OHMYGOSSIP — Shakira has penned a powerful essay about child separation.
The 43-year-old singer – who is married to soccer star Gerard Pique – is a vocal advocate of social justice and joined forces with TIME magazine to shine a light on the children who have been separated from their parents and detained at the U.S. border.
She wrote: “I am the daughter of a New Yorker who was born to Lebanese immigrants amidst the great economic depression of the 1930s, immigrants who, thanks to their entrée into the United States, were able to build a solid foundation for themselves and their family before they finally settled in Colombia, where I was born and grew up.
“Colombia is one of the most beautiful and diverse countries in the world but rife with inequality and lack of social mobility. America, in contrast, seemed to me a place that was always held up as a paragon of equal opportunity and limitless aspirations, where anyone could succeed.
“How, then, could a nation built on the shoulders of immigrants, one that purports to hold family values in such high regard, have such unimaginably cruel immigration policies? What rationale could justify separating children from their families, with no intention of ever reuniting them, when the U.S. has prided itself on being a beacon of hope for those who come from places where not even basic needs or safety are a guarantee?”
She went on to speak about the 545 children, who have been separated from their parents with no resolution in sight.
She explained: “In ‘the land of the free,’ there are 545 children now stuck in no-man’s-land, at risk of growing up without a mom or dad, 545 children who have to go to sleep without someone to reassure them that they aren’t in danger at any given moment, 545 children who can’t hug, laugh or have any contact with the people they love most.
“It’s estimated that 60 of these children were under the age of 5 when they were first separated from their parents. As a mother, I think about my youngest son, who is now 5. I think about how he cries for me when he skins his knee, and the pain I feel if I am not there to comfort him. Who answers the cries of the children left without their parents? I cannot imagine the pain I would feel not knowing where my son was and whether he was safe, or the fear that these children must endure and the emotional scarring that is inflicted upon them.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online
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