I should have had a perfect Father’s Day. My son and daughter were here, and my grandson and daughter-in-law, too. I even had three of my wonderful nieces visiting from the East Coast, so I had extra affection surrounding me. I’m in the home stretch of these difficult changes to WHEN I GOT OUT. I’ve been reading good books and seeing good things. We’re about to go on an exciting, romantic vacation. Outside of a chain of continually annoying home repairs, I should be pretty happy all the time.
And yet…
Because of what’s happening in our country (specifically, the separation of families at our border), I’ve been in an on-and-off funk for…well, since November 8, 2016: the day Trump was elected.
How could I – or any American father – have a Happy Father’s Day when this widespread child abuse is happening in our name? In the name of the American people?
It’s too painful to think about, but it’s too horrible to ignore.
Is this who we as a country are?
… It’s certainly who the Republican party is.
But it’s not just Trump: it’s the whole rotten Republican party that has now welcomed white supremacist policies as its core belief. It’s Trump’s enablers, alibiers, and stooges in Congress. It’s Jeff Sessions and Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon and Ann Coulter everyone who goes along with them.
Either Trumpies lies about the separation of families --
Or, worse, they tell the truth: Stephen Miller – “It was a simple decision.”
What’s important to understand is that cruelty isn’t a by-product of this policy: cruelty is the whole point. Cruelty (“We’ll take your children!”) equals deterrence. They don’t like brown people coming across the border, period.
This is government-sanctioned child abuse. Listen to the recording obtained by ProPublica from a border facility –
Absolutely chilling.
There are exceptions: Laura Bush and a few Republicans have complained, but no one running for office.
Mrs. Bush wrote: “…this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart. Our government should not be in the business of warehousing children in converted box stores or making plans to place them in tent cities in the desert outside of El Paso. These images are eerily reminiscent of the Japanese American internment camps of World War II, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. history. We also know that this treatment inflicts trauma; interned Japanese have been two times as likely to suffer cardiovascular disease or die prematurely than those who were not interned.”
Even Melania Trump – through a spokesperson – condemned the policy.
But according to recent polls, 60% of Republicans approve of the policy. (Just watch Fox News.) So we really have a problem in this country.
Just wait until the Mueller investigation comes out.
I shudder at the thought of Calder – or any three-year-old – in a similar situation. These kids will be traumatized for life.
Caging up children, deliberately and systematically tearing them from the parents, is barbaric. Doing it as part of a calculated political strategy is beyond evil.
Here are some places for helping the situation at the border:
Sign Senator Kamala Harris’ petition, demanding that Kirstjen Nielsen resign as Secretary of Homeland Security
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox/16414c3cc745ca14
Sign the petition advancing the HELP FOR SEPARATED CHILDREN ACT
https://act.credoaction.com/sign/families_belong_together?source-fb_post
Give to:
We Belong Together - women for common sense immigration policies
https://www.webelongtogether.org/
United We Dream - the largest immigrant youth-led network in the country
https://unitedwedream.org/
Womens Refugee Commission - advocating for the rights and protection of women, children, and youth fleeing violence and persecution
https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/
ACLU - fighting attacks through the legal system
http://www.aclu.org
Kids In Need of Defense (KIND) - protecting unaccompanied children who enter the US immigration system alone to ensure that no child appears in court without an attorney.
https://supportkind.org/
Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project - providing asylum seekers with legal aid and community support across the country
https://asap.urbanjustice.org/
Human Rights First - helping refugees obtain asylum in the U.S.
https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/
La Union del Pueblo Entero - founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, a community union that works in the Rio Grande Valley from the grassroots up
https://lupenet.org/
Start to get ready. Election Day is November 6th.
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