BRATTLEBORO-Recently, The New York Times reported the Trump regime plans to cut legal-aid funds for migrant children. Under this policy, 25,000 unaccompanied children will lose their legal representation that is provided by volunteer U.S.-based nonprofit advocacy groups.
These children, as young as 2 years old, have escaped trafficking, trauma, and abuse and could be forcibly repatriated to further harm. This appears to be an open violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
In 1864, the U.S. Cavalry, led by Col. John M. Chivington, attacked peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho in Colorado near Fort Lyon. In this event, known as the Sand Creek Massacre, as many as 200 Native American people were killed, including many children.
Asked why children were deliberately targeted, Chivington stated that we "kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice."
This decorated military commander was also a Methodist minister.
As citizens, how should we calibrate what a civilized society actually is?
Tim Kipp
Brattleboro
This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons.
This piece, published in print in the Voices section or as a column in the news sections, represents the opinion of the writer. In the newspaper and on this website, we strive to ensure that opinions are based on fair expression of established fact. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, The Commons is reviewing and developing more precise policies about editing of opinions and our role and our responsibility and standards in fact-checking our own work and the contributions to the newspaper. In the meantime, we heartily encourage civil and productive responses at [email protected].