US airlines join forces to oppose Trump’s child separation policy
The US president has now relented to global pressure
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Your support makes all the difference.A group of major US airlines have refused to carry children separated from their parents as part of Trump’s recent “zero tolerance” approach to undocumented border crossings.
American Airlines, Delta, Southwest, Frontier, Alaska Airlines and United airlines have all released statements expressing their unwillingness to transport children affected by the Government’s controversial policy.
American Airlines published the following statement on its website yesterday: “The family separation process that has been widely publicised is not at all aligned with the values of American Airlines – we bring families together, not apart.
“We have therefore requested the federal government to immediately refrain from using American for the purpose of transporting children who have been separated from their families due to the current immigration policy. We have no desire to be associated with separating families, or worse, to profit from it. We have every expectation the government will comply with our request and we thank them for doing so.”
United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz made the following statement: “Based on our serious concerns about this policy and how it’s in deep conflict with our company’s values, we have contacted federal officials to inform them that they should not transport immigrant children on United aircraft who have been separated from their parents.
“This policy and its impact on thousands of children is in deep conflict with that mission and we want no part of it.”
Southwest reportedly stated that they were “a company founded on love” whose aim was “to connect people to what’s important in their lives, not disconnect them.”
Frontier added its support to the dissenting voices, stating in a tweet that the company “prides itself on being a family airline” and that it would not knowingly allow their flights to be used to transport migrant children away from their families.
The opposition to President Trump’s policy of separating parents who have arrived at the southern border illegally from their children has been widespread. Last night, President Trump relented to global pressure and signed an executive order stating that he would end the separation of families and detain parents and children together.
Delta responded to this with the following statement:
“Delta’s mission is to connect people and we are against anything that runs contrary to that mission. Recent reports of families being separated are disheartening and do not align with Delta’s core values.
“We applaud the Administration’s Executive Order resolving the issue of separating children from their families at the U.S. border.”
Ray Lane, a spokesperson for Alaska Airlines, made the following comment to Juneau Empire: “At Alaska Airlines, our values guide us to do the right thing. Alaska Airlines does not support the recent immigration policy that separated immigrant children from their families.”
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