"Based on these procedures, it is believed that all children were with at least one of their parents as of last night."
"These procedures" are letting 300 (out of 680) people SUSPECTED of being in the country illegally go home from detention to look for their children. Our Homeland Security play-soldiers, in the passive voice, "believe" maybe children (many of whom would be American citizens) were reunited with their parents in less than 24 hours. But many were not.
We are talking about the big roundup in Mississippi. Much is still not known. Like whether the employers will pay a cost-of-doing-business fine for running with an illegal workforce. They hardly ever have suffered more than that in the past.
"It is believed." Yes, like the thousand or so children detained at the border whose parents the Border Patrol lost. (Maybe a different agency lost them; accountability is a slippery thing in Homeland Security) .
Mississippi social service agencies weren't warned of the round-up in advance. When you are playing soldiers, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement does, you don't tip your hand to the enemy. After the fact, schools (which seem to be in session) were contacted. Again, tell nobody nothing; to tell would reduce the swagger content of your human round-up. Yee-haw!
How's that flag pin in your lapel doing these days?
UPDATE: "We are a law enforcement agency, not a social
services agency," an ICE official told NBS News.
That is supposed to "explain" why social service agencies and schools didn't get a heads-up and why ICE doesn't really know for sure that every kid wound up with a parent eventually. Are Catholics allowed to work for outfits like that?
WWJD? Not this. I don't want to hear any Christians defend these Trump administration policies. Or say, "It's the parents' fault. They made us do it." There is an article on the WaPo site entitled "America doesn't care about children, the evidence is everywhere". I just read a snippet, because of paywall. But it is absolutely true that as a society we don't give a sh*t about children.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this incident will change hearts. My understanding of public opinion polling is that the public supports the broad outlines of our immigration policies: our borders should not be open, and people who cross illegally should be deported. That might be defensible - in broad strokes (although it requires examination and analysis). The evil is in the details of how those broad strokes are implemented. If those broad strokes are to be our policy - and it seems it will be - then within those broad guidelines, our policies need to be made as humane as possible.
ReplyDeleteSurely these raids were an election-season stunt. To make these arrests with no provision or consideration for the welfare of children - it makes me ill.
I thought "e-verify" was supposed to solve all the problems of employers making sure those they hired were here legally. Apparently it didn't. As Tom pointed out, the employers rarely get more than a token consequence. It does seem like a PR stunt to please the base in an election season. Which is why it is crucially important that the base's candidates are defeated in 2020.
ReplyDeleteFirst thing I wondered is what would happen to employers. Answer: Nothing. Why? Because Trump hires undocumented workers, and we have to keep the spotlight on poor lawbreakers, not rich ones.
ReplyDeleteYes, election stunt.
But private firms like ones who manage prisons are making cha ching by opening new pop-up detention centers all over the place. It provides jobs and boosts the economy!
Like Trump promised, we'd become sick of winning if he were elected.
I'm sure sick.
"But private firms like ones who manage prisons are making cha ching by opening new pop-up detention centers all over the place. It provides jobs and boosts the economy!"
DeleteThat could be a good example of a structure of sin, with our federal government complicit in it.
"We are a law enforcement agency, not a social services agency"
ReplyDeleteProbably true. And in in fact, there is a surprising number of other agencies, certainly including DHS and HHS, who are involved in processing, housing, etc. the immigrants.
But set all the interagency finger-pointing aside. The commonality among them is that they are all part of the Executive Branch. They are all scrambling, or slow-walking, and/or perhaps also just being their lumbering, heedless selves, to implement policies based on tweets and malice, and utterly devoid of proper planning, not to mention any humane considerations.
Pfft. Your party elects a maniac and then you want to blame the bureaucrats for being lumbering and heedless?
DeleteI think that resignations and pushback have been amply demonstrated by many public servants.
No, sir. Put the blame squarely where it belongs: On a dysfunctional party that nominated, elected, and supports Trump.
Are Catholics allowed to work for outfits like that?
ReplyDeleteHow about this: https://religionnews.com/2019/08/09/can-faithful-catholics-vote-for-president-trump/
Report on border patrol guards from ProPublica:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.propublica.org/article/a-border-patrol-agent-reveals-what-its-really-like-to-guard-migrant-children?fbclid=IwAR1bLMyK39PUgMk0CkNQ681prEr8gElleWrqB22KDbLd-D1aEQCg609b6nE