Official Statement from Mormon Women for Ethical Government in Response to the June 20, 2018, Executive Order
June 23, 2018
Although an executive order signed by President Trump on Wednesday ended some family separations at the U.S. border, it did so primarily by allowing children to be detained together with their parents. The order does not require immigrant families already separated to be reunited, nor does it guarantee that family separations will not resume. The problem is, therefore, far from solved, and over 2,000 children still need to be returned to their families.
Mormon Women for Ethical Government calls upon the U.S. government to immediately reunite these families and to implement humane and ethical alternatives to the indefinite detention of families with children. We also call upon the Trump administration to end its “zero tolerance” policy and return to the practice of allowing Justice Department officials to exercise prosecutorial discretion and reserve criminal prosecution for serious crimes such as human trafficking and drug smuggling.
Finally, we call upon Congress to pass bipartisan comprehensive immigration legislation that includes permanent protections against the indefinite detention of innocent children and the unnecessary separation of families. We are indeed a nation of laws. Those laws must be both just and humane.
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Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG) is a nonpartisan group dedicated to the ideals of decency, honor, accountability, transparency, and justice in governing. MWEG is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We do, however, fully sustain the leaders and doctrines of the Church.
