The following is a Letter to the Editor from the Opinions section.
To the Editor:
COVID-19 continues to have devastating impacts. There are currently 957,875 COVID-19 cases here in the U.S. – more than anywhere else in the world. While children are fortunately less vulnerable to the virus, they are hugely affected by it in other ways. They must adapt to distance learning and new routines, cope with separation from teachers and caregivers and even deal with COVID-related illnesses or deaths of close relations.
Every day, children are struggling to manage this new normal. However, there are many children who haven’t had a ‘normal,’ even before the pandemic.
Some of these children have recently arrived at the southern border.
Due to the March 20 border closure in response to COVID-19, children are summarily turned away or deported without the opportunity to make asylum claims. This is morally reprehensible and illegal – children have the right to seek asylum under U.S. and international law.
This pandemic is a global health crisis where unity and empathy are crucial. It is often crises like these that affect the most vulnerable, particularly children.
Children, no matter their nationality, must be protected.
Join me – and Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) – in contacting your policymakers and the Trump administration, urging them to protect the health and safety of children at the border.
When this pandemic ends, I hope we can look back at our nation’s response and be proud that we didn’t let fear end our long-standing commitment to protecting the most vulnerable.
