Taking Young Children from their Parents for a Misdemeanor is an Atrocity

Jeanne

Albright is regarded in Europe with some horror. She was the originator of the Iraqi sanctions program, before the invasion of Iraq. This cut off nearly all medical supplies to Iraq, and tightly limited food imports,  and resulted in the unnecessary deaths of about half a million children. She is regarded in Europe as a right-wing extremist herself, and people are shocked at her book, which of course makes no mention of her own role in American war crimes, which are well known over here. When she was asked, "Was the death of all those children worth it?" she answered: "Yes, it was.". fake history. There is tape on the internet of her saying it. It shows how things are, when someone like that, can pose as a moderate. Sorry, but I had to out her. She was hated here, in Europe, except by right-wing politicians.

Zoron, I sense as we progress through the tunnel there will be rise in group in the collective. I feel that people will become aware and will rise up against the GOP and the administration. The ACLU will flourish and teach people what is going on and help people engage in marches and peaceful protests. Ultimately, progressives will prevail, as we see the grassroots movements moving quickly.

I want to share the words of a Mr. Clint Smith, who I don't know, but who shows great wisdom on this exact topic. I believe he is affiliated with Crooked Media/Pod Save the People. I would cut and past them here, but his online post is not set up to do that. I encourage everyone to hit the link:  

https://www.facebook.com/WokeFolks/posts/1169253653214982

Thank you for this Laura.   

Former first lady Laura Bush wrote an excellent opinion piece condemning what is going on in the Washington Post tonight.  I was stunned to read some of the vile comments posted in response to the article.  It really does demonstrate exactly what the FB post you linked to says.

What I keep thinking is:  how long until they start pulling the kids of undocumented immigrants who are already living here from schools and playgrounds and putting them in these facilities too, as leverage against their parents?

I am not the only one thinking this way.  I live just a few miles north of the Mexican border.  A few weeks ago, I went to our local post office and was surprised to see a line out the door.  When I asked what was going on, I was told that the post office has been overwhelmed with Hispanic families seeking to get or renew their U.S. passports.  They want to make sure that they can prove the identity of themselves and their children if necessary.  

In our area, there are two border patrol checkpoints a few miles north of the actual border that we have to pass through regularly just going about our  day to day business.  In the past, the border patrol has pretty much just glanced in the car, and maybe had their drug dogs sniff the outside of our car for drugs, and waived us through.   We'd gotten used to just breezing through these checkpoints over the last 20 years.

In the last month, the agents have started  telling us to roll down our windows and asking us to "state your country of citizenship" and then asking us both what city and state were were born in, which we have never been  before in 20+ years of going through these border patrol checkpoints.   (Note: both my husband and I are of Irish-German descent, so we clearly do not look like Latin American immigrants. ).

Because of this change and all of the other insanity going on, my husband and I are thinking about starting to carry our own U.S. passports in our cars so that we have proof that we are citizens if we need it.  And, again,  we are not even crossing the border -- this is inside the U.S.

I know this may sound paranoid, but these days, it is hard to know what is coming next.   

Meanwhile, a facility to house these poor children is operating less than a mile from my daughter's house.  We have been discussing the possibility of protesting in front of the facility.  We are also looking into other ways to possibly help these children, but we aren't sure what we can do (yet).  

(As I write this, I am hoping that no one will write a nasty response to me here!)

Rosieheart, if there were a facility like this near my home, I would be out there protesting. I've been wondering where all the protesters are. Go for it!

I’m thinking protests are one way of putting pressure. And many could join you if you did. Using children as hostages is beyond despicable. Imagine someone kidnapping someone beloved to this poor excuse for a human. 

Rosiheart - I also live a few miles north of the Mexico border (San Ysidro crossing). I am also hoping someone will organize a protest in front of our local detention centers. One thing we can all do for latino neighbors, friends, etc. is to remind them that if they have a green card, they need to get their citizenship if able, and we all should be willing to chip in $$$ for that as well, so they can pay for an immigration lawyer. ICE/CBP is an agency that is completely out of control. It needs to be abolished asap.

Ah, we are neighbors then Laura!   :) I live in East County near the Tecate border crossing.  The two border patrol checkpoints I pass through regularly are Dulzura and Campo.   It's been a surprise to suddenly be getting more pointed questions from BP when we are going through the checkpoints.  (For those who don't live here - these are NOT border crossings, but border patrol checkpoints set up some miles north of the border).

The facility that they are holding children in is in El Cajon.  There are two, one for boys and one for girls.  So far, we've only figured out where the one for boys is located, although they are trying to keep the address quiet.  Ironically, the area that one is in is heavily populated by refugees from Iraq.    I heard on the news this morning that several legislature members will be touring that facility today.   As I said, my daughter and I are looking into whether we can do something to help the children there, or at least make their lives a little happier in some small way.   

In fairness, I have acquaintances who are Border Patrol agents and some are upset about what is happening to the families, but they are afraid to speak out publicly for fear of losing their jobs or facing internal issues.   So, not all Border Patrol agents (and I'm sure not all ICE agents) are horrible people.

Rosieheart, thank you for posting. 

Your description of federal agents stopping cars and asking for ID is an image of a totalitarian dictatorship.

I called my democrat congressional delegation this morning and suggested they up the ante in protesting the situation.

One staff person said, senator Markey agrees this is immoral.”   My response was that using the word “moral” is way too weak a word. The Republicans don’t care about moral. I want to be hearing my Congressman saying “this is an atrocity” and as far as negotiating with Donald Trump as he is asking the Democrats to do, the response on the part of the Democrats should be, “We do not negotiate with terrorists!“

 I also don’t care if there are people in this country who think what Donald Trump is doing is fine. It is an atrocity. Many Germans agreed with Hitler. I’m not listening to them.

If you have the address please post it.