This
post appeared on Facebook recently - and I did what I always do. I
checked the source.

And yes, it's
legit. My reaction was and is, "By what
stretch of anyone's imagination is this keeping our country safe? We've
become institutionalized child abusers and I am sickened beyond belief."
As one might imagine, some discussion ensued - most of which expressed concern and care and some reflecting the point of view that laws must be followed, so, logically, we must detain parents. I will not address that stance here.
What I will respond to is a comment which read, "So I guess I would ask....what have we traditionally done with children, when their parents break our laws and are incarcerated? I’ll answer....they go to relatives temporarily, or to foster care. I fail to see the difference."
First some background:
Since
retiring I have served Guilford County, North Carolina as a Guardian ad
Litem. We are volunteers who are trained to work with children who have
come into foster care and to represent their best interests in court.
This function differs from that of the social workers, who are to work with the
whole family to achieve the best outcome. In the past four years I've
worked with 17 children, researched and identified the services they need,
heard stories that would make a stone cry, written countless reports for the
court, and (I hope) done some good for each child. And so, off the top of
my head, here is the difference as I see it:
In North Carolina, when children come into foster care it is generally after social services has worked with a family to help them overcome whatever problem has brought them to the attention of the agency. If the problem cannot be addressed within the home, the children may come into the foster care system. So here's
Difference #1: The parents of the children being detained by ICE have not broken a law by entering the country. It is totally legal to enter and request protection. And I think most of us can agree that they did this to protect their children, not to harm them.
Difference #2: Children are brought into care - and by that I mean a foster home, not a detention facility - in order to keep them safe.
Difference #3: Every child must be assigned a Guardian ad Litem to represent their best interests. If there aren't enough volunteers - and there never are - the program has paid supervisors who take up the slack until they can identify an appropriate volunteer. And these supervisors also work with us (volunteers) to make sure we have the support we need to do what has to be done for the children we represent. Children detained by ICE have no such advocate.
Difference #4: Within a very brief period of time, each case must be adjudicated, and unless a child is found to be neglected, abused, and dependent, that child is returned to their home.
Difference #5: Social workers set up programs for parents aimed at helping them become the parents their children need and deserve to grow into the best adults they can become. And GALs work along side them for the same outcome.
Difference #6: There are legal parameters established to protect the family. Hearings are mandated so that family court checks to be sure the family and the children are being treated legally and fairly.
I could go on - and I probably will in another
post. But I hope this at least answers the original question.