Illegal immigrants crossing the U.S Mexican border have two options from the Trump administrators: they either leave the country with their kids or continue to be in the country illegally and have their kids taken elsewhere. There is difficulty between the choices because individuals have their reasons on to why they migrated into the United States. President Donald Trump sent out a “Zero Tolerance Policy” on June 20, 2018, which stated that illegal immigrants would not be permitted on American soil with an asylum claim. The immigration policy became a worldwide issue because many members within White House are debating about if it should end. Former Presidents Barack Obama and George Bush were already working towards solutions for immigrants illegally coming in the United States. During 2003-2005, Bush was arresting illegal immigrants crossing over and introduced “Operation Streamline,” a zero-tolerance policy for illegal border crossing. The following U.S president, Barack Obama, made sure that his administration would continue enforcing Operation Streamline.

Many opinions about the separation of children from parents are being investigated to see if it violated any human rights. Melanie Samuel, a basketball coach at Wheeler High School, states, “I believe that the administration dropped the ball on the organization of managing the situation. We never put ourselves in the shoes of others. Think about how you would feel if your child was lost in a foreign country with no set up to get your child back.” Her words make people consider empathy for others because everyone has their own story of why they chose to come into a new country. A sophomore named Abraham Hernandez believes, “…being split from your parents can lead to conflict in that child’s future because their parents were not there to raise them properly.” He explains how the Zero-Tolerance policy causes a disturbance in children’s lives in result of having to grow up in a country that does not care for their family, nor their future.

Donald Trump wants to protect America by filtering who is coming in and out of the country, which is respectable as our country’s leader. I believe the United States Government’s primary job is to protect its citizens and provide a military to protect the nation. Illegal immigrants should be dealt with in a way where there is no harm to the children or their families. They should be known to the government, but not rounded up with families being broken. On the other hand, the separation of children and parents is wrong because a child needs their parents. Not being raised by your parents causes trauma in their lives, because they are not taught the morals of working hard and being compassionate towards others. Then, they grow up becoming troubled people, committing many crimes which will make the crime rates increase.

I was born in China, but my first adopted parents ensured I became a citizen of America. I never knew my birth parents, but I am going to work to make something of myself. My biological parents not killing me due to being medically affected influenced me to prove to them that I wasn’t a mistake to have. Most children are sometimes put down if they are medically affected in China because the parents can’t take care of them.  I know how it feels to go into a whole new country and I can’t imagine knowing your birth parents and being torn from them. There are better ways to keep illegal immigrants families together and to help their situation out without hurting them.