There is nothing new about the United States government separating children from families. It was done very extensively as the country expanded to the west. This notion was based on Christian ideology and cultural prejudice.

Many young Native American children were separated from their families by force to indoctrinate them into white European culture. They were placed in boarding schools, forced to give up their language and heritage and not allowed to return home.

The news media have been focusing on how our federal government has recently placed the children of migrants in concentration camps. Yes, concentration camps that have armed guards, tools to corral the children and minimum shelter.

The disgusting aspect of all this is that our federal government has created a convoluted system of abandoning these children by not “processing” them. What does “processing” mean and what are these children’s future?

Vice President Mike Pence is now using Christian ideology to support the separation of children from their families for the means of his own end. So much for the idea of the separation of church and state.

Why are the citizens of the United States allowing the Trump administration to use emotional and psychological torture on families? Vice President Pence has demonstrated just how prejudiced and biased the Trump administration has been all along based on warping Christian beliefs and values to a self-justified cruel torture. Shame on all of us for letting this happen in our country.

Paul Baresel

Buxton