# Separating immigrants from their children is child abuse.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/separating-immigrants-from-their-children-is-child-abuse/816206>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [June 16, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/separating-immigrants-from-their-children-is-child-abuse/816206 "2018-06-16T16:45:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 405

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**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/separating-immigrants-from-their-children-is-child-abuse/816206/405 "2018-06-20T20:15:31Z")

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> [@UltraVires](#):
>
> Children are “punished” in every instance where a parent engages in criminal activity in their presence. After a domestic battery incident, children are further traumatized by having to see one or both parents placed into handcuffs and taken away.
> 
> People in the system use that as a “deterrent” all of the time. We tell them to remember the look on the child’s face when you think about smacking your girlfriend again.
> 
> I feel terrible for these children, but it is not our fault that they are in the situation that they are in. Yes, we could choose not to prosecute their parents, but they are undoubtedly committing crimes. We might as well say that we shouldn’t prosecute domestic battery because the children will have to see their parents handcuffed.

I think the argument here, if I may be permitted a summary attempt, is:

(1) Yes, children are taken from parents when those parents are arrested  
(2) But domestically, that decision is made for practical reasons  
(3) Here, the apparent purpose of the “zero tolerance” rule is to punish the parents for their lawbreaking, as opposed to an unintended but necessary secondary effect

So when we put bracelets on a domestic violence arrestee, we’re doing so to protect his victims. We don’t want the kids to suffer, but we accept that suffering that comes from seeing a parent taken away because there are no better options available.

Here, there are better options available. There are even, I dare say, better options available if you want to continue to criminally prosecute illegal entry with zero-tolerance. The choice to do things this way is not an unintended secondary effect: it’s part of the plan.

I’d suggest that this is a bad plan for that reason, amongst others.

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