I can’t help but wonder what would have become of my father, a refugee, if he had come to America now instead of the late ‘70s.

I would weep if his tale of liberation included imprisonment, deprivation, and humiliation within the confinement of fences. How my heart would ache if my “Abuela,” (grandmother) was told to drink from a toilet, and mocked by guards when she asked for water. How sick I would feel if he saw a child in the detention center die right before his eyes, when he was just a child himself.

My father came to the U.S. in peace, as an asylum seeker. He worked hard and became a respected physician in the Chicago area. However, his reality is far different from the many children and families now seeking asylum.

There are no secrets about the reality of the detention centers. When Vice President Pence went to visit detention centers in Texas, what he saw was evidence of a “system that was overwhelmed,” also noting that the smell was “horrendous.” Thus far, there has been no valid attempt to improve conditions, despite several eyewitness reports.

Until then, detainees will continue to experience an infringement upon their rights, including lack of medical care and gross neglect of infant needs when mothers are denied the right to clean baby bottles. These are just a couple of the many accounts that violate globally recognized human rights according to Article 6 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The government has a duty to uphold our immigration laws, but not by humiliating and depriving asylum seekers of their rights.

Michelle Rodriguez, Near West Side

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Mendoza’s gas tax math

Our van holds 20 gallons of gas. If we fill up with gas in Illinois, we pay 54.98 cents in taxes and fees on every gallon. If we purchase in Indiana, we pay 46.62 cents per gallon in taxes and fees.

Simple pencil-on-paper math tells me we would save $1.67 each week by driving over the border and filling up in Indiana. If we lived near the border, perhaps we would. In Monday’s Sun-Times, the Better Government Association rated as “False” the claim of Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza on a recent podcast that “Indiana actually has a higher gas tax than Illinois does...”.

If Mendoza wants the napkin where I did the math comparing the taxes and fees, I’d be happy to mail it to her.

Christine Craven, Evergreen Park