As a parent — and a human being — I am horrified by the reports coming from the U.S. southern border of immigrant children being separated from their parents, let alone being held in cages.

Is this really happening in the United States of America? In 2018?

If these atrocious practices are real, they must be stopped.

Immigrants have been coming to our borders for generations, this new draconian tactic is unjustifiable and flies in the face of our values as the land of freedom, opportunity and supposedly family values. Someone objective must inspect and publicize the practices and conditions for immigrants at the southern border. I frankly don’t trust the Trump administration to fairly and truthfully assess its own practices, so any inspection agency should not be beholden to them.

The WHO, IRC, or some domestic but independent agency or person needs to get the truth.

I urge Senators Harris and Feinstein to move in this direction immediately.

Lisa Holan

Truckee