Recent editorials from Louisiana newspapers:
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June 18
The Advocate says images of children being taken from parents on U.S. border are gut-wrenching to watch:
A defining story in Louisiana culture is “Evangeline,” the epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about Acadian loved ones far from their native land who must endure the additional agony of being separated from each other during their odyssey.
The story resonates deeply in this part of the world because family ties are so central to the Louisiana way of life. That’s why the recent images of children being taken from their parents at the U.S. border with Mexico are especially gut-wrenching.
As part of his zero-tolerance policy against those entering the country illegally, President Donald Trump’s administration is attempting to take anyone who crosses the border without authorization into federal custody, triggering their separation from their children. The policy applies even to those who claim that they are fleeing political persecution.
Immigration across the border has generally declined in recent years, though seasonal spikes in border crossings put pressure on border security. It’s a problem that’s dogged presidents for decades, including Barack Obama, who took heat for expanding the use of detention centers to indefinitely hold families who had entered the border illegally. In some instances, migrants were using children as a way to get adults into the country. Then, as now, there were other instances in which children crossed the border without parents or guardians, another administrative dilemma.
Trump’s more aggressive policy of routinely separating children and parents in such cases hasn’t been tried before - for good reason. The spectacle of Americans tearing boys and girls from the arms of their mothers doesn’t reflect a great democracy’s tradition of tempering justice with mercy.
Those of us who endured the federal response to Hurricane Katrina know all too well what happens when an overwhelmed bureaucracy is charged with implementing a wrongheaded set of policies that simply haven’t kept up with the times. The stage is set for a humanitarian crisis that conflicts with our basic values as a republic.
Our immigration system is a catastrophe of a different sort, but it’s a disaster nonetheless. The scale of the problem underscores the need for the president and Congress to work together to craft immigration reform that protects our borders while extending compassion and opportunity to those who want to build a better life here.
People are struggling to enter the United States because of what we stand for: liberty and justice for all. The ongoing tragedy at our southern border is a rejection of those ideals, and it stains the legacy of a nation founded and sustained by immigrants.
Evangeline, the weeping heroine of Longfellow’s story, would surely cry at what we have wrought.
Online: http://www.theadvocate.com/
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June 17
The Courier of Houma on the state of education in Louisiana:
Louisiana has a long history of mistaken thinking about education.
Our lawmakers for generations have treated education as an expense, rather than the vital investment it actually is.
We have seen repeated cuts to a system that was already lagging behind its counterparts in neighboring states.
Because of the cuts in state money going to our colleges and universities, they in turn have had to cut services and increase costs on their students - most of them from Louisiana.
It makes no sense, and it is absolutely the wrong way to encourage higher education and keep our brightest minds at home to be tomorrow’s leaders.
In a guest column in the June 17 newspaper, Nicholls State President Jay Clune points out the real-world difficulties we create when our politicians in Baton Rouge fail to provide for education.
“When you fully fund higher education, you put less of a financial burden on the students and families. A 10 percent cut to TOPS means that families in Lafourche, Terrebonne and St. James parishes would have to come up with an additional $760,000 to pay their tuition and fees,” Clune writes.
That is an excellent point. We don’t “save” that money by taking it out of the state budget. We merely shift the burden more onto students and families.
Or, we force our best students to contemplate leaving Louisiana to pursue educational opportunities elsewhere.
That is a shortsighted and terribly misguided way to approach higher education.
We should want our students to stay here to get their educations and to stay here to pursue their careers, giving us building blocks for the next generation.
When we make it more difficult and expensive for these students to stay here for college, we risk losing them forever.
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As the Legislature prepares for yet another special session, lawmakers must keep in mind that their actions in the coming days will affect the fortunes of students and families, as well as the communities that would like to see those students stay closer to home.
Education should be a priority for Louisiana. And it is time for lawmakers to treat it like a priority by making sure our universities and our students have the support they deserve.
Online: http://www.houmatoday.com/
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June 19
The Lake Charles American Press on a new adoption law:
A new Louisiana adoption law will hopefully bring a better process to help prospective parents avoid the pitfalls of the old system.
The new law limits adoption costs to $7,500, details of the type of paperwork necessary, and makes lying about the pre-natal expenses punishable by up to $50,000 fine and 10 years in prison.
Pro-life advocates pushed the new law as part of a package to make adoption an easier alternative to abortion.
“Existing law was ambiguous,” said Republican state Rep. Rick Edmonds, a Baton Rouge pastor and former executive with Louisiana Family Forum, a conservation faith-based group that lobbies on social issues.
“I call it the ’Protection of Adoption’ Act. It provides a framework so that adoption is not so confusing,” Edmonds told the Advocate.
The new law changes the word “reasonable” to “actual” when listing the types of expenses an expectant mother can expect the prospective parents to pay.
Besides the medical costs and legal fees the expectant mother can expect the adoptive parents to pay, the new law adds such items as temporary housing, maternity clothes and personal hygiene products.
The new law also excludes living expenses such as vehicles and leisure activities.
“Now you have a list of specific expenses, specific costs. The Children’s Code absorbs it all and the lawyers and the agencies and others who work on adoptions - and the prospective parents - know precisely what is required and how much it should cost,” Edmonds said.
Proponents had a gathering in Memorial Hall to celebrate a second adoption bill in the package advocated by pro-life groups, including Louisiana Family Forum, the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Louisiana Right to Life.
The “Adoption Option Act” aims at publishing a website that would provide expectant mothers and parents who want to adopt with an exhaustive list of the government agencies and private organization.
Promoting adoption and making adoption a more attractive option is commendable and in keeping with Louisiana values on life.
Online: http://www.americanpress.com/
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