I recently wrote about how immigration officials, in their suddenly zealous rounding up of illegal immigrants, detained a breastfeeding mother, effectively forcing her to abruptly stop nursing.
And well, it’s happened again, this time in Ohio, where a breastfeeding mother was taken away as she was breastfeeding. From the news article:
The baby wailed as mom and dad were led away. And she cried incessantly over the next several days as she went without breast milk while mom was in jail, sick with worry.
“For three days, I knew nothing of my children,” Umanzor said Thursday, speaking through an interrupter. “It was like a piece of me was torn away.”
The denial of mother’s milk to the child of an illegal immigrant has outraged local immigration advocates, Latino civic leaders, and moms. They say a baby went hungry and a mother suffered engorged breasts and emotional trauma while being detained for nearly two weeks for a non-violent offense.
I must reiterate that while I understand the basic premise that a person who is in this country illegally must face the consequences of their actions, this is abusive. These raids are based less on their being “illegal” and more on paranoia. There have already been cases where legal residents, who happen to be Hispanic or “foreign-looking”, have been detained, only to be released after experiencing much fear and and stress, without so much as an apology.
As these raids become more frequent and widespread, more and more children - children who are in most cases U.S. citizens and therefore entitled to basic rights their parents are denied - are ending up suddenly alone and scared. And ICE officials wipe their hands of the matter as they lead parents away.
How is this acceptable? How is this justified? The fact that the people in question reside here illegally does not, in my opinion, mean that they should be treated without dignity and respect, especially when you consider that the grand majority of them contribute to our society by doing the work none of us want to do and paying taxes, and have no criminal records.
And in specific cases like this, what of breastfeeding mothers? Can’t they be left on supervised released, like so many illegal immigrants are, so she can be with her child and family as her case moves through the system? Can’t the detention be held off until a reasonable arrangement is made?
Bottom line for me: this is wrong, and it has to change. The government cannot continue to carry these raids out in this manner; and more importantly, without any accountability.
– First alerted about this via Guanabee
