SOS Children’s Villages UK CEO Alison Wallace said: “There is no place in any progressive society for the forcible separation of parent and child. The scenes we have witnessed over the past days on the US-Mexico border are unbearable snapshots of an inhumane and punishing immigration policy. There can be no justification, ever, for risking children’s physical and mental wellbeing in exchange for political gain.
“SOS Children’s Villages’ work focusses on caring for children without parental support, and when we meet children who have been forcibly removed from parental care - whether through war, migration or persecution – they are often irreparably damaged by deep trauma.
“We welcome President Trump’s reversal of his original devastating policy but it was cynically created to serve politics not people, and as such always ignored its inherent potential to harm the most vulnerable members of its target group.
“Those who spoke out in their thousands against the violation of children’s rights - from across the political spectrum - have shown President Trump and the international community that we will not allow cruelty to children to be a by-product of political expediency."
Notes to editors:
For media enquiries please contact Lucy Prioli at Lucy.Prioli@sosuk.org or on 01223 222 974.