Whinston says he and the others could have flown to El Paso, about an hour away from Tornillo. But that didn’t feel right when so many people are traveling hundreds of miles from the opposite direction, to get to the U.S. in hopes of a better life.
He says he understands the immigration system was broken long before President Donald Trump was elected. But he says now, policies like family separation and proposed policies like indefinite detention seem designed to inflict the most pain possible.
“That just feels cruel to me,” he says. “I believe we can have strong borders and still be compassionate with people, that we can still treat people in a humane way. I don’t think we are being humane with people.”
