((PKG)) SEPARATED FAMILIES / YOUTH FOR TOMORROW
((Banner: The Children Nearby))
((Reporter/Camera: Deepak Dobhal))
((Map: Bristow, Virginia))
((Gery Ryan, Retired Telecommunication Company Employee))
I was shocked to hear that the kids were being shipped here in Bristow. It, kind of, made it real to me, very close and very personal, to the fact that it brought it to life more than anything. I mean, I knew that the kids were being taken away and housed somewhere, but to say it’s in my own neighborhood, it just, kind of, set me back for a while.
Youth for Tomorrow is approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) from the house. I drive by it often when I go out to the grocery stores. I do believe that the Youth for Tomorrow is a place that they will get some help and guidance. But, for me, I mean, it bothers me but you just have to keep going. There’s nothing that you can, there is nothing that I know that I can do to stop it.
((Dan Ryan, Defense Contractor Employee))
I don’t have a reaction really to them being in the neighborhood. Once the kids are separated, if it becomes a fact that they’re separated from their parents and they wind up being here, then I guess this facility is as good as any.
I do advocate things that prevent us getting to this situation, getting to the point where we have thousands of people at the border trying to get in. I think we have to respect the humanitarian needs that these people have, but we have to maintain our borders. It’s just, we have to do that. I’m struggling a little bit here. I don’t know a simple answer. There’s an old saying that ‘sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind’. There are all kinds of sayings about tough love. And this is a case where there is an element of toughness is needed with respect to administering the borders. And we have to love our neighbor. We have to have in mind the humanitarian interest of those people that need help. Not easy.
