Happy Friday + A Call to Action

The good news is that so far we’ve had a great summer. A trip to Hawaii (recap post coming Monday), sleeping in most mornings, doing art projects with my girls… I’m enjoying taking things one day at a time right now.

The bad news is I am really behind on a lot of things. Blogging for one (I have so many posts started and not yet finished!) selections for the house for another (the move in date has been pushed back again, but it’s really coming together and I’m getting so excited to move into this home), we haven’t yet started packing for our move (hahahaha… packing? who needs to pack?) and it’s Lamp’s birthday in a couple weeks. She is turning 8 (!!) which means she’ll also be getting baptized–an event in and of itself. 

So while I’ve got a lot going on in my world right now I just wanted to check in and mention a couple things that have been on my mind. 

First, as you might have noticed I haven’t had a new special needs spotlight in a while and I would LOVE to get the ball rolling again on this. So if you or someone you know would like to participate in the Special Needs Spotlight please email me at thislittlemiggy at gmail dot com. 

Second, my head and my heart have been consumed the past few days with the continuing news coverage of children being ripped from the arms of their parents at the boarder. Like the baby who was taken from his mother while breastfeeding. Other families are being tricked into separation, like one mother whos daughter was asked to go in another room for a few minutes to answer some questions and then the mother started hearing her daughter screaming from the other room as they were taking her away. 

If you are confused about this policy–as it is hard to follow the lies of the president—here is an interview from a lawyer who has done humanitarian work in Arizona for over a decade. She directly answers the questions about the difference of the past policy vs. what is happening now. 

One major difference? They are separating asylum seekers–people who are not “sneaking” into the country, but presenting themselves at the boarder as seeking asylum. This father was so distraught from being separated from his family, he hung himself. This mother came from the Congo seeking asylum. She was then separated from her 7 year old daughter and was forced to undergo a DNA test before being allowed to be reunited with her after several months. 

Doctors from around the country are all calling for an end to this practice saying that inflicting this kind of trauma on young children will negatively affect them for the rest of their lives.

Most of these parents don’t know where their children are or when they’ll see them again. 

Shamefully, even the UN has called on the US to stop this “zero tolerance” practice of separating families at the boarder. 

My 4 year old was a little clingy this morning as 4-year-olds sometime are. She wanted mama, mama, mama. As her little arms were around my neck I tried to imagine what it would be like to have her taken away from me and not to see her for months on end, not knowing where she is or when I would see her again. I couldn’t bear imagining it for more than a few seconds. How is this trauma any different from your child being kidnapped? You can’t see or talk to them. You don’t know where they are, if they are safe or when you’ll see them again. Torture, in reference to this practice, is not an exaggeration. 

This should not be a partisan issue. You can be for stronger boarder control while at the same time completely seeing the morally depraved and inhumane nature of separating children from their parents. This is happening on our watch and we need to do whatever we can to make it stop. 

First, call your representatives! If you click this link it will help you make a direct call to your senators and even give you a script of what to say. 

Second, consider donating to the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU,  as they work to help these families in crisis. 

I hope you have a great weekend. 

XO, 

Miggy