Thread by @kazweida

For your #FridayFeeling today please humor me while I conduct a little empathy exercise.

I want you to imagine you are a woman in Honduras. You are one of 60% living in poverty, exposed to violence, rape & murder daily.

You also have a two-year old son.

cnn.com/2018/04/30/ame…

He’s little now but as he grows, if he’s fortunate enough to survive, he’ll be recruited by gangs. If he doesn’t join, he’ll be killed.

You’ve worked hard to save enough money to take him to a safer place.

It’s a dangerous journey that will take months.

nbcnews.com/news/world/int…

But if you stay, the odds are he’ll die. And you’d give anything to give your child a better life.

What mother wouldn’t?

After months of hardship, you present yourself at the port of entry seeking asylum in the US.

Your difficulties have just begun.

abcnews.go.com/US/asylum-seek…

90% of asylum seekers won’t be granted permission to stay in the US.

You & your child will be in detention where the holding rooms are called “iceboxes”.

It’s unlikely you’ll receive anything but a Mylar blanket. You’ll be held 3 days or more here.

hrw.org/report/2018/02…

After this, you face a terrible decision. You’ll be told you need to surrender custody of your toddler while you’re seeking asylum in the courts.

The odds are against you, but there is a small chance your son may have a better life.

Do you take it?

newyorker.com/news/news-desk…

You’ve already endured violence and a difficult journey. This separation seems cruel but what choice do you have? To go back to Honduras with no money and no options and place him in danger?

It doesn’t even seem like a choice. Just one more incredible hardship to be endured.

This is the impossible choice we are asking parents to make when they seek asylum from the very gangs Trump calls “animals”.

For children it’s hard to tell what’s more monstrous- the violence at home or the persecution we’ll inflict on them here.

#FamiliesBelongTogether