A Look Inside a Migrant Detention Center

Imagine being ripped from your mothers arms and put in a crowded room with no room to sit and being made to stay there for months. No food, no where to bathe and no one to help you.

Our ancestors came to America and I always hear "they came here legally" but that is not the case. Many immigrants came to this country the same way they are coming here now. Illegally. It's basically a meaningless statement because for most of American history, there was no immigration law. It wasn't until the 1880s that we had any federal immigration law of any kind, and it wasn't until 1924 that we began requiring papers of people coming to the United States. So when you say your ancestors came here legally, basically you're not saying anything because for most of American history, coming here legally meant getting off the boat (NPR).

These children are made to live in horrible conditions. They are children. They are scared. They are too little to understand what is going on but we still treat them like they are terrorist.

If you believe this is acceptable it is not a political stance it is a morality issue.

Every day these children wake up in crowded conditions. The stench of dirty clothes and crying children is too much to bear even for the guards that watch over them. They have been seen in tears and heartbreak in their eyes for the way these children are made to be held captive.

There are outbreaks of scabies, chicken pox and measles. The epidemic has become such a problem that it is now become cruel.

The revelation that more than 2,300 children were separated from adults at the U.S. border with Mexico in just five weeks quickly led to a firestorm of condemnation, while federal officials have been defending their policy, and criticizing the media's coverage of it. (CBS News)

Children are being punished for their parents only wanting a better life. These children are scared and unaware of what is going on but it continues on a daily basis that they are subject to child abuse. If anyone living in the US legally did this to children, they would find themselves in jail and the children removed from their home, so why is it okay to treat these children any differently? It's not. We are committing child abuse for every day they are in our care.

The children cried constantly. One girl seemed likely enough to try to kill herself that the agents made her sleep on a cot in front of them, so they could watch her as they were processing new arrivals.

It's bad enough, with so many illegals crossing the border, they are herded like cattle in a fashion that gives them no sense of safety.

“It gets to a point where you start to become a robot,” said a veteran Border Patrol agent who has worked at the Clint station since it was built. He described following orders to take beds away from children to make more space in holding cells, part of a daily routine that he said had become “heartbreaking.” (CBS News)

All of these accounts have been documented by interviews of present and past border patrol agents. It is heart wrenching to have to witness this kind of behavior when we are here to make them feel safe until they are reunited with their parents and that is not happening. They are not in jail, they are just being held until their parents can either come into this country or be deported and some kids have been left and their parents deported.

No one in America wants to believe these things happen but it does. It's going on every day and these children deserve better. Why should they go hungry and not have anywhere to bathe and put on clean clothes? Why should this be acceptable behavior from us? It shouldn't and awareness needs to be raised to make it stop. Feed them, bathe them and comfort them. It wasn't their choice but their parents choice to come here for a better life, yet we are punishing them. Some of them are not even old enough to understand. There are children taking care of children. Some as little as 5 months old.

Why are we allowing this? Only someone who has no morals or values could possibly think this behavior is right.

My heart goes out to these children and I feel ashamed as a parent that this is even happening. There are so many things the government hides from the American people and this is one of them.

We are made to believe that all these children are being treated in clean housing and able to eat more then Ramen Noodles once a day. Where is the food for them? Why are they only eating Ramen Noodles. A homeless shelter supplies more food then this. We allow it to continue and don't speak up to those in Washington that this is unacceptable.

How would you feel if it was your child. It's called Empathy. Putting yourself in others place. If you were made to live in Syria or any of these countries these people are escaping from, you would high tail it out of there immediately. We must be better people. We must care about the welfare of these children and their parents. Not all of them are criminals or drug traffickers. They are everyday people just trying to live a normal life and raise their children in a loving environment. We should be ashamed. This is not different then what the Germans did to the Jews. They kept them in concentration camps and let them starve and die. We are doing no better.

We are basically trapping kids, separating them from their parents and letting them starve. Some have even died while in custody and their parents are unaware that they will never see their child again. Its abuse in the worst way.

We must stop treating these people this way. Have some empathy in your heart for others who are less fortunate then you.