The FAMiLY LEADER President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats wrote an op-ed published by The New York Times, calling upon American authorities to enforce immigration policy with both “justice and mercy.”
The news media has inundated the American public with heartbreaking stories of children being separated from their parents after crossing the U.S./Mexico border illegally. Some stories report federal agents acting with outright cruelty.
The Trump administration, however, asserts it is only enforcing the law, and parents who break the law will naturally be separated from their children before being sent to jail.
Vander Plaats argues the government can secure the American border and honor American values at the same time: “We can have justice with mercy. It is possible to be ‘tough on illegal immigration’ without being cruel to illegal immigrants.”
And while many voices in Washington, D.C., and on the news point fingers and assign blame, Vander Plaats insists all parties should set aside the partisan game to do what’s right.
“Regardless of whether we agree or disagree with the Department of Justice’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy of border enforcement, we can all call on our government to do better. We can demand that the government deliver justice consistent with our values,” Vander Plaats writes. “President Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Congress: Fix this.”
Citing the Bible’s Micah 6:8 – “He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” – Vander Plaats asserts, “That means we should execute justice, yes. But not with the kind of cruelty we’re reading about from the border with Mexico. … We’re a better country than that.”
