Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #1081 - Children at the Border

This picture is from 2014, when a surge of unaccompanied children crossing the border caused Border Patrol to use temporary holding centers to house immigrant children before sending them to the Office of Refugee Resettlement to be placed with relatives. Often, the children’s parents were already living in the US.

 John Moore/Getty Images

Image used in -

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #1081 - Children at the Border

Hi Mom,

When things like this are happening in the world, I am glad you're not here physically any more to suffer these indignities.

The things that have been happening in this country since the election in 2016 are horrid. But this recent set of actions as children are torn away from their families, literally ripped from the arms of their mothers, in some cases, very young children, is detestable and abominable. I have said before the I am ashamed to be an American, but this new thing here, this thing with the children, is far more insufferable than any of the other things that made me ashamed of this country and the actions of this country's government.

So here's a fact check and some activism.

Speak out.

Protest.

This separation of children and parents must stop NOW.

Since I conceived of this post, the "president" has claimed to enact some legilation ("sign something" he said) to stop the separation, but will this undo the damage that has already been done?

Sickening.

So, first a link for SNOPES, then a message from moveon.org and then a message from Bitch Magazine.

Good stuff.

Good people doing good things.

It's about all we can do right now in the face of such unfeeling and monstrous behavior.

Find someone with feelings to hug. Hold on tight. It could get much worse from here on out.

FACT CHECK: Was the 'Law to Separate Families' Passed in 1997 or 'by Democrats'?

CLAIM

A "law to separate families" was enacted prior to April 2018, and the federal government is powerless not to enforce it.

That's FALSE.

See the link FACT CHECK above. NOT TRUE.

Our Take Let’s get one thing straight: ANY person persecuted by their own government or in their own country has a right to asylum. To seek protection in another country. To find sanctuary. Right now, families are coming to the United States looking for refuge. But instead of processing asylum seekers upon arrival, the United States, we, have decided to treat them as criminals. And even as you read this, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are ripping children away from their parents, separating siblings, and placing babies and toddlers in “tender age” camps, all in the name of border security. The greatest and most infuriating irony about those who seek asylum is that the violence and political insecurity they’re fleeing is—in almost every single case—a direct result of United States policy and actions. Imperialism, capitalism, and white supremacy created this problem, and as people try desperately to keep their families safe, imperialism, capitalism, and white supremacy are turning them away, and destroying their families in the process. While the U.S. history of mass deportation is not new (Obama wasn't called the "Deporter-in-Chief" for nothing) and children were separated from their families during slavery, the internment of Japanese families during World War II, and the forceful taking of Native American land after the 1887 passage of the Dawes Act, taking children hostage as a tactic to deter immigration is a disgusting low. Again, there is no law, no codified policy, that dictates that children must be separated from their families in order to enforce immigration laws. And yet, between April 19 and May 31 of this year, over 2,000 children have been separated from their parents at the border, and that number is still climbing. Depending on who you listen to, the current administration is denying that this atrocity is being carried out (DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen), claiming credit for ICE’s reign of terror (Stephen Miller, Trump’s domestic-policy advisor and proud white nationalist ) or blaming it on Obama-era policies and “the Democrats” (Trump himself). But the “zero-tolerance” policy you’re hearing about? Trump. Tearing families apart at the border? This is explicitly a Trump-era policy. Criminalizing those seeking asylum for crossing a border without permission, despite the fact that you must be within the borders of the country in order to ask for asylum? Explicitly Trump. Detaining pregnant women for indeterminate periods, women who have committed no crime, women who are seeking relief here in the United States? Trump, still. Encouraging violent and traumatizing behavior be hurled at those who need this country’s protection most? Trump through and through. What’s the point of all of this terror if it isn’t the safety of people living in the United States? Political capital. Leverage. As of this morning, Trump has announced that he's issuing an executive order to stop the practice of separating families at the border. The practice that his own administation announced and began implementing. The one he has been fully in control of this entire time. Many analysts believe that Trump is flipping the script so that he can use this enormous, visible suffering of families to pressure Democrats into funding his infamous border wall. Our laws are not new. Using the suffering of others for leverage in Washington isn’t new either. But ICE and the Trump administration’s horrific practices of enforcement have made our immigration crisis, the one that the United States is responsible for creating, impossible for a still-too-complacent general public to ignore. This administration, this Congress, is carrying out these tactics in the name of United States law. And, if you live in the United States, in the name of your safety. In your name. Don’t let them. Read up. And take action right away.  Media Roundup Detention centers are a literal nightmare. Listen to what it sounds like when children are ripped away from their families. The government is separating 65 children from their families every day.  [ProPublica, Vox] Here's what we do know about detention centers for immigrant children. And, devastatingly, information on "tender age shelters" for babies. [The Cut, The Guardian] How'd we get here? Listen in to this United States immigration policy explainer from The Daily or Lee Gelernt. [The New York Times, Why Is This Happening with Chris Hayes] The world is watching, as it always has been, and the U.N. has deemed our actions "unconscionable." [CBS News] Trump's senior advisor, Stephen Miller, sees terrorizing families at the border as our nation reacts in horror as a feature, not a bug. [The Atlantic] Even former FLOTUS Laura Bush is speaking out. [The Washington Post] And over at The New Yorker, Jia Tolentino explains why Pixar's Cocois a definitive movie for this moment. [The New Yorker] Ripping families apart is creating compounding trauma for thousands of children. [Vox] Lastly, here's Trump reversing course and claiming the role of hero. [The Washington Post]

What you can do right now Are you a spanish speaker, do you have legal expertise on immigration, and are you able to volunteer? The Texas Civil Rights Project may need you. [Texas Civil Rights Project] Donate to RAICES to get legal representation for uncaccompanied children now. [RAICES] Join the coalition of proud members led by Women Belong andattend a protest in your community. [Families Belong Together] Donate to Al Otro Lado to provide social services support and legal representation to families at the border. [Al Otro Lado] Follow United We Dream, the largest immigrant-led youth organization in the world and support their work to renew DACA. [United We Dream]

Bitch Media is an award-winning, nonprofit, feminist media outlet. We're community funded because we believe that there's no for-profit way to make truly independent, intersectional feminist media. If our work has to compete with a self-interested advertiser or a major investor, it's never going to be the kind of world-changing, movement-making, uncompromising work that needs to be done. It'll just be another contract negotiated in a patriarchal world. You like our attitude? Us too. bitchmedia.org | Become A Member

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from moveon.org

Just over a year ago we sent a message to our government and the world that Donald Trump‘s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement was not in line with the will of the people. Now I’m asking you to join me again as we tell the world that the American people do not give up on human rights. 

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/we-do-not-quit-on-human?mailing_id=40265&source=s.icn.em.cr&r_by=17996492

With the drastic increase in family separations at our southern border and the announcement that Donald Trump would quit the United Nations Human Rights Council, the world needs to know that We the People do not quit on human rights; we remain committed to the hope of the Human Rights Council. 

You haven’t heard from me in a while, I know. In March, my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world. As you can imagine, the days and nights have quickly turned into weeks and months. Between learning to change a diaper and having out resolve tested by the assembly of a stroller, we haven’t been able to partake in current affairs as much we’d like. 

But I cannot stand by idly as Donald Trump smears the reputation of the United States and endangers the future of human rights by quitting the Human Rights Council. So while my petition may not be the answer to our problems, it is something - and that’s better than nothing. While my signature and yours will not rid the world of human rights violations, they will at least express that we have not given up, and that is a message the world needs to hear. 

Thank you for your support, 
Patrick McHeffey


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Reflect and connect.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you, Mom.

I miss you so very much, Mom.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 1083 days ago

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1806.21 - 10:10

NEW (written 1708.27) NOTE on time: I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of your death, Mom, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of your death, Mom. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom.