The title of this blog is interesting, because if you listen to the current Trump administration and many of his supporters from outside the administration, immigrants are coming over the border to infest our country. Here is a very telling Tweet from our current President sent out yesterday:
Trump Tweeted, "Democrats are the problem. They don't care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our country, like MS-13. They can't win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters." Before I break this tweet down, I want to say that as of my writing this blog, there have been 25.9 thousand Retweets of this Trump Tweet and 98.5 thousand people liked the post. That is greatly concerning to me as an American.
Let me unpack Trump's Tweet because it is full of some great material.
First, "Democrats are the problem." Interesting that Democrats are the problem when they didn't create, implement and enforce this new policy that the Trump Administration came up with. Everyone agrees that immigration needs major reform, but what everyone doesn't agree with is the manner in which this TRUMP policy is trying to accomplish it.
Second, "They don't care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our country, like MS-13." That is sick and abhorrent to put my feelings into the kindest words possible. The Democrats don't want horrible people to come into this country. Another thing the Democrats don't want...immigrants, the absolute vast majority of which are great people trying to escape horrific and inhumane living conditions, to be referred to as INFESTING our country. Remember Mr. President that this country was built by immigrants and is GREAT RIGHT NOW in large part because of immigrants. For you to categorize them in such a way as an entire group is horrific and uninformed.
Third, "They can't win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters." That statement is ridiculous on its face, so there really isn't anything else I need to say to explain it away.
This is what we have come to? We have a President who has no human decency, who Tweets out lies on a daily basis, who lies consistently about everything, who disrespects too many groups of people to even take the time to mention here, who treats women as if they are property he can do with as he pleases, who has numerous sexual harassment claims against him, who treats his allies as his enemies and his enemies as his allies, and who talks of the investigation against his administration as unfounded (even though it has led to countless indictments and guilty pleas, as well as an additional investigation into his former lawyer, and an additional investigation into him and his children for illegal use of his Charity).
To see what the consensus is on this immigration policy at a lower level, I will talk about how states have responded to the practice of removing children from their parents at the border.
1. A California State Senator has asked the Governor to recall their National Guard Troops from the border.
2. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed an Executive Order forbidding the used of state resources, "for the purpose of separating children from their parents or legal guardians on the sole ground that their families are in violation of federal immigration laws." Hickenlooper said that it is deeply troubling that the government would participate in such inhumane actions.
3. Governor Dannel Malloy of Connecticut compared the zero-tolerance policy to the use of internment camps to hold Japanese-Americans during World War II, and stated, "I will not condone the use of our military reservists to participate in any effort at the border that is connected to this inhumane practice. This vile practice must end."
4. The Governor of Delaware, John Carney said that he received a request to send National Guard troops to the border on Tuesday. He stated, "Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't hesitate to answer the call, but given what we know about the policies currently in effect at the border, I can't in good conscience send Delawareans to help with that mission."
5. Maryland's Governor, Larry Hogan, a Republican who faces reelection this year, announced in a Tweet on Tuesday that he was ordering a helicopter and its four crewmembers to return from New Mexico. Hogan said that until the current policy is rescinded, Maryland will not deploy any National Guard resources to the border.
6. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker was the first Republican Governor to state that he would not send National Guard troops to the border in response to the "cruel and inhumane" policy. Baker stated, "It's cruel and inhumane, and I told the National Guard to hold steady and to not go down to the border - period."
7. Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey called Trump's policy, "inhumane and cruel" and signed an order declaring that state resources cannot be used to, "help federal authorities separate families." Murphy stated, "New Jersey will not be a party to this inhumane policy."
8. Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York announced Monday that New York would not deploy any troops to the border. On Tuesday, the Governor also stated that in two weeks, he will file a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over its zero tolerance policy. Cuomo stated, "Politics aside, philosophy aside, children have legal rights. Parents have legal rights. That's established firmly in the federal and state constitutions and in case law."
9. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said Trump's, "cruel policy of tearing children away from their parents requires a strong response." Cooper is recalling the troops he has at the border.
10. Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania called the zero tolerance policy, "horrendous". Wolf's spokesperson put out a message that stated, "While Pennsylvania proudly sent troops to help Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico in the last year to assist with disaster relief and Governor Wolf believes we need to protect our borders from real threats, he opposes state resources being used to further President Trump's policy of separating young children from their parents."
11. Gina Raimondo, Governor of Rhode Island said in a statement Tuesday that she will not send any National Guard units to the border to support Trump's, "immoral, unjust and un-American" policy of family separation.
12. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced that Virginia was pulling its soldiers and a helicopter back from Arizona. He stated, "Virginia will not devote any resource to border enforcement actions that supports the inhumane policy of separating children from their parents."
In a span of 24 hours, all four of the living former first ladies have stated their opposition to this immigration policy put into place by the Trump administration. They called the practices of this policy immoral, disgraceful and a humanitarian crisis.
Rosalynn Carter stated, "The practice and policy today of removing children from their parents' care at our border with Mexico is disgraceful and a shame on our country."
Hillary Clinton Tweeted, "What's happening to families at the border right now is a humanitarian crisis. Every parent who has ever held a child in their arms, every human being with a sense of compassion and decency, should be outraged." Clinton also added, "We should be a better country than one that tears families apart, turns a blind eye to women fleeing domestic violence, and treats frightened children as a means to a political end.
Laura Bush Tweeted, "I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart." She added, "It is our obligation to reunite these detained children with their parents - and to stop separating parents and children in the first place."
Michelle Obama Retweeted Laura Bush's statement on Twitter with an added comment, "Sometimes truth transcends party." Few words but a strong statement none-the-less.
I could continue to cite those who have spoken out on this policy, because at this point many members of Trump's own party in Congress have spoken out and demanded this ends, and so many others around the globe have spoken out.
Even the United Nations Human Rights Council spoke out recently about how this policy is unconscionable, but Trump doesn't care about that at all, which is why he is having the United States remove themselves from the council.
In case you haven't noticed over the past year-and-a-half, the United States has removed itself from nearly everything around the world, moving toward a more isolationist mentality. In Trump's mind, it is the United States' way or the highway. Trump is taking the same approach to the Presidency as he did in business prior to becoming President. He surrounded himself with Yes people who kept his Ego running rampant with praise on a regular basis, even though at many times things were crumbling around him because his ridiculous ideas were never challenged by anyone with knowledge of how to run a successful business. Just a couple examples of his failures in business are Trump Steaks, Gotrump.com, Trump Airlines, Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage, Trump: The Game, Trump Magazine, Trump University, Trump Ice (Natural Spring Water), The New Jersey Generals, Tour De Trump (Bike Races), Trump on the Ocean, The Trump Network (Vitamin Scheme), Trumped! (Talk Radio), Trump New Media (Video On Demand and High Speed Internet), Trump Casinos, ....uh oh, I guess I got carried away and listed more than just a couple of failures Trump has had over his years in business.
Herein lies the problem. Trump lives in a fantasy world where he makes decisions and says things that everyone around him agree with in his presence because they don't want to set him off. He watches mainly Fox News, a channel that tends to bend over backwards to praise him and the decisions he makes, morphing the facts or just completely avoiding the facts when reporting, even though their message is literally 180 degrees away from the "Actual Facts" reported on most other news stations. Trump is a child being coddled by his staff. They keep his briefings to one page, make sure there are pictures and that there is pro-Trump rhetoric included to keep him happy...I wish what I was stating here was a complete lie, but the scary part is that it is the complete truth.
MAKE TRUMP CHANGE THIS POLICY! To those of you who support the practices that are occurring along the border to these families, I ask that you look at this from a different perspective. Put yourselves in the shoes of a family that is so scared to live in a place where you have to be in constant fear for your life and the lives of your family members; a place where the living conditions are so horrific you risk everything to travel thousands of miles on foot to get to a place where you can be treated like a human being for the first time in your life, just to be detained and separated from your children the moment you arrive. You aren't MS-13. You aren't a criminal. You are simply a mother or a father with children who deserve a better life than the one they had under the oppression of the country they were born in. Stop categorizing all immigrants as horrible people who are murderers, rapists, drug smugglers, etc. A smaller fraction of those immigrants fall into those categories than do American Citizens who are already in our country, either actively in gangs and continually breaking laws, or sitting in prison. Look inside and find your heart...and use that instead of being so cold.
UPDATE: It looks like Trump is finally sitting down today with a team and drafting a new Executive Order to stop the separation of children from their families at the border. He definitely isn't doing this because he wanted to. He is doing it because of the overwhelming backlash that has occurred over the past couple of weeks regarding this issue. The culmination really came over the past day when it was disclosed that very young children removed from their parents were being placed in, "Tender Age Camps". That reporting came with a very large amount of backlash from both sides of the isle, and understandably so.
So I will say that it is good that the policy is changing, even though I am not sure yet what it will look like as it isn't put out yet, but the same concerns will exist with the President's decisions in every area after this Executive Order is published. We are living in a proverbial dumpster fire right now, slowly burning and destroying much of what has made our country great for so long. You see, that's the problem. America IS Great. It was great when Donald Trump ran for President, and even with all of the horrible things that have occurred over the past year-and-a-half, America is still great. It is great because it was built by immigrants. It is great because you can travel through one country and see every other culture in the world living here and positively influencing this country with new foods, technology, positive cultural influences, and so much more. It is great because we have a freedom many in the world do not. We have a freedom to say what is on our minds, talk about what we like and dislike about leadership in Washington and at the State and local levels; a freedom paid for with the blood of patriots who have given their lives to ensure that freedom remains for future generations. It is great for so many reasons. So Trump's focus shouldn't be on making America great again. It should be on keeping America Great...and he isn't doing such a bang up job at that.
DUNK
Trump Tweeted, "Democrats are the problem. They don't care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our country, like MS-13. They can't win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters." Before I break this tweet down, I want to say that as of my writing this blog, there have been 25.9 thousand Retweets of this Trump Tweet and 98.5 thousand people liked the post. That is greatly concerning to me as an American.
Let me unpack Trump's Tweet because it is full of some great material.
First, "Democrats are the problem." Interesting that Democrats are the problem when they didn't create, implement and enforce this new policy that the Trump Administration came up with. Everyone agrees that immigration needs major reform, but what everyone doesn't agree with is the manner in which this TRUMP policy is trying to accomplish it.
Second, "They don't care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our country, like MS-13." That is sick and abhorrent to put my feelings into the kindest words possible. The Democrats don't want horrible people to come into this country. Another thing the Democrats don't want...immigrants, the absolute vast majority of which are great people trying to escape horrific and inhumane living conditions, to be referred to as INFESTING our country. Remember Mr. President that this country was built by immigrants and is GREAT RIGHT NOW in large part because of immigrants. For you to categorize them in such a way as an entire group is horrific and uninformed.
Third, "They can't win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters." That statement is ridiculous on its face, so there really isn't anything else I need to say to explain it away.
This is what we have come to? We have a President who has no human decency, who Tweets out lies on a daily basis, who lies consistently about everything, who disrespects too many groups of people to even take the time to mention here, who treats women as if they are property he can do with as he pleases, who has numerous sexual harassment claims against him, who treats his allies as his enemies and his enemies as his allies, and who talks of the investigation against his administration as unfounded (even though it has led to countless indictments and guilty pleas, as well as an additional investigation into his former lawyer, and an additional investigation into him and his children for illegal use of his Charity).
To see what the consensus is on this immigration policy at a lower level, I will talk about how states have responded to the practice of removing children from their parents at the border.
1. A California State Senator has asked the Governor to recall their National Guard Troops from the border.
2. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed an Executive Order forbidding the used of state resources, "for the purpose of separating children from their parents or legal guardians on the sole ground that their families are in violation of federal immigration laws." Hickenlooper said that it is deeply troubling that the government would participate in such inhumane actions.
3. Governor Dannel Malloy of Connecticut compared the zero-tolerance policy to the use of internment camps to hold Japanese-Americans during World War II, and stated, "I will not condone the use of our military reservists to participate in any effort at the border that is connected to this inhumane practice. This vile practice must end."
4. The Governor of Delaware, John Carney said that he received a request to send National Guard troops to the border on Tuesday. He stated, "Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't hesitate to answer the call, but given what we know about the policies currently in effect at the border, I can't in good conscience send Delawareans to help with that mission."
5. Maryland's Governor, Larry Hogan, a Republican who faces reelection this year, announced in a Tweet on Tuesday that he was ordering a helicopter and its four crewmembers to return from New Mexico. Hogan said that until the current policy is rescinded, Maryland will not deploy any National Guard resources to the border.
6. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker was the first Republican Governor to state that he would not send National Guard troops to the border in response to the "cruel and inhumane" policy. Baker stated, "It's cruel and inhumane, and I told the National Guard to hold steady and to not go down to the border - period."
7. Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey called Trump's policy, "inhumane and cruel" and signed an order declaring that state resources cannot be used to, "help federal authorities separate families." Murphy stated, "New Jersey will not be a party to this inhumane policy."
8. Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York announced Monday that New York would not deploy any troops to the border. On Tuesday, the Governor also stated that in two weeks, he will file a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over its zero tolerance policy. Cuomo stated, "Politics aside, philosophy aside, children have legal rights. Parents have legal rights. That's established firmly in the federal and state constitutions and in case law."
9. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said Trump's, "cruel policy of tearing children away from their parents requires a strong response." Cooper is recalling the troops he has at the border.
10. Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania called the zero tolerance policy, "horrendous". Wolf's spokesperson put out a message that stated, "While Pennsylvania proudly sent troops to help Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico in the last year to assist with disaster relief and Governor Wolf believes we need to protect our borders from real threats, he opposes state resources being used to further President Trump's policy of separating young children from their parents."
11. Gina Raimondo, Governor of Rhode Island said in a statement Tuesday that she will not send any National Guard units to the border to support Trump's, "immoral, unjust and un-American" policy of family separation.
12. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced that Virginia was pulling its soldiers and a helicopter back from Arizona. He stated, "Virginia will not devote any resource to border enforcement actions that supports the inhumane policy of separating children from their parents."
In a span of 24 hours, all four of the living former first ladies have stated their opposition to this immigration policy put into place by the Trump administration. They called the practices of this policy immoral, disgraceful and a humanitarian crisis.
Rosalynn Carter stated, "The practice and policy today of removing children from their parents' care at our border with Mexico is disgraceful and a shame on our country."
Hillary Clinton Tweeted, "What's happening to families at the border right now is a humanitarian crisis. Every parent who has ever held a child in their arms, every human being with a sense of compassion and decency, should be outraged." Clinton also added, "We should be a better country than one that tears families apart, turns a blind eye to women fleeing domestic violence, and treats frightened children as a means to a political end.
Laura Bush Tweeted, "I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart." She added, "It is our obligation to reunite these detained children with their parents - and to stop separating parents and children in the first place."
Michelle Obama Retweeted Laura Bush's statement on Twitter with an added comment, "Sometimes truth transcends party." Few words but a strong statement none-the-less.
I could continue to cite those who have spoken out on this policy, because at this point many members of Trump's own party in Congress have spoken out and demanded this ends, and so many others around the globe have spoken out.
Even the United Nations Human Rights Council spoke out recently about how this policy is unconscionable, but Trump doesn't care about that at all, which is why he is having the United States remove themselves from the council.
In case you haven't noticed over the past year-and-a-half, the United States has removed itself from nearly everything around the world, moving toward a more isolationist mentality. In Trump's mind, it is the United States' way or the highway. Trump is taking the same approach to the Presidency as he did in business prior to becoming President. He surrounded himself with Yes people who kept his Ego running rampant with praise on a regular basis, even though at many times things were crumbling around him because his ridiculous ideas were never challenged by anyone with knowledge of how to run a successful business. Just a couple examples of his failures in business are Trump Steaks, Gotrump.com, Trump Airlines, Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage, Trump: The Game, Trump Magazine, Trump University, Trump Ice (Natural Spring Water), The New Jersey Generals, Tour De Trump (Bike Races), Trump on the Ocean, The Trump Network (Vitamin Scheme), Trumped! (Talk Radio), Trump New Media (Video On Demand and High Speed Internet), Trump Casinos, ....uh oh, I guess I got carried away and listed more than just a couple of failures Trump has had over his years in business.
Herein lies the problem. Trump lives in a fantasy world where he makes decisions and says things that everyone around him agree with in his presence because they don't want to set him off. He watches mainly Fox News, a channel that tends to bend over backwards to praise him and the decisions he makes, morphing the facts or just completely avoiding the facts when reporting, even though their message is literally 180 degrees away from the "Actual Facts" reported on most other news stations. Trump is a child being coddled by his staff. They keep his briefings to one page, make sure there are pictures and that there is pro-Trump rhetoric included to keep him happy...I wish what I was stating here was a complete lie, but the scary part is that it is the complete truth.
MAKE TRUMP CHANGE THIS POLICY! To those of you who support the practices that are occurring along the border to these families, I ask that you look at this from a different perspective. Put yourselves in the shoes of a family that is so scared to live in a place where you have to be in constant fear for your life and the lives of your family members; a place where the living conditions are so horrific you risk everything to travel thousands of miles on foot to get to a place where you can be treated like a human being for the first time in your life, just to be detained and separated from your children the moment you arrive. You aren't MS-13. You aren't a criminal. You are simply a mother or a father with children who deserve a better life than the one they had under the oppression of the country they were born in. Stop categorizing all immigrants as horrible people who are murderers, rapists, drug smugglers, etc. A smaller fraction of those immigrants fall into those categories than do American Citizens who are already in our country, either actively in gangs and continually breaking laws, or sitting in prison. Look inside and find your heart...and use that instead of being so cold.
UPDATE: It looks like Trump is finally sitting down today with a team and drafting a new Executive Order to stop the separation of children from their families at the border. He definitely isn't doing this because he wanted to. He is doing it because of the overwhelming backlash that has occurred over the past couple of weeks regarding this issue. The culmination really came over the past day when it was disclosed that very young children removed from their parents were being placed in, "Tender Age Camps". That reporting came with a very large amount of backlash from both sides of the isle, and understandably so.
So I will say that it is good that the policy is changing, even though I am not sure yet what it will look like as it isn't put out yet, but the same concerns will exist with the President's decisions in every area after this Executive Order is published. We are living in a proverbial dumpster fire right now, slowly burning and destroying much of what has made our country great for so long. You see, that's the problem. America IS Great. It was great when Donald Trump ran for President, and even with all of the horrible things that have occurred over the past year-and-a-half, America is still great. It is great because it was built by immigrants. It is great because you can travel through one country and see every other culture in the world living here and positively influencing this country with new foods, technology, positive cultural influences, and so much more. It is great because we have a freedom many in the world do not. We have a freedom to say what is on our minds, talk about what we like and dislike about leadership in Washington and at the State and local levels; a freedom paid for with the blood of patriots who have given their lives to ensure that freedom remains for future generations. It is great for so many reasons. So Trump's focus shouldn't be on making America great again. It should be on keeping America Great...and he isn't doing such a bang up job at that.
DUNK
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