We have a great country. Yet, sometimes there are blemishes.
One such blemish is named Circuit Court Judge David C. Dally in Missouri. He’s more like a pimple, really, a pimple on the behind of the American justice system.
Judge Dally terminated the parental rights of a mother because she was an undocumented worker. She was jailed for two years and her son was adopted against her will.
The boy, now 5, has been living with an American family, Melinda and Seth Moser. They call him Jamison. They all speak English. The birth mother, Encarnacion Bail Romero, is from Guatemala and speaks only Spanish.
I am an educated person. Still, I cannot begin to understand the complexity of the immigration problem we face. What I do know is that taking a child away from his mother because she is undocumented isn’t the answer. It has only made things worse.
The whole point of immigration law is to minimize the economic restraints undocumented people have on our country. By terminating Romero's parental rights, Dally created a costly legal battle. The termination of parental rights has been overturned. Back to court they go.
More importantly, there is a very confused little boy. He doesn’t know his mom. Taking a child away from a mother is against nature. I recognize that there are extreme cases when this has to be. The bottom line is that it is wrong. The lasting effects on the separation are immeasurable.
No, taking children away from the undocumented is cruel. Regardless of what any of us think about it, these parents are seeking a better life for their children. That is a very different motivation than what Seth Moser must have had when he reportedly spent a year in jail for felony possession of stolen property. He also allegedly has admitted to drug use.
The best interest of the child should be paramount here. The Mosers are all he has known since he was seven months old. And yet, the birth mother cannot be ignored. The best answer is that they all live together and find a way to co-parent this child.
If I had a vote, I’d send the bill for the lot of it to Judge Dally.