This is, bar none, the worst scandal of the Trump administration:
That is what happened to 1,475 minors swept up at the border and taken into custody by the federal government.
Gone.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement reported at the end of 2017 that of the 7,000-plus children placed with sponsored individuals, the agency did not know where 1,475 of them were.
Republican Sen. Rob Portman said, “It’s just a system that has so many gaps, so many opportunities for these children to fall between the cracks, that we just don’t know what’s going on — how much trafficking or abuse or simply immigration law violations are occurring.”
A documentary from the PBS program “Frontline” said that the federal government has actually released some of the minors to human traffickers.
This is an obscenity. I find myself grasping for words. Right now, either you stand up as a human being and say Hell No, or you’re acquiescent to the abuse and probable enslavement of innocent and defenseless children. If you have ever kissed your kids goodnight, have appreciated the fragility of a child, and human life itself … you must rise up against this.
Are you a human being, or a monster?
And that’s what I’d like to ask Charlie Baker. Baker has used immigration and “sanctuary state” status as a political punching bag and applause line. He has filed legislation allowing local police to work with ICE, and just yesterday promised to veto the partial Safe Communities Act amendment #1147 that was passed by the Senate. (Nothing from the Boston Globe on this veto — what gives, Globe?)
As State House News Service summarizes, via WBUR:
The amendment would prevent law enforcement from asking people about their immigration status, prohibit collaboration between Massachusetts law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and would bar state resources from being used to create a registry based on ethnicity, religion, country of origin and other criteria.
“This would assure police and law enforcement refrain from inquiring about immigration status unless required by law. It would also require police to obtain consent before an interview with ICE and inform them of their right to deny an interview with ICE,” Eldridge said. “It would also prohibit 287G agreements which deputize local authorities to enforce federal immigration law.”
Again, context is everything. Baker might have a point if ICE were a professional, responsible, accountable agency that respected human rights. It is not. It is now a Gestapo of the Trump administration, with the purpose of terrorizing our immigrant neighbors, tearing apart families and delivering children to the worst possible fates. We must throw sand in the gears of this machine, at every turn.
Shame on Baker for using vulnerable human beings to score political points. For our part, may we use our voices to pressure those legislators into creating veto-proof majorities in favor of the amendment. Work on all House members and these Democratic Senators:
Democratic Senators Michael Brady, Anne Gobi, Marc Pacheco, Michael Rodrigues, Michael Rush and Walter Timilty joined the Senate’s seven Republicans in opposition.
Call them. 617-722-2000.
You either side with this machine of abuse, or with humanity.
Amen and six sixes for this.
I was loudly attacked here when I used the word “Collaborator” to describe GOP officials who actively or passively enable the abuses of this administration. Godwin’s law was invoked, and my assertion that we are following the path blazed by Germany during Hitler’s ascent was loudly rejected. I note the use of “Gestapo” in the thread-starter, and agree with it.
In my view, this is yet another episode that demonstrates not only the monster that we have put in the Oval Office, but the cabal of Collaborators that keep him there.
That cabal includes our own Charlie Baker. This is appalling. On a related local note, Google reports that our own Boston Globe has not mentioned this story. A search of Google news using the phrase “boston globe migrant children” returns:
– A piece reporting that the much-feared caravan of Central American migrants approached the US border
– A piece celebrating the children of immigrants
That’s it. One piece to inflame paranoia about illegal immigrants, one feel-good piece about how well we treat children of immigrants.
Even our most progressive politicians jump at every opportunity to jail and shame child pornographers and even suspected child molesters (except for some who call for “nuance” if the perpetrator is ordained in the Catholic church).
Government officials appear to be selling children into slavery — and our local media won’t even talk about it.
Last sentence of the thread-starter nails it:
You either side with this machine of abuse, or with humanity
If your State Representative is listed as a co-sponsor of either of the Safe Communities bills (House bill is here and Senate bill is here) give him or her some love and encouragement. Ditto for your Senator based on Wednesday’s roll call vote. The Gov will not even need to get out the veto pen if the House doesn’t agree to the Senate’s budget amendment, and so far the Speaker is saying he has no plans to bring the issue to the floor because there’s no consensus.
The “machine of abuse” team has a lot of allies, including the Mass. Fiscal Alliance, which is getting one of their direct mail hit jobs ready to send out by early next month (they get all their “electioneering” done more than 90 days before an election in order to evade the requirement that kicks in then that they disclose the names of their top donors). A pro-Safe Communities position is among the things that can make you one of their targets. They’ve got tons of money and even more hate.
The sponsors are often illegal immigrants. Would you rather have ICE keep track of them?
Does your hate have no bounds?
I don’t hate you so that’s something
First, can you back that up? Second, I don’t want ICE keeping track of anybody. Only deport those who have committed a felony and whose return won’t cause bigger problems. Otherwise, if I were in charge of ICE their first mission would be to help these people become legit.
What a morally garbage response. Amazing that the only thing you could think of is to reflexively troll.