Donald Trump separated kids from parents at border

Immigration, both legal and illegal, has long been an emotional issue for the United States, as the debate centered, mostly, if not always acknowledged, on just who, and what defines an American; especially for those whose ancestry is far removed from the bakers dozen of the former British colonies. 

In an attempt to force the issue, and keep campaign promises to push identity politics, and to keep a campaign promise on the building of the long-promised wall on the nation’s Southern border, Donald Trump, as president, issued an executive order to separate over 2,000 children from those illegally crossing the border with their parents.

The result was the thunderous response of condemnation, both domestic and international, which also brought bipartisan denunciation to an issue that was straight out of the Stephen Bannon playbook, but without the former presidential advisor to stage manage the madness.

With the fall out and then censure of the president and the Republican party, plus the blow to American ideals, all but forced Trump to rescind the order on Wednesday.

The damage was done, and the image of American Democracy, not only chipped the historical and value laden vision of America, but made it also seem like a cruel joke. 

Adding to the horror, on an audio tape released to the press and the social media scions, one could hear the cries of children, wailing for Mama and Papi, and, with some guards mocking the children, saying, “We’ve got an orchestra here, all we need is a conductor!”

Against this background of horror and shock were the following comments on YouTube:

“Damn! This man is trying so hard to do the right thing at every opportunity, maybe his style is a little ruff but the Dems need to cut him some slack, I was  democrat my entire life until last year NOW I cant even watch Pelosi or Schumer, what disgraces they cannot put aside their fight for money and power to help this man do more good for the American people.”

“So people are getting mad that people are getting deported coz their here illegally? So if you break in someones house illegally u expect them to welcome you? Lol im just saying.”

“For once in my life I feel like he doing the right thing PS I never thought I get this many likes”

“Well another mess left from previous administrations that our President had to fix. Hope they all stop crying over illegals and help the kids here in the U. S.!!!!!!”

The latter comment shows how vicious American nativism is wedded to ignorance of the law, plus the lingering stench of racism towards President Barack Obama, whose administration never had a policy of separating children.  When it did happen, it was done when the relationship with the child crossing with an adult could not be verified, when it was, the the reunion was swiftly affected, once it was established.

Perhaps there is truth the old amorphism, that said, “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it,” which has often been attributed to President John Kennedy.

This drama is not new to the United States, and adding to this nativist debacle, it’s necessary  to take a brief look in the rearview  mirror of  history, to see how it was played out.

While the colonists had their restrictions of who could reach the new nation, nativism, in all its ugliness, seemingly reached its zenith in the 1860s, with the “Know Nothing Party”  when the country saw a steady influx of the Irish, that resulted, in anti-Catholicism, coupled with racist cartoons that tried to cobble together “atypical” Irish facial features.

Magazines, and newspapers, of the period,  were filled with drawings of mitre-clad snapping alligators (a.k.a. Catholic bishops) at America’s shore, represented by a young blonde-haired girl; and at its worst, but only marginally better, vaudeville characters of Paddy the Irishman, with his whisky and brogue, falling on the stage to hysterical laughter from the  audience.

In the aftermath of the debacle and very public embarrassment, the White House and the Trump administration has returned, in some its statements, to the old mantra of “Well, President Obama did the same thing,” and now after lack of support from the Bush family, they have added George W. Bush to the mantra. The former stance of “blame the black man” was extended to the lack of support for Trump, from the Bush family.

It does no good for observers, academia, and former members of both the Obama and Bush administration officials to deny and clarify these distortions. The die was cast, and the Trump base, of which this effort was played to, as evidenced by the above comments, has applauded.

What did happen under the Obama administration was an attempt to streamline the process between immigration judges and those that were looking at felonies, since the illegal crossing are misdemeanors. And, those efforts fell to the bulk of bureaucrats, who were often stymied by self-serving attempts for profit.

The closing of the Bush era detention center that housed families together, but in minimal cells, with open toilets in them, was closed by President Obama.

Now Congress, this weekend after rejecting a conservative bill that took stringent methods to solve the long held issue. Sponsored by Judiciary Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and which every Democrat vetoed and “41 Republicans voted against”, reported The Hill.

“Goodlatte’s bill would have provided funding for a wall along the southern border, ended the diversity visa lottery program, limited family-based visas, created an agriculture guest worker program require employers to use the E-Verify program — a pivotal provision in garnering conservative support — and allowed for the administration to cut funding toward sanctuary cities,” they reported.

“A second vote on the compromise measure was delayed until Friday as leaders seek to rally support for it. The compromise measure would provide a pathway to citizenship for up to 1.8 millions "Dreamers," provide $25 billion for Trump's border wall and other security measures, and prevent families from being separated at the border,” but neither seems to gain a strong enough backing to garner enough votes to pass.

As has been pointed out before had these illegal immigrants been white Northern Europeans, the response would have been vastly different. One can easily imagine the joyous welcome and embrace of them, in the media, and elsewhere.

Looking at the children who were separated from their parents, has now resulted in an effort of reunification, for many who were scattered across the country, and 66 to Chicago. But, the effort to reunify the children is fraught with the cumbersome apparatus of American bureaucracy, and poor record keeping, with the result, say critics, that many children will not see their parents again.

Lingering is a fault line between the values of America, and how it is practiced. And, Attorney General taking a Biblical defense, made those across the world recoil in horror.

The problem of race in America, beginning with the travail of African Americans, has extended to those from the southern borders, and the result makes the problem more acute, as we see ourselves doomed to never end the most incalculable problem of the nation.

The current crop fleeing gang violence, forced prostitution on girls as young as twelve has sent them fleeing from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador in search of peace, and safety, only to become pawns in an ill-guided partisan war by a president who ignored most of the advice from top brass, and has jeopardized the GOP in the upcoming midterm elections, this fall.

CNN reported that “The aide most identified with Trump's hardline stance, Stephen Miller, has drawn barbs from colleagues who accuse him of overseeing what amounted to a chaotic mess. Some have harkened back to his role in executing the travel ban on residents of certain Muslim majority countries, another bumpy rollout mired in legal complications.”

Entering the fray was First Lady Melania Trump supposedly on a mission to the border to see how the children were being treated, and to help reunite them with their families, was no more than a photo-op and then, adding to the madness, she wore a coat with the words on the back, printed in white letters saying: “I really don’t care, do U” as she left Texas.

New reports say this was a statement jacket from Zara, but which many saw as an insult to the people she was there to supposedly help.

Baby boomers cannot help but think of when First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy addressed, in Spanish, the Cubans, released after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, wearing a simple summer dress, and saying in part, that she hoped her son would be as brave as they were, to thunderous applause.

The optics on this mess, because it truly has become one, clearly indicate that Trump is a loose cannon whose recklessness has continued to damage the prestige and morality of the United States, and whose continuing presence only makes bad situations worse.

The fate of the children --- 364 out of 2,500 children, have been reunited with their parents, the  rest are still in limbo, and the 26 July deadline date set by U.S. Judge Dana Sabraw, may not be met by that date, and the government has said that DNA testing and other measures, has slowed the effort down.

While 850 parents have been cleared, the reaming 229 have not with charges of criminal conduct, says The Guardian, who also report that the judge has stayed that order pending legal counsel for them.

Updated 20 July 2018 at 2:38 (CSDT)