of the US govern-
ment?
What Trump’s EO does is authorize
the indefinite detention of families. In-
stead of children in cages we have fam-
ilies in cages.
Indefinitely.
When our government can commit
crimes against humanity with the ap-
proval of its citizens, what does it say
about us as human beings? As Ameri-
cans? Do we want historians to equate
our actions to the crimes committed by
the Nazis? Or is there a humane way to
treat those seeking our help while still
observing our immigration laws?
And what about those laws? Are they
just?
Remember that at one time slavery
was legal. Segregation was legal. And to
Germans in the 1930s, the holocaust was
legal.
—Linda Olsen
Florence
Seeking asylum is not a
crime . Yet.
The separating of children from their
parents was created by the Trump/Ses-
sions “zero tolerance” policy. Previous
administrations kept children with their
families. The majority of the children in
detention right now were not travelling
alone until the Trump Administration
separated them from their parents.
This is immoral, indecent and
un-American.
The majority of the people coming
to the borders now are seeking asylum.
One way to apply for asylum is to go the
embassy in your home country. The oth-
er way is to present yourself at a point
of entry along the border and request
asylum.
If a person illegally crosses the border
to gain entry, it is a misdemeanor.
People have fled their home countries
with few possessions and little money to
seek safety from atrocities and danger.
They are fleeing intolerable conditions
or fear for their lives to undertake such
an arduous trip into the unknown.
To them, America represents hope,
safety and opportunity. Just as it did to
many of our parents, grandparents or
great-grandparents.
Today’s refugees get to our borders and
are traumatized again. The border patrol
estimates that adults traveling with chil-
dren who are not their own represent 1
percent or less of the people coming to
our country.
The majority are not criminals; they
are simply people who seek a better, saf-
er life.
The big question, now that President
Trump has signed his Executive Order
to keep the families together, is how do
we reunite the children (approximately
2,300) already taken from their parents?
Many of these children have already
been sent to other living situations as far
away as Illinois, Florida, and Michigan.
How can parents who have nothing have
any hope of traveling across the country
to be reunited with their children?
—Marybeth Marenco
Florence
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor as
part of a community discussion of issues on the local,
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Emal letters to:
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WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
(4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
(Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email: Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us