To the Editor:
I called my congressman’s office today to find out what he’s doing to stop the inhumane separation of children from their parents at our border. I was told by a staffer that Erik Paulsen issued a statement via social media on Friday, June 15, and that he opposes this policy. I had already read the statement and Paulsen used the expected words and phrases like “heartbreaking” and “just not what America is about.” Then he ended with this emphatic plan of inaction: “Tearing families apart should not be our policy and the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security should reverse this decision.” (By the way, am I the only one who noticed he left Trump’s name out?)
I asked the staffer again what Paulsen’s actually doing about this problem beyond issuing a statement and the answer was, in so many words, nothing. While Paulsen sits on his hands as a member of the party that controls all of Washington, we see photos of children in cages and listen to audio of children crying for their moms and dads. In the face of this, my congressman is unwilling to do more than issue a measured statement.
We have no check on the unconscionable and inhumane policies of the Trump Administration because Paulsen and others refuse to do the job they were elected to do. We have to hold him accountable.
Heidi Strommen, Plymouth
Plymouth Sun-Sailor, June 27, 2018