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This thread is about the new, Trump administration policy of separating would-be immigrant families at the US border as they come legally to seek asylum. This truly evil phenomenon needs its own thread. We must not become so inured to the malevolence of what Donald Trump has wrought with his presidency that the torture of families is now simply relegated to the 110th page of a thread on his other depredations upon this country's Constitution.
I have excerpted part of a column by Charles M. Blow to start the thread.
I
United States Border Patrol agents arriving to detain Central American asylum seekers near the Mexican border on Tuesday.CreditJohn Moore/Getty Images
"This was the lead paragraph of a New York Times report last week:
'The Trump administration said on Friday that it had separated 1,995 children from parents facing criminal prosecution for unlawfully crossing the border over a six-week period that ended last month, as President Trump sought to shift blame for the widely criticized practice that has become the signature policy of his aggressive immigration agenda.'
This may well be one of the most callous policies the Trump administration has instituted in its zeal to crack down on illegal immigration.
These are children!
On June 9, The Washington Post reported that 'a Honduran father separated from his wife and child suffered a breakdown at a Texas jail and killed himself in a padded cell last month.'
According to The Post, when the man, 39-year-old Marco Antonio Muñoz, was told he would be separated from his wife and 3-year-old son, he “ ‘lost it,’ according to one agent.”
Image
Marco Antonio MuñozCreditStarr County Sheriff’s Office
' "The guy lost his s—-," the agent said. "They had to use physical force to take the child out of his hands." '
The Post continued: 'Muñoz was placed in a chain-link detention cell, but he began punching the metal and shaking it violently, agents said.'
At another point in the account, The Post reported:
' "He yelled and kicked at the windows on the ride to the jail," an agent said. Shackled and handcuffed, Muñoz attempted to escape again upon arrival and once more had to be restrained. According to the sheriff’s department report, Muñoz was booked into the jail at 9:40 p.m. He remained combative and was placed in a padded isolation cell, it says.'
Muñoz would take his own life. A guard saw ' "a piece of clothing twisted around his neck which was tied to the drainage location in the center of the cell," according to the incident report filed by the sheriff’s department that morning.'
I can’t begin to imagine the incredible pain and anxiety parents like Muñoz and their children must feel. I can’t imagine being forcibly separated from my children for any reason."
When I read this story, I could feel the rage Mr. Munoz felt at his inability to save his child. Impotence to save one's child from capture and harm by others brings up the most primitive emotions. Some of us even feel it if someone attempts to harm a precious pet that we we have sworn to protect and keep safe. Think of someone tying you up and hurting your pet in front of your face. The feelings on the part of the protector and the once protected one at the betrayal cannot be exaggerated.
AGBF
Link to full article...https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/17/...-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
I have excerpted part of a column by Charles M. Blow to start the thread.
I
United States Border Patrol agents arriving to detain Central American asylum seekers near the Mexican border on Tuesday.CreditJohn Moore/Getty Images
"This was the lead paragraph of a New York Times report last week:
'The Trump administration said on Friday that it had separated 1,995 children from parents facing criminal prosecution for unlawfully crossing the border over a six-week period that ended last month, as President Trump sought to shift blame for the widely criticized practice that has become the signature policy of his aggressive immigration agenda.'
This may well be one of the most callous policies the Trump administration has instituted in its zeal to crack down on illegal immigration.
These are children!
On June 9, The Washington Post reported that 'a Honduran father separated from his wife and child suffered a breakdown at a Texas jail and killed himself in a padded cell last month.'
According to The Post, when the man, 39-year-old Marco Antonio Muñoz, was told he would be separated from his wife and 3-year-old son, he “ ‘lost it,’ according to one agent.”
Image
Marco Antonio MuñozCreditStarr County Sheriff’s Office
' "The guy lost his s—-," the agent said. "They had to use physical force to take the child out of his hands." '
The Post continued: 'Muñoz was placed in a chain-link detention cell, but he began punching the metal and shaking it violently, agents said.'
At another point in the account, The Post reported:
' "He yelled and kicked at the windows on the ride to the jail," an agent said. Shackled and handcuffed, Muñoz attempted to escape again upon arrival and once more had to be restrained. According to the sheriff’s department report, Muñoz was booked into the jail at 9:40 p.m. He remained combative and was placed in a padded isolation cell, it says.'
Muñoz would take his own life. A guard saw ' "a piece of clothing twisted around his neck which was tied to the drainage location in the center of the cell," according to the incident report filed by the sheriff’s department that morning.'
I can’t begin to imagine the incredible pain and anxiety parents like Muñoz and their children must feel. I can’t imagine being forcibly separated from my children for any reason."
When I read this story, I could feel the rage Mr. Munoz felt at his inability to save his child. Impotence to save one's child from capture and harm by others brings up the most primitive emotions. Some of us even feel it if someone attempts to harm a precious pet that we we have sworn to protect and keep safe. Think of someone tying you up and hurting your pet in front of your face. The feelings on the part of the protector and the once protected one at the betrayal cannot be exaggerated.
AGBF
Link to full article...https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/17/...-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
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