Every day brings another outrage from this criminal, kleptocratic, exploitative and corrupt administration. But of all the outrages visited upon our moral norms and sense of decency by this administration, the worst are being driven by Jeff Sessions, John Kelly and ICE.
Chris Hayes devoted an entire section of his show to an interview with the ACLU, which has been fighting many of these cases on behalf of families seeking asylum.
It is very, very hard to listen to, but do not turn away. The ACLU attorney relates the story of a 53 week old infant who was made to appear in immigration court alone because ICE/Border Patrol agents had separated this baby from his/her mother.
Can you imagine having your child taken from you by heavily armed agents of the state? A child who cannot yet eat fully solid food or speak, who needs diaper changes? It is evil. John Kelly says this policy Ian meant to be a “tough deterrent”. A deterrent against what? Refugees fleeing wars and violence and terrorism?
Here’s the deterrent I would like to see; I want John Kelly prosecuted and put in jail for the inhumane, illegal violation of the civil rights of parents and children. That should serve as a deterrent to any other Sec. of Homeland Security who even thinks about trampling on our rights in this manner.
All this is being done by an agency that has managed to lose track of 1500 children:
A top official with the Department of Health and Human Services told members of Congress on Thursday that the agency had lost track of nearly 1,500 migrant children it placed with sponsors in the United States, raising concerns they could end up in the hands of human traffickers or be used as laborers by people posing as relatives. — www.nytimes.com/...
The ACLU lawyers describe cases of ICE agents grabbing crying, screaming 2, 3, 4 and 5 year olds from their mothers.
Our government is doing this and it should be the biggest scandal in the country.
This is an intentional policy, created by Donald Trump and his enablers, John Kelly and Jeff Sessions to punish immigrants. It is implemented through documented directives and bureaucracy. It is occurring in a context where the President repeatedly uses dehumanizing rhetoric towards immigrants, calling people “animals” over and over again.
We have seen this before, children being separated from their parents by armed brutes. We have seen it during our country’s shameful history of slavery, we have seen it in the second world war, and during the settler-colonization of the Americas and Australia. And in each of those instances, we now recognize it as an evil, perpetrated by evil men and women.
So let there be no doubt, this is an evil policy, and this is an evil administration, led by evil people whose day of reckoning will come:
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. — Matthew 25:40
But that is not enough. These men must be held to account for their actions, in this world. And I hope the people of this country will begin holding these men to account for their crimes and abuse of power. I hope they will be removed from power, and that when removed they will be prosecuted so they may serve as examples to any others who come after them, that the people of this country, who are supreme will not permit such evil.
This will not happen without hard work. And it will not happen unless we push our go-along, get-along politicians to investigate and prosecute these men when we have removed them from the high offices they have obtained.
I urge you to channel that outrage into action and volunteer for organizations and candidates who are making a difference. That includes the ACLU:
Immigration court hearings are meant to be public in most cases. If you can, please find a way to attend one.
— @subirgrewal