Mothers and Children Should Be Welcomed and Protected in America!

On this Mother’s Day, many of us will enjoy cards, flowers, brunches, and children who work overtime to show appreciation. Or maybe your kids are teens and will be less than enthusiastic. It happens, and you will hope that it passes soon. Some will start the day with church attendance to thank God for their blessings.

Mothers have a special connection with each other. If you see a mom crying on social media about their child going off to college, if you’re another mother who’s been there, you will gather to sympathize. If you see a new sleep-deprived mom struggling to adjust, other mothers will lend a hand or at least provide words of support. Mothers show support for children by fighting for those with special needs or who are part of the LGBTQ community.

For many moms, this Mother’s Day, it’s hard to watch the many changes in this country that seem to be cruel and unjust. This includes watching ICE arrest mothers while their children cry, or seeing overbearing men slam their children to the ground. Our antennas rise, and we realize something is very wrong in America. Mothers and children should be welcome here. They should be protected.

You will likely be confused, hearing how we’re being protected, when not being shown from what exactly, how these individuals broke the law, simply because as immigrants they crossed the border illegally out of desperation. You may find it hard to trust the women with crosses draped around their necks who seem self-assured and righteous. All is not right in America.

My grandparents were immigrants. Their parents came to this country from Hungary, one through Ellis Island and the other through Pennsylvania’s Washington Avenue Pier. All worked hard to become American citizens and provide for their families. To this day, I honor their courage and recognize the great gifts they passed down to me.

I’m not an expert on this topic, but it has always seemed strange why there hasn’t been a decent border protocol to process those who want to come here, not to allow the real criminals into the country, but to give those who are looking for a better or safer life for themselves and their children a legitimate pathway forward. Researching this topic will reveal much confusion.

A good border, it would seem, would have plenty of counselors, physicians, public health workers, and clerical workers to help people. Our public schools should also be supported in addressing the needs, including second languages, that children new to this country require.

I know I’m preaching to the choir here, to those who read this blog, that sadly, America has become a police state instead of a country focused on Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

Immigrants are used for the jobs many don’t care to do, but they are not considered a part of us. It’s hard to see any due process for not only those who may be criminals but also for mothers, fathers, and children.

I also wonder about the men who may have fled their countries to get out of gangs, who seek redemption, and to make their lives right. Aren’t we a country that gives second chances?

Instead of trying to work out immigration challenges humanely, here are the headlines facing us on this Mother’s Day. Several are repetitive, but no less disturbing.

Cuban mother’s case fuels concerns over children caught in Trump deportation push, by Mario Fuentes and Dave Sherwood. Reuters. April 29, 2025.

American girl with brain cancer reportedly deported while on way to Houston for treatment, by Adam Zuvanich. Houston Public Media.

Nursing mother deported to Cuba, separated from infant daughter, by Patrick Terpstra. Scripps News. March 13, 2025.

ICE Sparks Chaotic Fight After Trying to Arrest Mom Holding Her Baby, by Hafiz Rashid. The New Republic. May 9, 2025.

ICE deports immigrant mother of an infant and 3 children who are US citizens, lawyers say, by Marc Levy. Associated Press. April 26, 2025.

ICE deported an Austin woman and her three children. Two of them are U.S. citizens, by Maya Fawez. KUT News. May 8, 2025.

‘Fed up’ crowd in Massachusetts swarms ICE agents attempting to arrest mother,  by Paul Ferrell and James Liddell. Independent. May 9, 2025.

It’s also hard to forget the summer of 2018, watching as parents were separated from their children.

Human Rights Watch reported last December:

As many as 1,360 children have never been reunited with their parents six years after the United States government forcibly separated them at the US border, and US efforts to help separated families have not adequately reckoned with the severe harm inflicted on them, Human Rights Watch, the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP), and the Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School said in a report released today.