I am angry, I am very, very angry. I am heart broken to the point of sobbing. I am determined, determined to find a way to make a change. This situation is so much bigger than me, but it is not bigger than US. WE can make a stand and make a change. We can stop the atrocities on our southern border.
And I can hear it now, "what about when Obama...." Ok, lets talk about the immigrant crisis Obama dealt with. First, the immigrant children he was responsible for caring for were unaccompanied. They came to the border, without parents. Why did they come without parents? Some didn't have parents anymore because they were killed or taken prisoner in a country run by immoral leaders who care only about enriching themselves. Some children may have been sent by desperate parents who saw no future for their children in such a country. Their only hope for the child's survival being to send them alone. The parent may have been hurt, sick and unable to go. May have been arrested and forced to go God knows where. Can you imagine being so afraid for your child's life you are forced to send them on a journey of thousands of miles, alone. I can't.
Obama's administration may or may not have separated some children from families. They may have had to for the child's safety. They may have had to be separated because the parent committed a criminal offense, like drug running, assault or other FELONY crimes. Crossing the border illegally is a MISDEMEANOR. I cannot emphasize this enough, it is a misdemeanor. As I have said before, like jaywalking, speeding or running a red light. Certainly not a crime that deserves having children taken away. Certainly not a crime that that means a child should be tortured by taking her from her parents. Seeking asylum, not a crime, at all. A high schooler running in the hallways at school, has broken a bigger rule than an asylum seeker.
"Where was the outrage then" some ask. I remember distinctly where the outrage was. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was from the same people who are supporting kidnapping now. Not, NOT because they were heartbroken about the children, like so many are now. Not because the unaccompanied children were held in detention centers. Not because children were being kidnapped from their parents, because, well, back then they weren't. No, NOT because of the things people are outraged about now. They were outraged because they were saying "those dirty children are bringing diseases to America." Yup, not care about the children being detained, but selfish worry about themselves. They were yelling and screaming at Obama to turn the children away. "They aren't our problem." It was all over the news and especially right wing radio and Fox News. It was all over Facebook, and I'm sure Twitter as well. That is where the outrage was. It was appalling. "What abouts" being spewed by these same people, like Hannity and Ingraham on Fox, are 100% selfish, hypocritical and do not hold water. Just stop it. STOP IT!
Another "what about." Those supporting this administration and its horrendous policy sneer, "why are liberals so worried about "those" people? 'What about' the homeless here, where is the outrage about that?" EXCUSE ME!!! Liberals are the ones that fight everyday for a livable minimum wage. Liberals fight everyday for fair housing, affordable housing, medicaid and medicare, CHIP, mental health coverage, food stamps, WIC and good jobs. Liberals fight for all of these things while conservatives sit back and say to the homeless, "why should I have to pay for these things, get a job." Never mind a LOT of the homeless have full-time jobs, some have two. This "what about" is full of shit. The hypocrisy is glaring. Just stop it.
Back to Ingraham, she is comparing the child detention centers to summer camps. I don't know what kind of a fucking summer camp she went to, or worse yet, where she sends her kids to, but those warehouses and tent cities are not summer camps. I went to summer camp every summer from second grade to twelfth. My summer camp days were led by women called Patches, Owl, Quincy and Tassle. The days were filled with swimming, hiking, campfires and songs. They were days to learn independence and grow emotionally. They were fun, VOLUNTARY and most importantly, I knew exactly when I would go home and see my folks. I think back to those times of my life with fondness and joy.
I never went as a baby, nor as a toddler. I would have been terrified. Lets say, just for a moment, that the children ripped from their parents are having "fun." They aren't, listen to their cries. But lets pretend they might be. They still are not there voluntarily, they still do not know when or IF they will ever see their parents again. It is still not a summer camp. They will not look back at this time in their lives with either fondness or joy.
Now we have word of detention centers for "tender age" children. Children under the age of ten, all the way down to babies and toddlers. "Doctors and lawyers who have visited the shelters in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley said the facilities were fine, clean and safe, but the children — who have no idea where their parents are — were hysterical, crying and acting out . Many of them are under age 5, and some are so young they’ve not yet learned to talk" We are imprisoning, torturing (yes, emotionally torturing) and abusing toddlers in state sanctioned kidnapping and terrorism, and some people are ok with it. Not just ok with it, but giddy about it. That is frightening, ghastly and tragic. We are on the precipice of becoming a country that will be reviled by all of civilized humanity. A time in history that will be more shameful than the internment of Japanese citizens in World War II. As shameful as the forced separation of Native American children sent to "boarding schools." Almost as shameful as slavery.
Call or write your representatives. Now, today. Let them know this is not the America we should be, nor the America we want to be.
We will all be judged by history. Our future generations will look back on this like we look back at slavery. They will be shamefaced by this. Will you be an enabler or a dissenter. Will your family be mortified or proud of your actions. What side of history will you be on.
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