By Mike Appleton, Weekend Contributor
“Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, ‘Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me, but the one who sent me.’ “
-Gospel of Mark, Ch. 9, verses 36-37, New American Bible (Thomas Nelson, 1989)
“If kids come in my backyard, I’ll shoot them.”
-unidentified Murietta, California resident protesting the sheltering of undocumented child immigrants (July 1, 2014)
………………………………………………..
“Collective fear,” wrote Bertrand Russell, “stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.” The ugliness in Murietta, California several weeks ago provided ample evidence, if any were needed, of the power of collective fear. But even more disturbing than the angry shouts at frightened children unable even to understand the words hurled at them has been the reaction of political leaders. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Gov. Rick Perry demanded that the President dispatch National Guard troops to the border, for who knows what purpose. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R. Texas) has been even more vocal. Most of you may recall Rep. Gohmert’s rants several years ago about “anchor babies” born in the United States to be trained as terrorists. This time around he is claiming that the Administration is encouraging the influx of unaccompanied children as part of a plot to turn America “blue” and “ensure Republicans will never get elected again.” Of course, that will require that all of these tens of thousands of children survive the various diseases with which he also claims them to be infected and carrying over the border. Rep. Gohmert could be dismissed as another congressional crackpot but for the fact that he currently serves as vice chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.
Fear-mongering is such an emotionally powerful tool that it is readily grasped by nascent politicians to fast-track their own careers. Several days ago one Adam Kwasman, a Republican running for Congress in Arizona, made headlines when he photographed a bus full of children and tweeted it to his supporters with the caption, “Bus coming in. This is not compassion. This is the abrogation of the rule of law.” Twitter is a social medium particularly well-suited for those adept at making fools of themselves in fewer than 140 characters. In a follow-up interview with a local reporter, Mr. Kwasman even described “the fear” he witnessed in the eyes of the children as the bus passed, only to later learn that what he had actually observed was what I, as a sometime camp counselor, call Camp Grenada Syndrome, the anxiety universally experienced by kids on their first trip to summer camp, this one run by the YMCA.
Assuming that the over 50,000 (to date) unaccompanied minors surrendering to the Border Patrol are not junior members of the Central America branch of the Young Democrats, why have they come? Well, has anyone been to Honduras or Guatemala or El Salvador lately? Those three countries, known collectively as the Northern Triangle, occupy three of the top five spots on the list of countries with the worst homicide statistics. Honduras leads the pack, with 90.4 murders per 100,000 persons. In Guatemala, over 300,000 children, fully 11% of those between the ages of 7 and 13, work, 21% of them in dangerous jobs, and are subjected to exploitation by organized crime in the sexual tourism and pornography industries. The homicide rate in El Salvador doubled between 2003 and 2011, and rose 44% in the first quarter of 2014 over the same period a year ago. To put this in further perspective, Latin America is home to 9% of the world’s population, and suffers 31% of the world’s murders.
The governments of these countries are weak and riddled with incompetence and corruption. Efrain Rios Montt, the former head of state in Guatemala, was convicted last year of genocide and crimes against humanity for atrocities committed against his own civilian population. But his conviction has been overturned and he faces a new trial early next year. The State Department has issued travel warnings for Honduras. And it is clear that much of the drug trafficking and gang warfare in the Northern Triangle is a direct result of the shifting of the drug trade from countries, such as Mexico and Columbia, in which the war on drugs has been particularly intense. It has also been argued that much of the instability in that part of the world is a legacy of United Fruit diplomacy and U.S. support of corrupt military dictatorships in Central America over many decades.
But regardless of the historical explanations for the problems plaguing these countries, how can any rational person fail to understand the desire of poor and desperate parents to protect their children from the violence and terror they daily face? How can any rational person not marvel at a parental love so powerful that it compels mothers and fathers to send their children on a lonely, dangerous journey? And who is honestly surprised that people gripped by fear and despair will believe the lies of the coyotes who promise, for a price, to deliver their children to the safety of the United States?
In 2008 Congress passed, and Pres. Bush signed, the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, named for the British MP who devoted much of his political career to the abolition of the slave trade in England. A portion of the Act establishes procedures for the processing and repatriation of “unaccompanied alien children” who come into the United States. In general, the Act requires that a minor child from a country that is not contiguous to the United States is to be transferred to the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services and placed “in the least restrictive setting that is in the best interest of the child” pending a determination of whether the child should be repatriated or granted refugee status. The Act affords such children what we as a nation believe essential to minimum due process-the right to a hearing and the right to counsel. 8 USC 1232 (2014). But the sheer numbers of children now in the country have overwhelmed the available resources. And, of course, it is all the fault of the Administration.
In one of the videos of the Murietta protests, a woman can be seen shouting, “Not our children. Not our problem.” In Vassar, Michigan, two weeks later, demonstrators, two carrying semi-automatic rifles, assembled in front of a social services facility selected to provide temporary housing for some of the children. The organizer of the protest, Tamyra Murray, was quoted as saying, “We must save America and stand up against this invasion.” Collective fear at work, one rope short of a lynch mob.
Nevertheless, I do not believe that the woman in Murietta, California or Ms. Murray in Vassar, Michigan truly believe what they are saying. If they do, they are wrong. It has also been suggested that this humanitarian crisis is Pres. Obama’s Katrina. That is also wrong. Hurricane Katrina was our Katrina, just as Hurricane Sandy was our Sandy. And these children, at least for now, are our children. While they are here, they deserve to be treated as part of the herd.
Sources: Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays (Simon & Schuster, 1950); “El Salvador Grapples With Upswing In Drug Traffic,” http://www.npr.org (May 31, 2011); “El Salvador murder rate up 44% as gang truce falters,” http://www.irishtimes.com (April 4, 2014); U.S. Department of State, “El Salvador 2013 Crimes and Safety Report,” http://www.osac.gov/pages/contentReportDetails.aspx?cid=13875; “Murders in El Salvador spike to record high for May,” http://www.mobile.reuters.com (May 26, 2014); “Honduras, Central America still lead the world in murder rates,” http://www.ticotimes.net (April 14, 2014); Human Rights Watch, “Honduras still # 1 in 2013,” http://www.m.hrw.org/world-report/2014; “Federal Agents With Riot Gear Arriving In Murietta To Subdue Immigration Protesters,” http://www.dailycaller.com (July 6, 2014); “Gohmert: Obama Is Flooding Texas With Immigrants To ‘Turn It Blue,’ ” http://www.breitbart.com (July 7, 2014); “Murietta Residents: Obama Admin Flooding Our Streets to Force ‘Immigration Reform,’ ” http://www.breitbart.com (July 8, 2014); “Murietta immigration debate: Should they stay or should they go?” http://www.america.aljazeera.com (July 11, 2014); Francis X. Donnelly, “Possible housing of Central American children meets with protest in small Michigan town,” The Detroit News (July 14, 2014); Igor Bobic, “GOP Candidate Mistakes YMCA Kids For Migrants, Describes ‘Fear In Their Faces,’ ” The Huffington Post (July 16, 2014).
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays of art are solely their decision and responsibility.
Karen,
Your concerns about your posts getting not getting released from the wordpress spam filter are outrageous and baseless.
Oh if only Karen would endeavor to improve the writing ‘style’ of two frequent writers she’s associated with here.
RTC,
Are you saying she’s a professional writer? Maybe I should take her advice about improving my writing style. What do you think?
Besides, she’s already being paid to write
Elaine: Karen tends to eschew all reasonable and intelligent advice
RTC – you presuppose that you give good advice.
Thanks Mike
Karen,
Are you looking for a job as a ghost writer? I have a friend who has done work in that field. She could probably give you some advice.
It’s time to repeal the previous amnesty
and start deportations
(as Eisenhower and previous Presidents did)
based on violations of the American immigration laws and based on the “hate crime” with special circumstances of desiring the “Reconquista de la Raza” of the American Southwest as a violation of the SPIRIT of the American immigration laws. Anyone convicted of a “hate crime” against immigration laws that they hate, and anyone convicted of a “hate crime” against a border they hate should be deported twice.
Oops! They usually are…twice, thrice, etc.
RTC:
Found it in the spam filter.
Elaine:
Option A: “It’s too bad that you and Nick feel like you are the victims of selective comment retrieval. If you two are so convinced that Chuck, rafflaw, and I are doing this purposely, I suggest you file a complaint with Jonathan.”
Option B: I’m sorry you feel concerned that there has been selective or delayed comment retrieval. I try my best to find them, but often miss the requests because I am only on the blog part time, and spend the majority of my time as a caregiver.
I like Option B!
Hi Elaine or any of the other GB’s. My post to karen was stuck in the filter and I think it’s a good one to retrieve so she can pretend she didn’t see it
Karen:
The climate is changing, and the evidence for that is very strong indeed.
Climate has always fluctuated; it’s the pace at which it’s taking place right now.
It’s supremely unintelligent to dismiss a rapidly changing global climate system by asserting that those who are fit enough will merely adapt and all others will merely perish. If climates change too rapidly for species to evolve, then much of the biodiversity that survival depends on will be lost.
I’ve seen you’re “research”. Much of it is generated by the Heartland Institute, a mainstay organization of the denial industry set up to generate doubt about climate change. If you were truly skeptical, you would be suspicious over the petroleum industry’s smear campaign.
I’ve read Dr. Mann’s book and his research seems pretty solid. I suggest you check it out for yourself…if you’re as sincere as you claim.
Or you can continue to pretend to be offended over some perceived insult that didn’t exist. What’s that old saying…Thou doth protest too much.
The thin about pretending to be offended and stalking off is that you don’t have to deal with any of the facts about climate change I laid on you. That tells me you know I’m right.
Paul C. Schulte said:
Elaine – from my own experience, I have gotten used to not having my comments retrieved by anyone except Darren. Sometimes, mespo. If you, Chuck or rafflaw are around, I just either wait or forget it. I hope that clears up some of Nick’s paranoia.
*****
Paul C. Schulte July 19, 2014 at 9:35 am
Help Help Help the Vortex of Doom has swallowed my comment.
http://jonathanturley.org/2014/07/19/scotus-science-conception-and-some-facts-about-the-four-contraceptives-at-the-center-of-the-hobby-lobby-case/#comment-1235746
Elaine M. July 19, 2014 at 9:41 am
Paul,
I retrieved your comment. Thanks for letting me know about the link to the National Catholic Reporter article.
http://jonathanturley.org/2014/07/19/scotus-science-conception-and-some-facts-about-the-four-contraceptives-at-the-center-of-the-hobby-lobby-case/#comment-1235759
*****
It was just two days ago that I retrieved a comment for you. You seem to have forgotten that. I guess you have a selective memory.
Unlike Mike Appleton, I’m retired. Still, I provide daycare for my two-year-old granddaughter three days a week—from 7:45 am until approximately 6:30 pm. On Mondays and Fridays, I spend time with my ninety-six-year-old mother, do her laundry and other errands that I can’t do on the days when I’m caring for my granddaughter. I don’t have time to read all the posts on this blog–which means there are many requests for comment retrievals that I never see. Jonathan asked me to be a guest blogger for RIL. Doing research for my posts and writing them up takes considerable time. It’s too bad that you and Nick feel like you are the victims of selective comment retrieval. If you two are so convinced that Chuck, rafflaw, and I are doing this purposely, I suggest you file a complaint with Jonathan.
Elaine – your comment did not arrive in my mailbox so there was no way to respond to it. I do thank you for getting my comment loose and I would have thanked you had I seen your comment.
Dredd
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” –plaque on Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty faces Europe.
The Statue of Liberty faces Europe.
Was the quotation voted on by Americans or just some collectivist’s brilliant cogitation du jour?
Was the Statue of Liberty forced on Americans like the war on poverty and forced busing???
Lincoln won with less than 40% of the popular vote.
The Statue of Liberty should have been sent back to France in the 1950’s.
John – when the Statute of Liberty was to be sent, the government could not afford the pedestal, so the idea was for the children of America to raise the money. BTW, the Statute was kinda forced on us. The head and raised arm arrived to help raise money for the pedestal.
How about one of those “Arc Light” B-52 missions of the Vietnam era, just barely into Mexico? Those things leave 50-foot craters as far as the eye can see. That would send the right message.
Isn’t a border a physical equivalent of a law?
No border, no law.
That’s just about where this country is.
A lawless, ineligible president that doesn’t enforce the law.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/rick-perry-texas-border-national-guard-109165.html?hp=r1 “Texas Rep. Joaquín Castro on Monday said Gov. Rick Perry’s is “militarizing our border” with his reported decision to deploy state National Guard troops there.
“We should be sending the Red Cross to the border not the National Guard to deal with this humanitarian crisis,” the Democratic congressman said in an email. “The children fleeing violence in Central America are seeking out border patrol agents. They are not trying to evade them. Why send soldiers to confront these kids?”
“Militarizing our border is the wrong response to the arrival of children,” Castro continued. “I remain hopeful that our state can provide a more helpful response than to send armed soldiers to greet children seeking refuge from violence.” “
Karen S.:
A guest blogger can only retrieve comments when he or she is on the site. Since I still work for a living, I am only occasionally checking in during the day. I will always retrieve a comment when I am made aware of a problem, and I believe that is true of all of the guest bloggers. But there is no one monitoring the site as such to be able to respond immediately. And I am certainly not aware of a single instance in which someone simply declined to retrieve a comment.
It is true that Darren is the most conscientious and efficient at retrieving comments. Other contributors do retrieve them occasionally, but not as often or as timely. I do not know why that is, because I do not know how WordMess works. Is it politics at play, or is it simply difficult to do? Do they spend less time because of work constraints? I am no techie, that’s for sure.
I am just glad when anyone goes fishing for a lost comment. But we all appreciate Darren, because no matter the content of the post or the poster, he’s very good at finding them in the Vortex of Doom.
Karen – yes, Darren dug one of mine out before I left and it was addressed to him. 🙂 So he released it and then had to address it. 🙂 Thanks Darren, you’re the man!
SWM:
“I don’t think anyone predicted the number of children seeking sanctuary would be so large.” I disagree with you on this point. In January, the federal government posted on a job listing site that they were looking for transportation bids for 65,000 unaccompanied children that were predicted to come to the US this year. That was double the figure from last year. So they did know their policies were going to make this happen.
It IS a humanitarian crisis, that was caused by this administration, Congress, and the Dream Act. It would be political suicide for conservatives to be blackmailed into “immigration reform” that is essentially amnesty. Some politicians are succumbing to the pressure but their constituents are outraged. I say “blackmailed,” because when this administration’s policies caused this deluge of unaccompanied children (with some children dying along the way), now they can say, we need amnesty or reform for them, there is no other choice. See how they get what they want by using a crisis they caused in the first place?
I feel terribly for these innocent children, pawns in a political ploy for amnesty.
RTC:
“That’s because you’re not here to have a discussion. Some division of Fox News has embedded you and several others here to push the propaganda and make it appear that there are more people out there who refuse to believe the truth.”
That’s funny. I outlined several of my concerns in another topic and asked people to address them and have a discussion, but had zero takers.
So it’s not me who’s not here to have a discussion. By definition.
And I did not get my concerns from Fox News. They’re not a science channel. I read the actual studies. The emails. Compared data. I read dissenting papers. I discovered textbook conflict of interest in who edits the journals that published the papers. And so on. I have a problem with the actual study and lost original data, among other things. I cannot come to a conclusion when, if this happened in an industry under the FDA, there would be massive lawsuits. I don’t know what’s happened to scientific academia, because this would never fly in industry.
Again, consistent, repetitive ad hominem attacks designed to simply insult my intelligence.
I will not engage with you after this point, because you’re clearly here to quarrel and fabricate, and cannot have a discussion.