In recent weeks, the personal cruelty of Donald Trump has been translated into official United States policy — and the human toll is staggering. The Intercept, which has done some strong reporting on the growing moral crisis at the border, did the math and calculated that at least 1,358 children — and possibly closer to 1,500 to 2,000 — have already been separated from their parents in only the first month or so of the administration’s “zero-tolerance” scheme. In addition, the flood of asylum-seekers suddenly facing criminal prosecution has led to mass trials that present a dystopian nightmare view of modern America.
. . .
We all know now what’s happened to America these last 506 days. The question is, What are you and I going to do about this? As some have noted since the early days of the Trump administration, whatever you would have done during the other great moral crises that have afflicted our modern world — the Holocaust, or the fight to end segregation in the American South — is what you are doing, or not doing, right now.I've put together a list of possible actions we can take to fight back. But for now, I want to discuss legislative solutions that are being considered.
Even though Trump initiated this policy on his own, with the enthusiastic support of Jeff Sessions, he now wants the public to believe that somehow the Democrats created this problem, and he demands that the Democrats solve it.
In trying to pin the blame on the Democrats, Trump is, as always, a despicable liar. He could reverse his policy in an instant if he wanted to. But nevertheless, Democrats ARE working toward a legislative solution.
In the Senate, Dianne Feinstein has introduced the Keep Families Together Act, would do exactly what the name suggests: prevent federal authorities from separating families at the border. As of this writing, it currently has the support of 43 Democrats and NO Republicans.
In the House, there are (at least) two bills under consideration; one drafted by Republicans and one by Democrats. And here, the GOP is playing games with these childrens' lives (which was the choice Trump made by starting to separate families in the first place).
While Speaker Paul Ryan and others claim that their bill will end family separation, those who have studied it insist that --- surprise! --- it won't:
The draft bill, crafted as a compromise between conservative and moderate Republicans, includes longstanding White House demands that would make it easier to detain children for longer periods, deport them more quickly, and make it harder for their families to claim asylum under the law. It also contains a list of other White House priorities, including cuts to legal immigration and funding for a border wall, as well as a path to legal status for recipients of DACA, called Dreamers.
But immigration lawyers, policy analysts and activists say that there's no language in the bill that overrules the Trump administration's decision to criminally prosecute parents, which places them in federal custody away from their children and is the direct cause of the current wave of family separation — nearly 2,000 kids have been taken from their parents in recent months, according to the Department of Homeland Security.So the Republicans are using this bill as a Trojan Horse, telling people it will end family separation, while instead it's simply a laundry list of GOP priorities to further curtail legal immigration.
Please don't vote for Republicans.
Although there is no bill currently under consideration in the House to end family separation, House and Senate Democrats have each introduced the HELP Separated Children Act, which aims to protect the safety and welfare of children separated from their families.
Please contact your representatives and ask that they support the two Democratic bills, and don't be taken in by Republican lies that their bill will solve the problem.
No comments:
Post a Comment