We are better than this cruelty at the border

President Trump’s policy of separating asylum-seeking adults from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border is morally wrong. It must stop.

Though some who knock on our country’s doors may not have legitimate grounds for asylum, the current practice is overly harsh.

Prosecuting these incoming adults immediately, and separating them from their children while they await adjudication, is brutal and barbaric.

If Trump and his team won't back off, Congress should intervene and pass legislation that blocks the policy and favors an alternative approach that lets families stay together while asylum claims are sorted. Extra time can boost chances of placing the children with relatives if parents must be held.

In a promising sign, Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Spokane spoke up Monday against the Trump approach.

Polling released the same day by Quinnipiac University showed barely a quarter of U.S. residents are in support of the Trump policy, and 66 percent actually oppose it.

No wonder Trump and his acolytes have resorted to falsely blaming Democrats and other past members of Congress for a policy his administration has actually chosen to enforce under cover of a supposed “zero tolerance” mantra.

More in the GOP should listen to Sen. Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican, who has stated that the family-separation policy is "wicked" and needs to end. He also says Democrats are clearly not to blame and that alternative procedures are needed.

With spouses of former presidents also speaking out from both parties, it is time for McMorris Rodgers, the fourth ranking House Republican, and other GOP members of our Northwest delegation to join moderate Democrats on finding a sensible approach on immigration policies.

Trump ran on and won election two years ago on a cruel platform, and Quinnipiac found a majority of self-identified Republicans favor – by a margin of 55 percent to 35 percent – the new policy of prosecuting parents immediately and separating their children.

Some kids are placed in pens made of metal cyclone fencing.

As inept as Democrats can be, they rightly smell outrage – not to mention a potential winning message for the coming elections.

No wonder Democrats have been staging rallies, touring immigration detention facilities such as the one at SeaTac two weekends ago, and kicking up a ruckus.

The administration’s stated claims – that families fleeing their homes or homeland in Central America and other parts of the world will think twice about coming – ignores the reality that we’re treating humans as less than human when we find them on our border.

Trump may threaten to veto any immigration legislation that does not reek of his own contempt for newcomers, but there is no excuse for Congress not trying to pass legislation that is realistic, protects our borders and is moral and compassionate.

Given how tall the order is, lawmakers should pass a bill that focuses on the impacts of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ “zero tolerance” policy.

This story was originally published June 19, 2018 at 9:40 AM with the headline "We are better than this cruelty at the border."