Immigrant Children

I’ve been thinking about the immigrant children situation over the past month. I have been thinking about my feelings over this situation and of those ordering this situation. Also, I have been examining what can be done to change the situation.

First, a little transparency... I am the father of a 5-year old daughter. That is all you need to know about me. Anything else from politics to religion does not matter where this is concerned.

For those living under a rock for the last few months, let’s review how we got here. On April 6, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced at the border that the United States would be taking a “Zero Tolerance” stand against illegal immigration. He also announced that he was sending extra federal prosecutors and immigration judges to try people for a federal crime. Normally this is a misdemeanor. As a federal crime, you can’t apply for a visa or legal immigration status, and it hurts your asylum request.

On May 6, AG Sessions stated in speech in San Diego, that they would be making it miserable for people to come here. He also stated that the government would be separating children from their parents, if they crossed the border illegally. Now to be honest here, most people thought that this was nothing more than hyperbole. Speaking to the base. Boy, were we wrong.

Between April 6 and now, the President (and his mouth pieces/supporters) kept claiming that the harsh enforcement was due to a Democratic laws and they were just obeying it. This is wrong. There is no law that states this rule of enforcement.

Unfortunately, the separation of children from their parents did not start getting noticed until social media picked up on the missing 1500 kids. Officially, they are not missing. The people caring for them just did not answer the phone when HHS called to check on them. Right, and I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale too.

Of course, this woke up the politicians along with the media. The video of the Senator trying to get into the private detention center has made the rounds. Senator tries to get in with camera crew; gets told to go away; police are called; and Senator gets a ticket. It would be funny if wasn’t so concerning.

Before we go any further, let’s talk about why people are coming here. In Central and South America, there is a wave of violence and crime. People are facing violence at unprecedented levels since the 1980s (Remember the Death Squads in El Salvador and Nicaragua?). Drug cartels, gangs, revolutionaries/terrorists and even some government officials. These are what people are fleeing from. Extortion, murder and rape are just a number of the reasons people are coming here. They are asking for asylum. They are not coming here illegally.

Now the law state that people seeking asylum have to present themselves to the authorities, make the request, and wait for an immigration judge/official to make a ruling. Nowhere does it state that children are to be separated from their parents.

Now think about the kids for a minute. The children range from 18 months to 12 years old. Think back to when you were a kid. How old were you on your first sleep over or trip without mom or dad? Did you get homesick? It has been reported that some of these kids have been separated for up to 4 months. Some parents have committed suicide over the despair and belief that they will never see their children again.

As I have stated earlier, I am a father of a 5-year old girl. She has a strong personality and will. But even so, to the parents reading this, can you imagine the terror in your child’s face if they are taken from you? How would you feel? What about when your child is asking for you? What is the answer that is given? I know that if someone were to try to take my little girl, I would be in jail right now for a variety of violent charges.

Small children need adults to interact with them. Talking, touching, and just plain play. The Trump administration has admitted that the current facilities are overcrowded. How many people are caring for the children? Infants and toddlers need more care and attention then pre-teens. And what about the long term psychological effects on these kids? Will the government aid with mental health needs? I doubt it.

With the overcrowding and more on the way, the Trump administration has announced that they are planning to create tent cities on military bases in Texas and New Mexico. For those that have served, you know what those tents are like when they are not air conditioned. Do you think that infants, toddlers, and preschoolers should be in that type of environment? And let’s call it what it really is. They are Internment Camps. Ask people like George Takei about their memories of these camps. (I won’t call them concentration camps, but it is getting damn close.)

Thursday (June 14), the AG started quoting from the bible that it was OK to separate the children. In case you are wondering what verse it was, check out Romans 13:1. Shortly thereafter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, at the daily press briefing claimed “It is very biblical to enforce the law, that is actually repeated a number of times throughout the Bible.”

As a daughter of a Minster, I would think that Ms. Sanders would get this right. And yet she screwed it up. It only appears in the bible three times. The first we have mentioned. The others are Titus 3:1 and 1 Peter 2:13. But as a government official, she should know that there is a strict separation between religion and the government. Using the Bible as a justification to imprison children is nothing short of what a ruler in a certain warm place would do.

The next question is: where are the family values Republicans and evangelicals during all of this? Is this what Jesus would do? Are the current batch of Republicans so afraid of being primary-ed out that they refuse to stand up against an evil? It would appear so.

What can you do change this situation? There is only one way. You have to contact your elected representatives. Call the Capital switchboard, they will connect you to your Senator or member of the House. The Phone number is (202)224-3121.

But that is not all you have to do. You have to call your Governor, your reps in your local statehouse, and your city/town leaders. Every elected official needs to get a call from you. Don’t sign some on-line petition or send an E-mail. Those have a nasty habit of getting lost or deleted. But jamming the phone lines gets their attention, especially if they can’t call their bookies, mistresses, or campaign contributors. Have your friends do the same thing.

In the end only you, the American citizen, are going to change this. Are you going stand against an evil or are you going let this slide with some lame excuse? What you are going tell your grandchildren when they ask about this time in history? And what will you say to that person in the mirror every morning? Time to decide.