put in cages and sent to camps, that s not america. the separation of families needs to stop. that s not the america the world knows and loves. welcome back. today from tornillo, texas, one of the epicenters of the family separation crisis that has sparked outrage all over the country, indeed all over the world. yet the idea that this is unprecedented and not who we are as americans is unfortunately a bit of recisionist history. the truth is taking children away from their parents by government sanction or detaining them in internment camps has happened in america since its founding. for centuries, the children of enslaved americans, african and african-american were taken from parents. in the late 19th century, tens of thousands of native american children were taken from their families and forced to attend assimilation boarding schools.