Immigrant separations "Break my heart"- Alabama opinion echo

Tuscaloosa Alabama opinion echo letter published in Tuscaloosa.com by Glenda Lee, in Northport AL: 

We chip away at our souls when we separate families

I have been reading the personal accounts from innocent immigrant parents with regard to being separated from their children at the border of the United States. Their stories break my heart.

I am a therapeutic counselor and have worked with numerous adults who struggle in their adult lives with attachment disorders related to the early separation of parent to child, especially of mother to child.

The anxiety caused by parent-child separation, especially at certain ages, is far-reaching and can lead to anxiety disorder, addiction and depression that follows the child throughout his or her life.

I know that...within politics, it’s very difficult to "unring" this (evil) policy bell.

To a large extent, the damage has already been done to so many children and I am ashamed that more thought was not given to the situation by supposedly very intelligent adults that represent the United States.

If we could all stop for one moment and reflect on possible reasons why parents would flee their country and their home to seek asylum elsewhere, perhaps then we could understand that there must have been desperation at the core of the decision.

If we as a people lose our humanity, then what difference does it make how successful we are with regard to progress and to maintaining what is called the American way of life?

If we lose our humanity, our compassion, we chip away at our very souls.