Border protection

Illegal immigrants, separating children from parents, and cross border crime are some of the issues raised by our porous southern border. Immigrants from Honduras and other Central American nations are bringing their families through Mexico to attempt entry into the United States. If these immigrants try to illegally enter the United States now they are arrested and the adults are jailed separately from their children. The children are being housed in buildings that were never intended to be detention facilities. Still, these facilities are detention centers, and as the number of children to be housed increases and while funds are decreasing, the quality of care for these children will invariably suffer. Removing children from the security of the family and locking these kids up will leave permanent scars on them. This situation cannot go on indefinitely, and the U.S. must look for ways to reduce the number of people trying to enter this country. The alternate solution is equally cruel as children are being seized and sent to foster homes all over the country. We are better than this cruel discretionary policy.

Sen. John McCain issued the following statement about the current situation: "The administration's current family separation policy is an affront to the decency of the American people, and contrary to principles and values upon which our nation was founded. The administration has the power to rescind this policy. It should do so now.

First, find the motivation for leaving their homes, their personal property, extended families, friends and all things we associate with "home." The trip is long and exposes the family to dangers such as thieves, murderers, sex traffickers, desert hazards and more. So, why do these parents endanger their families with this trek? The reason is very simple. The dangers faced on the trip are less than the dangers the family faced by staying home.

Honduras, the home for many of the migrants is considered to be a major player in the international drug trade. The U.S. DEA claims the entire Honduran government is heavily involved in the drug trade. The murder rate in Honduras reached its peak in 2012 but the murder rate has only decreased from 80 per day to 60 per day, but only 4 percent of murders result in convictions.

This is a major reason these families are risking the lives of their children.

Listen to those prominent Americans who are objecting to the policy, listen to the shocked international reaction, and tell me how this benefits this country. Hurting children is not just obeying the law, and it lowers our moral standing among nations just as allowing torture of war prisoners did.

What have we become?

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.