The small contingent wielded signs and shouted slogans for about three hours Friday morning, all concerned with the detention of young immigrant children. Congressman Valadao was not at his office.
“It’s heartbreaking when you see the pictures of those babies, and the crying. You look at the cages and the kids are really quiet.” It’s horrifying,” said Lemoore’s Connie Wlaschin, a member of the Jimmy Carter Club and Kings County Democratic Central Committee. “The country is better than that. It’s frightening. That’s kidnapping as far as I’m concerned.”
Last week Valadao did issue a statement expressing his disappointment with the Trump administration’s policy of separating young children from their parents. “The substantial increase of minors at our southern border is both a humanitarian and national security crisis,” stated Valadao. “While we must work towards a solution that reduces the occurrence of illegal border crossings, it is unacceptable to separate young children from their parents. This is exactly why passage of a compromise solution, such as that being discussed in Congress right now, is absolutely necessary.”
Hanford’s Valadao further stated that he is “dedicated to repairing the broken immigration system of the United States” and cited his personal connection to immigration and a “deep understanding” of the issues, especially as it relates to agriculture and the guest worker program.
The president issued an executive order earlier this week ending the policy of separating children from parents who cross the southern border illegally. However, the government’s plan for reuniting children with their parents has so far fallen short, and many children are in limbo as the government seeks solutions to solve the problem.
“When you arrest people, you give them an inventory of their possessions,” said Wlaschin, “And you don’t even give them (immigrants) a piece of paper for their children? What’s going on here? He’s (Trump) is using them for blackmail. Taking children out of their mother’s arms? That’s absolutely obscene.”