Memo to John Kelly: Foster Homes Aren't Meant For Illegal Immigrant Childrren

Yesterday, I saw fit to call White House Chief of Staff John Kelly a national disgrace.

Here's one more reason why. When I made reference to his NPR interview earlier this week in which he said illegal immigrants "don't integrate well" and "don't have skills", I neglected to draw attention to this even more egregious statement.

When asked to comment on Attorney General Jeff Sessions' proposal that mothers be separated from their children if they cross the border illegally, Kelly replied, "The children will be taken care of — put into foster care or whatever."

Foster care or whatever?

In fairness to Kelly, placing children of deported illegal immigrants into foster homes was happening during the Obama years. So it didn't start with the Trump Administration, but it looks like they will accelerate the practice. But thsi practice isn't a good one.

Many years ago, I worked for the state child abuse hotline here in Massachusetts. Foster homes are intended for children who have suffered from physical beatings, sexual assaults or acts of neglect like starvation. They are intended for children whose parents have maltreated them. The mothers who illegally take their children across the border are seeking a better life for them. A foster home is no place for a child whose mother is devoted to them. If the Trump Administration sees fit to separate children from their parents for crossing the border is doing so because of their color of their skin and the language that they speak. That John Kelly wouldn't consider this cruel and the cavalier manner in which he speaks about it makes him perfectly qualified to serve in the Trump Administration, but still renders him a national disgrace.