Families seeking asylum from violence, abuse and tyranny at our nation’s southern border are being torn apart, with young children suffering unnecessary and forcible separations from their parents. Some of these children are so young that they are still nursing.
I’ll be honest: As a physician who devotes my career to the well-being of children, and as a parent myself, witnessing the federal government’s sanctioned abuse of vulnerable children has been difficult to comprehend. Because I care for the well-being of all children, I feel a moral obligation to join my voice with other professionals charged with the care of children and families.
I implore you, neighbors and fellow citizens: Please denounce the cruel and unnecessary violation of human rights and abuses by government officials at our nation’s border.
History and science have a long record documenting the psychological harm that befalls children who are separated from their primary caregivers. In London during World War II, some children were separated from their parents due to safety concerns about bombing and were sent to the country to live with hosts. Some children remained with their parents in the city and experienced bombing of the city. After the war, when children returned home, we learned that the separation of children from their parents is more traumatic and psychologically harmful than experiencing bombings with their parents.
Medical professionals also learned about the trauma of separation from primary caregivers, from observation of children who needed hospitalization in the early 20th century. At that time, hospitals did not allow parents to stay with their children. Young children separated from their parents in this manner developed emotional dysregulation and depressive symptoms akin to grief.
Finally, you may have heard about adverse childhood experiences, which are important mediators of physical and mental health. People who experience adverse childhood experiences, such as abuse, neglect, poverty and separation from a parent in childhood, are at greater risk for developing a host of chronic conditions and early death from various causes, including suicide. What our government is doing to children at the border will have long-term consequences for these innocent children and for the future of our society.
In my decade of practicing medicine in Utah and in my conversations with thousands of parents over the years, I marvel at the devotion that Utahns bestow upon children. Parents, I know for certain that you would move heaven and earth for your children. You want them to have more opportunity than you had. When your babies finally sleep through the night, a piece of you might miss them while they are sleeping; it might, at times, feel like a night is too long to be away from them.
As a parent and as a professional who knows how we value our families in Utah, I can’t begin to imagine making the difficult choice to flee violence or tyranny, to bring a family to a new country with hope for a better life, only to suffer the additional trauma of separation from a child. It is simply horrific that our government engages in the abuse of vulnerable children in this manner.
These are human rights abuses. These are not the values that make our country great. These are not the values that we hold dear in Utah. This is not who we are.
With these thoughts in mind, I packed up my own children on a hot Utah evening to bring them to the Families Belong Together rally on June 13. I did it by myself, because my husband was returning home from his own journey for work. I did it in honor of the mothers and fathers enduring more arduous journeys, and the children in whom they place their hopes.
We do not have to accept our shock and dismay at government-sanctioned abuse of children at our border. We cannot turn away from the cries of children as they are forcibly, unnecessarily, separated from their parents. Our elected officials need to hear from their constituents that we do not accept the use of federal resources to violate the human rights of children and families.
I urge you to contact your representatives and senators and make it known that in Utah, we cherish children and families, and we condemn the cruel and unnecessary separation of children from their parents. We believe in keeping families together.
Michelle Vo
Michelle Vo is a parent and a physician specializing in pediatrics and child psychiatry in the Salt Lake City area.