In just the 36 hours after President Trump signed his bogus photo-op executive order on the separation of immigrant children from their families, it became clear that:
. The separation implementation is in chaos. Children are scattered around the country; many are traumatized; some families may never be able to reunite. Mendacity compounded by incompetence.
. There is no Administration plan to reunite the families.
. On the contrary, the Administration is planning to re-activate such separations. Homeland Security Secretary Neilsen has said so to GOP colleagues. The U.S. military is preparing to hold 20,000 children at four of its bases.
. The Admin1stration’s farcical “show-and-tell” at selected visit opportunities have prompted repeated cries of “Where are the girls?”
. While the children and families suffer, the GOP-controlled Congress is in passive wait-and-see mode and the judicial system prepares to study the legality of this atrocity.
Fortunately, the vast majority of Americans are now aroused, shamed and primed to demand more immediate action. And a peaceful revolt is underway, witness the early evidence (below)
The challenge now is to sustain this momentum until all 2,300 children are returned to their families.
And for all to remember this chaos inflicted on America when voting November 6th.
Journalists alert: The basis for keeping this story front-page –
Even when caving to enormous pressure on how he separated immigrant kids from their families, President Trump once again skillfully played the three-card monte* master.
The NEWSDAY editorial board nailed the president’s TV-reality performance: “Editorial: About time for Trump’s about-face“
“The administration has no plan in place on how to reunite the children with their families. Many are thousands of miles apart from each other, with no ability to communicate. It’s our responsibility to help them overcome this trauma.”
The editorial also noted the ludicrous Trumpian announcement itself and what needs to be done:
“Orwell ascended. At the news conference announcing the change, a roundtable of sycophants took turns heaping praise on the president. A few hours later, Trump signed his vague executive order, and then had Vice President Mike Pence and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen pay tribute to him for flip-flopping …”
“Separating families provided his first crushing defeat in the ratings, so he changed the script. Now Trump needs to fire the director of that disaster, adviser Stephen Miller.
“And Trump needs to learn a lesson. In the United States of America we do not treat humans as vermin, speak of them as infestations or abuse children to advance political agenda.”
The New York Times report on Trump’s putative “retreat” included the broader context of the president’s flimflam performance: In Retreat, Trump Halts Separating Migrant Families
“But ending the practice of separating families still faces legal and practical obstacles. A federal judge could refuse to give the Trump administration the authorization it wants to hold families in custody more than 20 days, which is the current limit because of a 1997 court order.
“And the president’s order does nothing to address the plight of the more than 2,300 children who have already been separated from their parents under the president’s “zero tolerance” policy. Federal officials initially said that those children would not be immediately reunited with their families while the adults remain in federal custody during their immigration proceedings.”
The Wall Street Journal: “Trump’s Immigration Choice”: “In classic Trumpian fashion, the President took credit for reversing a policy he had previously said he couldn’t reverse…But this was a problem of his own creation, and ‘zero tolerance’ is part of it.”
And, on Fox News: Trump supporter Geraldo Rivera to Sean Hannity on the separation: “Politics aside, this is cruelty as policy. This is an obscenity … History will judge us.”
The Business Community
A needed drumbeat from the business community can echo these condemnations:
Leading executives:
Thomas Donohue, head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: “Thousands of children are being forcibly removed from their parents by government … There is no other way to say it: This is not who we are and it must end now.”
Chuck Robbins, chair of The Business Roundtable: “The Business Roundtable urges the Administration to end immediately the policy of separating accompanying minors from their parents … The practice is cruel and contrary to American values”
Rank and file
Microsoft employees have issued this “request” to company management: “… cancel its contracts with ICE and with other clients who directly enable ICE … As the people who build the technologies that Microsoft profits from, we refuse to be complicit.”
Several U.S. airlines have refused to transport separated children, largely because of reports such as this one from a saddened flight attendant: “Children! Thirty-two scared eyes looking straight forward. We try to speak, et none speak English.” American Airlines statement: “We have no desire to be associated with separating families, or worse, to profit from it.:
All of us
There are so many ways to confront this shameful evil. Demonstrations. Boycotts. Breakthrough bulletins to Congress. Too many to be listed here. And so, this link to a comprehensive list of potential activities and organizations to be supported:
“Here’s How You Can Help Fight Family Separation at the Border”
Reduce this cruelty. And, over time, offset the shame wrought by a rogue administration.
_______________________________________
* Three-card monte – … is a confidence game in which the victim or ‘mark’ is tricked into betting a sum of money”