Readers React: Trump’s executive order won’t erase Americans’ memories of his inhumanity

To the editor: We won’t forget.

Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, we won’t forget the way you quoted Scripture as you justified taking children away from their parents. We won’t forget that you heartlessly insisted on enforcing this policy even after the United Nations, more than 600 clergy members of your own church and millions of Americans told you it was immoral.

President Trump, we won’t forget that it was your administration’s policy that started this mess. We won’t forget that you said “you have to take the children away” even after you heard the cries and saw the tears of these precious babies. We won’t forget that you used human beings as a bargaining chip for a useless wall across our border.

Lastly, immigrant families who have been separated at our border, we won’t forget you. We won’t ever forget that you have been dehumanized, tormented and abused, and we will do everything we can to reunite you. We will not forget you this November or in 2020, 2024, 2028 or ever again.

We will never forget that America was founded by immigrants who were looking for a better life and future for their children.

Caitlin Quinn, Fresno

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To the editor: It is very apparent that Trump knows little about history, diplomacy, economics, political science, physical and natural sciences and public policy. But the complete lack of empathy and regard for human suffering he displayed this week has real implications for the human condition.

Trump’s cavalier pronouncements matter because he occupies this seat of power and acts as though he is beholden to no one. And, tragically, the people who should push back against these dictatorial fiats are silent and complicit until it is too late.

America has changed. Trump and Congress have stained it. The danger now is that the president is making institutional, policy and judicial changes that will be difficult to reverse.

Trump must be replaced. We will live to regret this moment.

Michael Davidson, Altadena

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To the editor: I have PTSD. I haven’t been in battle, but I am witness to a horrifying situation.

I have a president who does not pretend he cares about me or anyone else who disagrees with him. I’m living in a country in which the only “facts” that matter to the people in charge are those created out of whole cloth by Trump, who talks tough but whines about not getting his way.

Now, our president has used babies and children as political pawns to strong-arm Congress into doing his bidding. Forget the family values claim by the GOP — it now supports a man who approves of ripping children from their parents with no care as to how those families will be reunited.

I can’t sleep at night. I am anxious most of the time. I have post-Trump stress disorder.

Linda Fermoyle Rice, Woodland Hills

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To the editor: Whether one condoned the incarceration of children as a lawbreaker’s just punishment or condemned the practice as outside the bounds of human decency, we should recognized that the facts were brought to light by our free press.

The picture of a tearful child at a mother’s feet, the news conference of Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, the signing of an executive order and the sounds of crying babes did not come into our lives as a result of fake news. There is no way for citizens to monitor our government without an active and independent free press.

The 1st Amendment is not fake. Our democracy’s safeguard lasts as long as we protect our right to have reporters question and investigate our government.

Daniel and Esther Imbagliazzo, Rancho Palos Verdes

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