As parents of two young girls, Emmet O’Reilly and Hilary Evans Cameron were shocked to learn of the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant policy that separates children from their parents in custody.“I can’t imagine the trauma for the kids being taken away from their parents. It’s just vicious and cruel,” said O’Reilly, a Toronto nurse practitioner. “Americans are not vicious, cruel people, but it happens because of apathy. We can’t sit down and let it happen.”The couple will join a Toronto rally on Wednesday — World Refugee Day — in front of the Ingram Dr. office of Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen to protest against the increased enforcement of a policy that allows U.S. authorities to criminally prosecute anyone caught crossing the U.S. border illegally. Last month, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions called on border patrols to show zero tolerance, even for asylum seekers arriving with family. In the past, migrant parents were released more quickly than those who came alone.“If you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you and that child will be separated from you,” Sessions said in May. “If you don’t like that, then don’t smuggle children over the border.”Nearly 2,000 children were separated from their families over a six-week period in April and May after Sessions announced the policy, which refers all cases of illegal item for criminal prosecution. U.S. protocol prohibits detaining children with their parents because the children are not charged with a crime and the parents are.Read more: Separation of children from parents at U.S.-Mexico border causing rift between GOP leaders, White HouseTrump administration adopts border policy previously spurned as inhumaneSessions cites Bible to defend separating children from families at the U.S.-Mexico borderChildren are taken to shelters, and relatives, if they can be located, are asked to take over ...
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