The view from the border

Like so many Americans, I was deeply troubled by the inhumane treatment of refugees arriving at our southern border seeking only to share in the promise that is America. Under the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, the use of detention centers and the separation of families is reminiscent of the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the “Red Scare” of the 1950s and other less noble times in our history. At the root of all these tragic episodes is a cabal of fear mongers demonizing and decrying “others” as the source of all our problems. In doing so, they blind us, temporarily, to our true values and inherent decency.