Opinion | An Alternative to Migrant Family Detention
12/17/2019
More from our inbox:
To the Editor:
Re “Migrant Children Pay Price as Trump Seeks to Extend Detention” (news article, Dec. 9):
The evidence is clear: Family detention is a harmful and costly mechanism to punish women and children whose only “crime” is fleeing persecution. That’s why, as an American, I was distraught to see that the administration is planning to expand this detrimental practice.
Luckily, there is a straightforward and sensible alternative. The Family Case Management Program, part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, offered community-based case management and ensured that asylum seekers complied with immigration requirements. The Trump administration abruptly and inexplicably terminated the program in 2017.
In its nearly two years of operation, the program demonstrated that it was just as effective as detention in ensuring that asylum seekers showed up to court and adhered to our immigration requirements.
The Family Case Management Program allowed the United States to ensure that asylum seekers are complying with our laws while treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve.
The United States should restart the Family Case Management Program immediately and abandon these ill-informed plans to expand family detention.
Lacy Broemel St. Louis The writer is in the master’s of social work program at Washington University in St. Louis.
Catalonia: The Official Spanish View
To the Editor:
Re “Outdated Borders Are Strangling Liberal Democracy,” by Carles Puigdemont, a former president of Catalonia (Turning Points, Opinion, nytimes.com, Dec. 3):
Mr. Puigdemont’s reflections on borders and liberal democracy are not only misleading, but also tend to forget that territorial integrity and inviolability of frontiers are international-law principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter, the European Union treaties, the Helsinki Final Act and, as a result, in the 1978 Spanish Constitution.
In these times, we must be careful because fake news and distorted reality can put at serious risk the fundamental rights of individuals, in this case, Spanish citizens, including the majority of Catalans.
Mr. Puigdemont wrongly characterizes the illegal vote in October 2017 as the ultimate democratic act. He chooses as examples Quebec and Scotland, conveniently avoiding mention of the differences in history, applicable law and political context that allowed for those independence referendums to take place.
Other democratic states have declared the illegality of independence votes: the German constitutional court in 2016 on a possible vote in Bavaria; the Italian one in 2015 on the Veneto region; and the Alaska Supreme Court in 2006 in the United States. Do these judicial decisions make Germany, the United States and Italy undemocratic?
Official figures, including those of the research institute of public opinion in Catalonia, funded by the regional government of this Spanish autonomous region, show that less than half of Catalan citizens favor independence. Is it more democratic to impose the will of a minority, however relevant, upon all? Of course not.
Any politician — local, regional or national — must be aware at all times of his or her duties to all the citizens of his constituency, not only to his voters and supporters. In the case of Catalonia, it is time for the regional government to seek to heal the divisions caused in recent years and focus on addressing the needs of all Catalans.
In doing so, we will also contribute to the greater good and prosperity of Spain and the European Union.
Santiago Cabanas Ansorena Washington The writer is Spain’s ambassador to the United States.
Oversharing in Friendship
To the Editor:
As an advice columnist, I have to disagree with a suggestion offered in “How to Have Closer Friendships” (Here to Help, Dec. 15).
While it’s good to be available and responsive and to “let yourself be known,” and it’s O.K. to share that you “are jealous of other people’s accomplishments,” it’s an absolutely terrible idea to admit that you “don’t always brush your teeth before bed.”
Sorry. No. Please keep that tidbit to yourself. And brush your teeth before bed.
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Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | An Alternative to Migrant Family Detention
Opinion | An Alternative to Migrant Family Detention
More from our inbox:
To the Editor:
Re “Migrant Children Pay Price as Trump Seeks to Extend Detention” (news article, Dec. 9):
The evidence is clear: Family detention is a harmful and costly mechanism to punish women and children whose only “crime” is fleeing persecution. That’s why, as an American, I was distraught to see that the administration is planning to expand this detrimental practice.
Luckily, there is a straightforward and sensible alternative. The Family Case Management Program, part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, offered community-based case management and ensured that asylum seekers complied with immigration requirements. The Trump administration abruptly and inexplicably terminated the program in 2017.
In its nearly two years of operation, the program demonstrated that it was just as effective as detention in ensuring that asylum seekers showed up to court and adhered to our immigration requirements.
The Family Case Management Program allowed the United States to ensure that asylum seekers are complying with our laws while treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve.
The United States should restart the Family Case Management Program immediately and abandon these ill-informed plans to expand family detention.
Lacy Broemel
St. Louis
The writer is in the master’s of social work program at Washington University in St. Louis.
Catalonia: The Official Spanish View
To the Editor:
Re “Outdated Borders Are Strangling Liberal Democracy,” by Carles Puigdemont, a former president of Catalonia (Turning Points, Opinion, nytimes.com, Dec. 3):
Mr. Puigdemont’s reflections on borders and liberal democracy are not only misleading, but also tend to forget that territorial integrity and inviolability of frontiers are international-law principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter, the European Union treaties, the Helsinki Final Act and, as a result, in the 1978 Spanish Constitution.
In these times, we must be careful because fake news and distorted reality can put at serious risk the fundamental rights of individuals, in this case, Spanish citizens, including the majority of Catalans.
Mr. Puigdemont wrongly characterizes the illegal vote in October 2017 as the ultimate democratic act. He chooses as examples Quebec and Scotland, conveniently avoiding mention of the differences in history, applicable law and political context that allowed for those independence referendums to take place.
Other democratic states have declared the illegality of independence votes: the German constitutional court in 2016 on a possible vote in Bavaria; the Italian one in 2015 on the Veneto region; and the Alaska Supreme Court in 2006 in the United States. Do these judicial decisions make Germany, the United States and Italy undemocratic?
Official figures, including those of the research institute of public opinion in Catalonia, funded by the regional government of this Spanish autonomous region, show that less than half of Catalan citizens favor independence. Is it more democratic to impose the will of a minority, however relevant, upon all? Of course not.
Any politician — local, regional or national — must be aware at all times of his or her duties to all the citizens of his constituency, not only to his voters and supporters. In the case of Catalonia, it is time for the regional government to seek to heal the divisions caused in recent years and focus on addressing the needs of all Catalans.
In doing so, we will also contribute to the greater good and prosperity of Spain and the European Union.
Santiago Cabanas Ansorena
Washington
The writer is Spain’s ambassador to the United States.
Oversharing in Friendship
To the Editor:
As an advice columnist, I have to disagree with a suggestion offered in “How to Have Closer Friendships” (Here to Help, Dec. 15).
While it’s good to be available and responsive and to “let yourself be known,” and it’s O.K. to share that you “are jealous of other people’s accomplishments,” it’s an absolutely terrible idea to admit that you “don’t always brush your teeth before bed.”
Sorry. No. Please keep that tidbit to yourself. And brush your teeth before bed.
Carol Weston
New York
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