[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 109 (Thursday, June 28, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E944-E945]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         CHILDREN ON THE BORDER

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                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 28, 2018

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record this article by Ms. 
Phyllis Beren concerning children separated from their parents at the 
southern border.

                         Children on the Border

                           (By Phyllis Beren)

       As I thought about the honor of separating young children 
     from their families at the U.S. border, what came to mind was 
     the London bombings during World War II, when many children 
     were evacuated to the country to stay with foster families. I 
     recalled the war nurseries of the Hampstead Clinic in London 
     and the work of Anna Freud and Dorothy Burlingham, who ran 
     these nurseries and observed the children who were separated 
     from their mothers during the war. One of their observations 
     that has

[[Page E945]]

     stayed with me for more than forty years of practice as a 
     psychoanalyst and child therapist was the traumatic effect of 
     separation from their mothers. ``The war acquires 
     comparatively little significance for children so long as it 
     only threatens their lives, disturbs their material comfort 
     or cuts their food rations. It becomes enormously significant 
     the moment it breaks up family ties and uproots the first 
     emotional attachments of the child within the family group. 
     London children, therefore, were on the whole much less upset 
     by bombing than by evacuation to the country as a protection 
     against it.'' (p. 37 War and Children, by Anna Freud and 
     Dorothy T. Burlingham)
       I don't believe it is an exaggeration to say that our 
     country is now engaged in a war--a war to overthrow our 
     democracy, a war on our constitution and legal system, a war 
     on our principles, and a war on being human. Usually the 
     first to suffer are the most vulnerable and defenseless, as 
     we are now witnessing in the treatment of young children at 
     our border. We are giving no thought to the child abuse we 
     are inflicting on these children--in fact, we are doing the 
     opposite; we are turning a blind eye, which is the main 
     characteristic of child abuse. Child abuse takes many forms, 
     not only visible, external bruises. The wrenching separation 
     that these young children are experiencing every minute they 
     are apart from their families is a trauma inflicted that will 
     remain an open wound. Daily, we are reading about the visible 
     distress these children show--terror, severe separation 
     anxiety, sleeplessness, nightmares, crying, begging for their 
     parents.
       Why is zero tolerance an acceptable policy? ``Zero 
     tolerance'' implies a police state where torture or murder is 
     necessary if one crosses the border illegally. Zero tolerance 
     gives permission to commit child abuse by separating the 
     children from their parents. All child experts agree that 
     such separation is a form of child abuse that can leave the 
     children with permanent mental and physical damage. 
     Separation of children from parents is child abuse; it is not 
     an attempt to enforce the law, but rather an attempt to 
     terrorize the parents by threatening them with the permanent 
     loss of their children. Families with children can be 
     detained together if necessary, without resorting to abuse by 
     separating children from their parents, destroying the family 
     bond, and inflicting severe and often irreversible mental and 
     physical harm on the children.
       As a child, I had the good fortune to survive World War II 
     with my parents by my side. We were together in a displaced 
     persons camp in Germany in the American section from 1946 to 
     1952 before immigrating to the United States. The United 
     States Army, our heroes, who oversaw the camp provided a safe 
     community for the refugees. There is no comparison between my 
     childhood in the DP camp and the children separated from 
     their families at our border. Today, I no longer recognize 
     the country we live in.
       We adult citizens of this country and our elected 
     representatives know of this abuse, and we are nevertheless 
     allowing it to continue, which makes all of us complicit.

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