IMMIGRATION + FAMILY SEPARATION

I read an article about the children who have been taken away from their mothers at the border, put in cages or sent to foster care. I have PTSD and it is a trigger; it puts me right back to Barry, age 10 who was taken away from his mother when he was ten years old. He never recovered from that. Shirley never recovered from that. And I have not recovered from that event. Only Julius was not affected. His life did not change. He lived in Malden and went to 'the club' regardless of his address. When I think of Barry in that situation, it is heartbreaking. He should have had therapy, support - he had neither of those things. I told Julius I would help and wanted to be actively involved in Barry's life but Julius did not want that.

I/we have first hand experience, especially Barry who was separated from his mother and went to live with his father, Julius Silverman. I read a recent article in the NYT about this issue - the mother said, my son has been returned to me after an over a month separation. "The little boy who was returned to me is not the same little boy I knew before. His behavior is different. He is a different child." I will look for that citation. It was terrible for Barry and Shirley and me.

Suffice to say with first hand experience, what happens in the first ten years of a child's life sets the tone for the rest of their lives ! You do not 'get over' the TRAUMA.

C-SPAN is covering hearings on the Migrant Family Reunification, Zero Tolerance Policy which has separated children from their parents causing permanent Trauma. Very painful to even hear. Now we are hearing from medical professionals testifying to the permanent trauma those children will suffer and characterizing it as child abuse which it is. This is a personal issue. Richard Blumental and Kamala Harris are on the Senate Judiciary Committee asking questions.

"Among the officials were leaders of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Health and Human Services, and Customs and Border Patrol agencies, one of whom told lawmakers he had warned the Trump administration of potential emotional and psychological effects for children affected by the policy."

Here is the citation from the New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/31/us/migrant-children-separation-anxiety.html

"PHILADELPHIA — Before they were separated at the southwest border, Ana Carolina Fernandes’s 5-year-old son loved playing with the yellow, impish Minion characters from the “Despicable Me” movies. Now his favorite game is patting down and shackling “migrants” with plastic cuffs.

After being separated from his mother for 50 days, Thiago isn’t the same boy who was taken away from her by Border Patrol agents when they arrived in the United States from Brazil, Ms. Fernandes said last week."