As I have mentioned earlier, “it ought not to be thought surprising that the rulers of a civil society should have the welfare and glory of their communities at heart” (165). Then why does the United States government fund, support, and enforce the separation of undocumented families via ICE? This is stripping a specific community of their basic liberties. These people, who statistically contribute to the nation’s well-being and economy, are being marginalized and treated inhumanely by being separated from their parents. The compassion and empathy in our hearts are being overridden by the improper qualities our government encourages in our society. A proper society has no place for blame, criticism, judgment, comparison with others, and the distinction of worth among men, and with the dingy and purposefully crowded situation these children are being exposed to, we are distinguishing between equals. All children are innocent under jury, but these detained are being treated as if they are guilty of crimes.
This is a heartbreaking situation, especially coming from a country that should be at the forefront of development and social justice. I believe that there are multiple parties at play here. Firstly, this is contradictory to the values that the US Consitution mandates, one of which is freedom. Evidently, there is a double standard here for the ones who were lucky enough to be born in a certain geographical area of the Earth which came to be called the United States of America at some point in history. Solely by the location of the birthplace, one’s life can be drastically different. This violates the rules of nature since Earth should be a place where people could freely roam and own the land they work for according to Locke. In addition, I believe that the individualistic culture in the US enforces the idea of “every man for their own good” and leads to such events occurring without much backlash from the majority of the people. This leads to the immigrants being treated like criminals when they seek help and are not able to care for themselves in their own countries.
You have indeed argued beautifully, for this can surely incites emotions and sentiments, to evoke pity which according to some a nature capacity for all human. However to look into the actual consequence of such event, a realist might say that this has been but a temporary embarrassment for the government, possibly inconsequential, as it is also a nature for us to be forgetful. While the narrative with prominent position might make people feel quite gratified by how freedom and rights are secured, setting up prisons, even concentration camps, to jail innocents is not a recent invention. 78 years ago there was internment of Japanese Americans, and now these institutions.