The Ethical Question in Separating Families: A Critical Analysis

This essay explores the ethical dimensions of the Department of Homeland Security's policy of separating families at the US border during illegal crossings. It argues that this policy violates human rights and international law, highlighting the trauma inflicted on children housed in army bases or cages after separation from their parents. The essay critiques the policy's justification as a deterrent to illegal immigration, pointing out its negative impact on seasonal workers and asylum seekers. It also raises concerns about the well-being and potential trafficking of separated children, questioning the government's commitment to their welfare. The analysis concludes that the policy is unethical, inhumane, and reflects a failure in managing illegal immigration effectively, urging for a reevaluation of practices that prioritize human rights and family unity.

Running head: ETHICAL QUESTION IN SEPARATING FAMILIES
ETHICAL QUESTION IN SEPARATING FAMILIES
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1ETHICAL QUESTION IN SEPARATING FAMILIES
The aim of this essay is to discuss the ethical perspective of the controversial policy of
Department of Homeland Security to separate parents from their children during the illegal
border crossing. Despite the fact that there are several political reasons regarding the validity and
application of the illegal migration, there are ethical questions regarding the breaking of the
families to maintain the prosecution of the undocumented people crossing the border (Amuedo-
Dorantes, Pozo & Puttitanun, 2015). This essay will be discussing various facets of validity of
this controversial policy of Department of Homeland Security and showcase the position against
the application of this inhuman policy.
The recent incidents of separating the children from the migrant families trespassing the
United States by the Trump administration has violated the human rights of these people as well
as the international law (Gallo & Link, 2016). Due to this immigration policy, the illegal
immigrants are being arrested and the government are taking the custody of their children in lieu
of taking care of their human services and health needs. However, in this regard, the human
rights department of the country is not supporting this policy at all rather asking for putting end
to this practice as there are some other issues emerging as an unexpected outcome. This policy is
completely illegal as the children cannot be separated from the parents without their consent.
Secondly, the health care or benefits provided by the government to these children are not
effective as these are actually being traumatic due to their separation from their parents.
After their separation from the parents, these children are housed in the army bases and in
some cases, they are being kept in the cages which is beyond human thinking. In addition to this,
the government while applying these facilities has lost track of more than 1500 children whom
the human rights department are thinking, lost or captured by the human traffickers (Cumming-
Bruce, 2018). The government of the country cannot take such initiative where the lives of these

2ETHICAL QUESTION IN SEPARATING FAMILIES
children are in tremendous uncertainty and leading the country to face mass killing of such
children. This policy is cruel as this have mixed up the ethics with law. The legal processes are
for serving human and help them to attain their rights but this law is doing exactly the opposite
(Dreby, 2015). The government in the name of protecting the security of the country overturn
the human rights regulation established by the United Nations. This regulation is immoral, cruel
and inhuman as the killing of the children by the Nazis in the concentration camp in second
world war.
It is true that the US government has issued this kind of policy to discourage the illegal
immigration. The main aim of this policy is to discourage the immigrants entering illegally in the
territory of the US government and break the law of this country (Torres et al., 2018). This
policy also aims to threaten the adults falsely carrying children claiming to be their parents and
enter the country and get the scope to enter the country on the emotional ground. These are the
reasons; the government has been increasing strict measures to reduce the illegal migration in the
names of labor or asylum in the country. Moreover, these children are in better position as the
migration control program has been priorities the effective protection and care of these children
and provide them with all the facilities which they would not have gained from their parents or in
their own homeland.
According to the human rights department of the country as well as the United Nations
commission for human rights have pointed out that most of these immigrants are the seasonal
workers and people seeking asylum for various other reasons. These people are not essentially
aiming to break the laws of the country rather meet the human resource demand of the counry.
This year, due to this type of policy applied by the US government, the seasonal workers are not
being able to enter the country (Washingtonpost.com, 2018). Despite of the fact that many of

3ETHICAL QUESTION IN SEPARATING FAMILIES
them have proper document for entering the country. The trauma of the consequence resulted by
this regulation has reduced the number of these people seeking job in US. This practice amounts
to unlawful interference in family life in one hand and serious violation of the rights of the child.
In case of the families seeking for asylum face more violent blow. In spite of seeking for
asylum, the government of the US, has been terming these families to have no proper document
to enter the territory (Dreby, 2015). Even if the families are entering the country for asylum
somehow, their children are being caged for security reasons. In addition to this, the government
has not allowed the media to capture images and footage of these children due to privacy
concerns. On the contrary in the have been handed out by the government as the evidences of
keeping these children under good care, do not have any images of the girls. This have given rise
to the controversy of the actual intension of the government as well as the security of these
children separated from their parents which crossing border illegally.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the US government has been continuing to show its
incapability in managing illegal immigration. The policy of Department of Homeland Security
has been attacked by the UN and the country’s own human rights department regarding the
inhumanity supported by the government to prevent illegal border crossing. The children of thee
illegal immigrants are housed in the army bases and often they are being kept in the cages
temporarily. Despite the fact the government aims to threaten these immigrants so that they do
not trespass the country illegally but this idea of separating the children from their parents is
completely unethical. There is no law that can separate the children from their parents. These are
the reasons why the government is being opposed in every section of the society.

4ETHICAL QUESTION IN SEPARATING FAMILIES
References:
Amuedo-Dorantes, C., Pozo, S., & Puttitanun, T. (2015). Immigration enforcement, parent–child
separations, and intent to remigrate by Central American deportees. Demography, 52(6),
1825-1851.
Cumming-Bruce, N. (2018). Taking Migrant Children From Parents Is Illegal, U.N. Tells U.S.
Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/05/world/americas/us-un-migrant-
children-families.html
Dreby, J. (2015). US immigration policy and family separation: The consequences for children's
well-being. Social Science & Medicine, 132, 245-251.
Dreby, J. (2015). Everyday illegal: When policies undermine immigrant families. Univ of
California Press.
Gallo, S., & Link, H. (2016). Exploring the borderlands: Elementary school teachers’ navigation
of immigration practices in a new Latino diaspora community. Journal of Latinos and
Education, 15(3), 180-196.
Torres, S. A., Santiago, C. D., Walts, K. K., & Richards, M. H. (2018). Immigration policy,
practices, and procedures: The impact on the mental health of Mexican and Central
American youth and families. American Psychologist.
Washingtonpost.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/q-and-a-
understanding-the-controversy-over-separating-families-at-the-border/
2018/06/19/8a61664a-73fb-11e8-be2f-d40578877b7b_story.html?
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