It’s No Summer Camp for Migrants

Originally published by The NY Times

To the Editor:

The acting No. 2 official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Matthew Albence, described migrant detention centers as “more like a summer camp” (“Official Likens Shelters to Summer Camp,” news article, Aug. 1).

I first went to Girl Scout camp at age 7. I loved it and was never homesick. We rode horses, made campfires, ate s’mores, swam in a lake and slept in tents in the woods. Whatever “recreational” and “educational opportunities” migrant children may have in detention centers, their experience is not like summer camp.

Most important, unlike these migrant children, I never doubted that at the end of two weeks my mother would come and pick me up and I would return to living with my family.

Ava Chamberlain
Dayton, Ohio

Read more:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/opinion/letters/summer-camp-migrants.html?mabReward=CBMG1&recid=18CVAx3GxyS6SDBerSypMSYTjzm&recp=1&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine