In my previous column - dated Monday morning, June 18th, 2018 - I painted a portrait of Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions as "brutal beasts." By Monday afternoon, Trump and his attorney general - along with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen - have proven to be no better than barbaric monsters.
The Trump administration has - since May 7th - ripped from the arms of mothers and fathers more than two-thousand children... some of whom - it has been reported - may never be reunited with their parents. Let me repeat that ghastly statement for emphasis, so those of you who support Trump and his wicked ways will understand. Some of the children who have been forcibly separated from their parents as they crossed the border from Mexico in to the United States may never see their mommies and daddies for the rest of their lives.
Donald Trump's actions are immoral, inhumane and insane. This is the behavior of a raving lunatic. And Jeff Sessions and Kirstjen Nielsen are just as bad.
On the MSNBC broadcast Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace, NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff reported shocking details on June 18th after he personally witnessed gruesome accommodations at the Border Patrol's Central Processing Center in McAllen, Texas. "I'll tell you right now. There are cages. I saw them with my own eyes and they look like dog kennels."
These are innocent children - from babies in diapers to toddlers and teens who - as I described in my earlier piece...are being locked
up in metal cages as if they were wild animals. The horrendous images are not only disturbing, but dreadfully chilling. This is not America. At least it's not the America that I have known and loved all my life. This is not my America.
Before I start hearing from Trump Republicans - or even from other Jews, as I am Jewish - that I am comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler...that is NOT what I am implying. Furthermore, I am not suggesting that Trump is going to gas, burn or murder in any way the children - or even the adults - who have been detained. My comparison is for the method in which Trump has handled...or actually mishandled... this entire matter. However...Trump, Sessions and Nielsen may tragically wind up anyway with blood on their hands. It's quite possible - according to a number of medical experts - that some young children may not be able to tolerate the loss of their mothers and fathers following such a harrowing experience of having their families torn apart by men wearing uniforms and carrying guns. I never thought I would ever write that the president of the United States could end up being responsible for the deaths of children in America.
On MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, NBC's Jacob Soboroff - on Tuesday, June 19th - made an alarming observation at the detention facility in McAllen, Texas. "There are babies sitting by themselves in a cage."
It was learned by The Associated Press on that Tuesday night that the Trump administration has been transporting babies and other young kids from the U.S./Mexico border to at least three "tender age" shelters in south Texas. But Trump can't put lipstick on a cage and make it a 5-star hotel. And he can't make it a home. Labeling them "tender age" shelters doesn't make them anything but what they really are...and that's jails. Trump has incarcerated infants and other little children. The AP says that "lawyers and medical providers" have visited these shelters where "crying preschool-age children" are "in crisis."
Federal officials revealed on June 19th that 2,342 migrant children have been separated from their parents since Trump's "zero tolerance policy" went in to effect on May 7th.
I unfortunately don't have any children of my own. But I have - at various times - even for just a few hours...babysat and taken care of my niece and my two nephews when they were babies and tiny tots. So I do know quite a bit about children. Therefore, it pains me to wonder...how are these migrant children - from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico - being take care of? Who's giving babies their bottles? Who's rocking them to sleep? Who's snuggling with frightened boys and girls who I've got to believe are scared because their mothers and fathers are nowhere around? When I heard audio recordings of children crying for their mommies and daddies...it brought me to tears.
There's no way anybody can honestly turn to any one of these youngsters - even the tweens and teens - and tell them that everything is going to be alright. Because it's not. Sadly - because of an outdated system - the man... who less than half of our nation elected to lead us...has created a situation that is atrocious and cruel. Instead of taking responsibility for his own screw-up...Donald Trump - on June 19th - once again blamed Democrats for the current immigration catastrophe that is causing chaos in our country. In a tweet, Trump compared people - who are looking to make better lives for themselves and their families - to rats and cockroaches. "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!" Trump's words are hateful and vicious. (Note: MS-13...or Mara Salvatrucha...is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California during the 1980s. The group later spread to other parts of the United States plus Canada, Mexico and Central America).
But despite the fact that two-thirds of the American people - according to a new CBS News poll - oppose Donald Trump's policy to separate migrant children from their parents...Trump thrives on the outrage by Democrats...by most Independents...and by some Republicans who are not part of his base and who have a heart. Trump himself, though, is a sick SOB who doesn't give a damn that migrant babies and children are being stolen from their moms and dads...and then caged. Trump - on June 19th - told a national group of small-business owners in Washington, DC..."I don't want children taken away from parents." But "The Donald" can tweet and tell supporters at rallies that he doesn't want families separated, however, it is clearly obvious that Trump loves this madness. It's tantamount to orgasmic for him. Oh I know I'm going to receive flack for that comment...but I believe it to be true.
To take children from their parents and then to lock up those kids in cages in an effort to get Congressional Democrats and Republicans to agree on immigration legislation that gives Trump his xenophobic and racist border wall...is contemptible and reprehensible. As I have written in numerous columns for three years...there will never be a wall. Any Republican - or any other American for that matter - who can respond to this editorial with a tone that approves of Trump's policy to separate migrant children from their mommies and daddies...should do some soul-searching. But trying to locate your soul will be impossible...as you won't find it. Because to me...anyone who can agree with Donald Trump on this issue...cannot have a soul.
And that's The Controversy for today.
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How dare you claim that the President “DOESN'T GIVE A DAMN” or that “IN FACT, HE LOVES IT” when he has said from the start of it he hates it. But what should the government do? I didn’t hear any outcry when President Obama had 1000’s of children put into camps and cages with foil blankets. It took a Federal Court to order the Obama Administration to stop the abuse. I say again what should the Government do, we have to protect our boarder, we have to stop the influx of illegal aliens into our Nation, stop the drugs and gangs from coming here. Why wasn’t it “disturbing, but dreadfully chilling. This is not America” when Obama was President? It took a court for President Obama to stop locking kids up in cages at least President Trump did it without a Federal Court order, though many Constitutional experts have said that use of an executive order for this purpose is not constitutional. Where is the Congress, it is their job to make the laws not the President. You have the far right that wants to stop it all and deport all the illegals (which is what the current law says should be done) DACA included. You then have the Democrats which are doing less the nothing, all they are hoping is that it will keep going on so they can try and use it in November. They don’t give a damn about the kids all they care about is the mid-terms and then having “open boarders” which means no boarders no country. I am tired of hearing about phony polls “CBS News poll - oppose Donald Trump's policy to separate migrant children from their parents” President Trump does not and did not have a policy to separate illegal migrants children from their illegal alien parents, the Presidents policy was zero tolerance for illegals crossing our boarder, that is the policy, arrest and charge all illegals caught crossing the boarder. Once a parent is arrested his or her children can’t go to jail with them so they are then by LAW placed into protective custody, once again that is the LAW not a policy! The children being taken is a legal requirement side effect to the zero tolerance policy. I don’t like it, the President has said time and time again he doesn’t like it, President Trump was hoping that the Congress would do their job, protect our boarder and protect innocent children but the Democrats don’t give a damn about anything but obstructing President Trump and getting re-elected, to hell with the children, to hell with DACA and to hell with the Country! Get your buddies on the Left to “compromise” make 1.8 million DACAs legal, protect the boarder and build the wall. If the Democrats really care (which I doubt) about DACA and these kids they would “COMPROMISE” but they don’t care!
ReplyDeleteActions speak louder than words. If Donald Trump truly hated separating migrant children from their parents then as soon as he learned that these kids - including babies - were being caged like dogs in a kennel, then he should have put a stop to it. But instead, he spread his lies that it was all the fault of the Democrats...which, of course, has been proven that the Democrats are not to be blamed because no Democratic president - and for that matter, no president at all, until Trump - ever decided to lock kids in cages after being torn away from their mommies and daddies.
DeleteYour claim that President Barack Obama locked children in cages is TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY FALSE. The following is from Snopes. There is no debating Snopes. Their fact-checking is 100 percent accurate.
"As news broke in June 2018 that children were being separated from their families by immigration agents as they crossed into the United States from Mexico, an intense round of whataboutism ensued as the usual bots, paid trolls, unpaid trolls, and useful idiots took the opportunity to claim that President Barack Obama did the same thing during his time in office. He didn't."
If you read the third part of my trilogy of columns in this series of editorials, you will read that Democrats will indeed compromise with Republicans, but NOT if it includes a border wall. I've said dozens of times...THERE WILL NEVER BE A WALL.
You can think all you want that Democrats "don't give a damn about the kids" but you'd be so very wrong.
As for "phony polls" like the "CBS News poll"...of course you're going to think that way. But the CBS News poll is NOT phony...or fake.
Are you on drugs? No I'm serious. Are you on drugs? Because the entire country heard attorney general Jeff Sessions say that their policy includes separating children from their parents if adults bring their kids over the border illegally. So don't say that "Trump does not and did not have a policy to separate illegal migrant children from their illegal alien parents" because you sound like a total fool. But then...maybe you are just that. You write..."Once a parent is arrested, his or her children can't go to jail with them." That is true. But that is why President Obama, and President George W. Bush before him, never had any mothers or fathers arrested with a felony when they crossed the border illegally with children. It was a misdemeanor. These are facts. And they cannot be disputed.
Donald Trump can hope all day long that "Congress would do their job" but it's not going to include a wall. Why can't you...other Trumpers...and "THE DONALD"...get that through your thick heads? THERE WILL NEVER BE A WALL.
Democrats are not interested in "obstructing Trump." We are interested in getting the truth. And special counsel Bob Mueller is going to provide the entire country with the truth.
Your venomous words are nothing but scum. For you to write that Democrats feel "to hell with the children, to hell with DACA and to hell with the country (lowercase c not uppercase c)...is disgusting and disgraceful. Perhaps you did not use "hate" or "hater," but your words convey the same "hatred."
I repeat one more time since you mention it again in your last sentence. No compromise will include a wall. It's just not going to happen.
GBD
So you now even twist what Snopes says. I never said Obama separated kids from their families; I said which is a FACT “I didn’t hear any outcry when President Obama had 1000’s of children put into camps and cages with foil blankets” during the Obama Administration un-accompanied minors caught illegally crossing the border were detained in the same type facilities (cages) as being used today (look up the 2014 photo some liberal tried to claim was during the Trump Administration – FAKE NEWS). That is a Fact, all Snopes said as you quoted was that Obama didn’t have children “separated from their families by immigration agents” nothing about cages. The policy was and is zero tolerance which had the side effect of separating children from their parents who are being arrested, that side effect was hoped to be a deterrent to some parents not to come and break our laws. President Trump by executive order has changed that, even though he may not have the legal authority to do it. Sometimes what you call facts that cannot be disputed are things reported by a corrupt biased media that will do anything (lie, cheat or steal) to bring down this President. No different than the FBI just look at Peter Strzok, Lisa Page and Andrew McCabe along with a host of other corrupt members of the FBI not to mention there leader James Comey . If the Democrats do care about these kids, about DACA and America’s security at our border then come to the table and make a deal, the President has offered 1.8 million DACA legalization and a path to citizenship 2 to 3 times those in the program, the Republicans have said the can keep some chain migration, the visa lottery has to go and we have to have the wall, President Trumps approval rating is at 45% per Gallup also 58% says President Trump is intelligent, the same approval that President Obama had after his first 16 months. Sit down make a deal and help these people, stop being obstructionist!
ReplyDeleteI have nothing further to say about migration and immigration, as I have made my points over and over again...and I provide facts and truth. I will, however, make one more repeated note - as I have time and time again. Congressional Democrats will not compromise in any way, shape, matter or form if such a compromise has to include a border wall. For three years now, I have written dozens of times, until it's giving me a headache...THERE WILL NEVER BE A WALL!!!
DeleteOnce again, YOU LIE!!! Today's Gallup poll has Trump at 41 percent. And YouGov's poll has Trump at 39 percent. "The Donald's" approval rating is going to drop even further because nearly 70 percent of the country is outraged by Trump's handling...or mishandling...of the migration matter.
The "obstructionist" is Donald Trump. Democrats will "sit down and make a deal"...but NOT if it includes a racist and xenophobic border wall.
GBD
When written today's poll was not out last week Gallup last weeks poll had him at 45%, no lie except yours about the cages. Democrats must really hate these kids and DACA not to be willing to make a deal. Only a giant fool would think it is racist to want to protect our border and our country!
ReplyDeleteNo lies on my part...or on Congressional Democrats.
DeleteDemocrats do NOT "hate these kids." You can spew your sick venom all day long, but Democrats will not give in on this matter as long as Trump wants a wall. This is NOT communist East Germany, via the Soviet Union. And remember...it was Republican President Ronald Reagan who famously said..."Mr. Gorbachev...tear down this wall." The vast majority of Americans do NOT want a wall on the border of the U.S. and Mexico, and there will NEVER be a wall.
Donald Trump IS a racist. He's proven it through his words and his actions for years. "Only a giant fool" would think that Trump is NOT a racist.
GBD
You are just like Donald Trump. You love to belittle people. The fact of the matter is...you're too stupid to realize that I was merely making a comparison of having a wall between two countries. So it is YOU...like Donald Trump...who are ignorant. I certainly know the reasons why the Berlin Wall was built. The United States and Mexico are allies and friends (or at least we were before Donald Trump became president. However, the way Trump has treated Mexico...and Mexicans...has put a very bad taste in the mouths of most Mexicans).
ReplyDeleteApparently you have not read the third part of my trilogy...my column from Friday, June 22nd. I suggest you do. But here's a tidbit from my last paragraph in that editorial.
Let us remember that the vast majority of migrants who have illegally crossed the border in to America have done so to find better lives for their children and themselves. Families have traveled far distances by foot - from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico - to escape the atrocious violence and the dreadful poverty that ravages their nations. A great amount of these men and women, boys and girls, have walked hundreds - and in some cases, thousands of miles - to seek safety in what Francis Scott Key described in The Star Spangled Banner as "the land of the free and the home of the brave." Donald Trump wants all Americans to respect our National Anthem and to "stand proudly" for it. What a shame that he - along with certain members of his administration - are not representing Mr. Key's words with the honor and integrity that those lyrics deserve.
We ARE America. You...Trump Republicans...and Donald Trump himself...apparently don't know what that means.
GBD
If they walked that far, they should go to a legal port of entry and ask to come in, not break our laws and trespass. If they have a reason to be let in ahead of those who have waited in many cases years to come here we will welcome them with open arms if they don't have a good reason they need to get on line and wait their turn. America is the "the land of the free and the home of the brave"for all those who come here legally. We know what America is and has been and we know we don't want it to be changed into what you want, which is not America!
ReplyDeleteThe response to the above reader will be in THREE parts.
DeletePART ONE OF THREE
You don't seem to get it. It can take YEARS - sometimes 10 to 15 years or never - to become a U.S. citizen when someone enters through "a legal port of entry and ask to come in." Our laws need to be changed...and immediately. America needs to "WELCOME THEM WITH OPEN ARMS" NOW. Others who "have waited, in many cases, years" need to be given their American citizenship NOW...after taking the test that I discuss below.
You and others talk about immigrants coming to the United States "legally." We need to change our laws so that EVERYONE is invited to America and allowed "within reason" to stay. America needs to return - to a certain extent - to the days of when my great-grandparents came to this country.
I'm sure you're asking... "How do we determine who to welcome and who should be allowed 'within reason' to stay?" Well let me tell you. We gamble. That's right...we gamble. We - the taxpaying citizens of the United States - pay experienced, highly trained individuals who are - for the most part - able to determine the qualities of a person - just as major corporations employ top executives to know who is best for their company. We - that is, the United States of America - employ those same types of "top executives" (and they will receive high-paying salaries) to determine that those individuals who are seeking to become a U.S. citizen are not the proverbial "ax murderers" - or, for that matter - anybody else who might commit criminal activities. We grant these individuals - and their immediate families including spouse, children, mother and father - an invitation to enter and live here, but on a temporary basis in a sort of "visa-type" condition. But here's the catch, so to speak. Such a person needs to check in with a special federal government agency - perhaps a division of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services - on a monthly basis with current address, employment information, etc. Obviously - especially with America's unemployment rate being so low - such migrants are going to be willing to accept almost any kind of a job, so finding work should not be a problem. Anyone who does not speak English, must be required to begin lessons to learn the language. Such lessons would also be provided by the same aforementioned agency, at no cost to the migrants.
If a person enters with family - a wife and children, and/or a mother and father - it will be up to both the husband and wife (and/or the mother and father) to return to the aforementioned agency to provide documentation from their employers and others to prove that they are law abiding individuals who truly are in America to seek better lives for their children and themselves. The first time they miss an appointment, they are hunted down by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, and the entire family is immediately deported.
If the adults do have elementary and high school-aged kids, when they make their visits to the aforementioned agency, they need to provide documentation that the children are attending school and are not "trouble-makers." As part of this program, a special tax (a small amount of money) will be deducted from each person's paycheck to help pay for some of the costs involved in the program. That tax is in addition to the same federal taxes that any U.S. citizens would pay, as well as any municipal and/or state taxes.
GBD
END OF PART ONE OF THREE
PART TWO OF THREE
DeleteAfter one full year (12 visits to the agency), these TAX-PAYING individuals are provided a status that allows them to then visit the aforementioned agency quarterly - not monthly. After a second year - providing they have continued to be law abiding people who continue to work, and/or go to school, with no blemishes on their records - these individuals in the third year are only required to visit the agency twice a year (every six months). After three years, they take the U.S. Citizenship test - which requires the following, as described by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
"The civics test is an oral test and the USCIS Officer will ask the applicant up to 10 of the 100 civics questions. An applicant must answer 6 out of 10 questions correctly to pass the civics portion of the naturalization test." If the individuals are able to pass the civics portion of the naturalization test, along with other requirements normally part of becoming a naturalized citizen, then citizenship is granted with all the rights and privileges of a citizen, including voting, etc. So in other words, if a person wants to come to the United States - and after three years they do what I've described above - it is obvious to me that they are going to be productive people who are good for our country, not bad for our country. Of course there is always going to be the one rotten apple in the barrel. But then - unfortunately - we have a hell of a lot of rotten apples in the barrel already and they were born here. I believe there will only be a tiny percentage of people who will come here for reasons of harm or evil...despite what Donald Trump wants to believe in his racist and xenophobic head. But then...as I indicated...we already have people who are American citizens by birth who do harm or evil. I, therefore, quote The Washington Post.
"Despite (Donald) Trump’s tough talk about deporting millions of “bad hombres,” the overwhelming majority of illegal immigrants in the United States have no criminal record. That poses a quandary for deportation agents who, prodded by the administration to get tough, have intensified the pace at which they round up not just criminal undocumented immigrants, but law-abiding ones as well. Of roughly 143,000 unauthorized immigrants living in the United States who were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 (2017) — a 30 percent increase over the previous year — more than a quarter had no criminal convictions. As for those who had been convicted, most were guilty of nonviolent charges including drug, traffic and immigration offenses such as re-entering the country after deportation."
GBD
END OF PART TWO OF THREE
PART THREE OF THREE
DeleteSo let's be the America that we always were...and let people from other countries - especially those from nations with poverty and violence such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras - the opportunity and the freedom to come to America and be saved from the horrors of their own homelands. Let's - as Americans - give these individuals and families the chance to make better lives for themselves in a NEW homeland. The United States of America will be a better country because of it.
GBD
END OF PART THREE OF THREE
I do get it; it should take years to become a U.S. citizen because it is a privilege we grant, not a right. For once we agree on something “Our laws need to be changed...and immediately” but only Congress can change the laws, the House and Senate and with the Democrats being un-willing to come to the table the laws will not change. Remember you need 60 votes in the Senate. I will say we don’t agree on how the laws must change. America does have open arms but we can’t take everyone, one resent study said that given the opportunity between 15 and 30 million people would head to the USA, we can’t take that many people. We take in over a million people a year legally, who is expected to pay for 20 or 30 million more. Our schools can’t handle them, housing, infrastructure you name it we can’t handle it. Unless your great-grandparents came to this country before the Civil War we have had restrictions on immigration. Ellis Island opened on January 1, 1892. In 1900 less the 60% of those requesting the right to immigrate to the U.S. were granted “visas” and on average over 20% of the people coming in were detained and 2-3% were sent back to where they came from without ever leaving Ellis Island. We have had quotas since before 1900, limiting entrance by country of origin, economic class and a bunch of other restrictions (health, age, sex, and marital status). For close to 150 years we have not an “open door policy” on immigration. As for U.S. citizenship after someone is a legal permanent resident for 5 years you can became a citizen if you meet all the requirements. You may be willing to “gamble” with your safety and your family’s safety , I don’t believe most Americans would be willing to “gamble” with their family’s or the country’s safety, I know I’m not willing to “gamble” with my mine or my family’s. Per a 2016 DOJ report approximately 8% of adult illegal aliens in 2015 had been charged with a felony outside of the crime of coming here illegally. Remember the saying “one bad apple spoils the barrel.” You said “So let's be the America that we always were” well the way we were is remember the MS St. Louis a German ocean liner in 1939 we didn’t let 900 Jews into the U.S. we sent them back to Hitler’s Germany, I think we are better than that we just can’t let everyone in. And they have to come legally!
ReplyDeleteYes...it should take "years"...but only three years for an immigrant to become a U.S. citizen, just as I explained.
DeleteAs for the Democrats being "unwilling to come to the table," the only reason for that is because Donald Trump and the Republicans want to build a wall. There will NEVER be a compromise by the Democrats if a wall has to be part of that compromise. I've said it dozens of times before and so I say it again.
I think you're going a bit overboard - in fact, a lot overboard - that 20 or 30 million people would try to move in to our country. But America should welcome more immigrants to the United States. And yes, my great-grandparents did arrive to America in the 1880s.
Five years is too long. As I said...change it to three years to become a citizen, based on my plan written above.
We have many more people who we "gamble" with everyday who are American born citizens. Statistics prove that more Americans are harmed - or killed - by American born citizens than by the very small percentage of "illegal" immigrants. The report above, published by The Washington Post in December 2017 is accurate, so I don't believe whatever report you're referencing from the Department of Justice from 2016.
As I wrote above, in my last response to a reader (perhaps you), "So let's be the America that we always were...and let people from other countries - especially those from nations with poverty and violence such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras - the opportunity and the freedom to come to America and be saved from the horrors of their own homelands. Let's - as Americans - give these individuals and families the chance to make better lives for themselves in a NEW homeland. The United States of America will be a better country because of it."
GBD
You and the Democrats need to realize that this could be the last chance they have to join the Republicans in helping the DACA kids. Once this goes to the U.S. Supreme Court I would bet that they will uphold President Trumps executive order abolishing DACA, at that point it is done. I would also bet that the Court will say that President Obama’s original order was un-Constitutional, that will stop any future President from ever re-instating DACA. If that happens, it will be the Democrats fault. We finally have a Court that is upholding the Constitution the way it should be, thank God for Justice Gorsuch! Isn’t giving into funding the wall worth helping 1.8 million kids? So if your great-grandparents did come here in the 1880’s then they were under restrictions and rules. We don’t have a choice in the bad Americans but we can and should control our border. From the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in 2015 they were ordered (under the Obama Administration) not to deport but release 19,723 criminal illegal immigrants, including 208 convicted of murder, over 900 convicted of sex crimes and 12,307 of drunk driving, those are facts. America is what it has always been letting in over 1,000,000 immigrants a year but you have to do it legally, don’t sneak in and break our laws!
DeleteNothing about DACA is going to head to the U.S. Supreme Court before the November mid-term elections. And if Congressional Democrats are smart - especially those in the Senate - they will stop any hearings for a new Supreme Court justice until after the elections. Democrats need to force Republicans to do the same thing that Mitch McConnell did to President Obama and Merrick Garland. And all Chuck Schumer needs to do is get two moderate Republicans to jump ship and side with the Democrats. I hope...and I think...he can do it. But wait 'til you read my next column. It'll blow your mind.
DeleteIt amazes me that anyone would believe that America has a Supreme Court that is "upholding the Constitution." That's a joke. I cannot believe that God agrees with Neil Gorsuch and his bigotry.
No, no, no. Funding a border wall would be supporting racist action. THERE WILL NEVER BE A WALL.
The following is a transcript from NPR's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED program when NPR's Kelly McEvers interviewed Kevin Jennings - the president of the Tenement Museum in New York City - about immigration to the United States.
JENNINGS: "(Immigration law) is basically a meaningless statement because for most of American history, there was no immigration law. It wasn't until the 1880s that we had any federal immigration law of any kind, and it wasn't until 1924 that we began requiring papers of people coming to the United States. So when you say your ancestors came here legally, basically you're not saying anything because for most of American history, coming here legally meant getting off the boat.
MCEVERS: Like, there was no legal or illegal. Anybody could come?
JENNINGS: Exactly. At the Tenement Museum, we tell the stories of families that came in the 1800s and 1900s, and the majority of them just got off the boat and walked over to the Lower East Side and started a new life. It wasn't until the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 which was designed to - as exactly as it sounds - to exclude people of Chinese descent from entering the United States that we had any federal restriction on who could enter the country of any kind."
So you see...many European immigrants came to America - even in to the early 1900s - and has Kevin Jennings states (and he knows)..."the majority of them just got off the boat and walked over to the Lower East Side and started a new life." I'm not suggesting that we go back to those days, but based on my plan in an earlier response to a reader, my idea still gives the vast majority of immigrants a way to "start a new life"...and to become citizens after 3 years.
My great-grandparents - who came to the U.S. in the 1880s - probably "got off the boat and walked over to the Lower East Side and started a new life" since my grandparents and my parents grew up in New York City.
We must allow immigrants to enter our country so they can make their lives better and they can help to make our country better.
GBD
How is funding a border wall a "racist action"?
DeleteProblem: People are entering the country ILLEGALLY.
Solution: Do something to prevent them from entering ILLEGALLY... one of those things is to build a physical barrier so they have to go through border crossings that ensure they are allowed to enter the United States.
There is nothing racist about making sure people follow the law and don't enter the country ILLEGALLY.
Again, it seems like you just are against the rule of law and want to side with CRIMINALS. As soon as they cross the border ILLEGALLY they are CRIMINALS under US law. They may not be murderers or drug dealers... that is irrelevant. They become CRIMINALS when they cross the border without following the proper process.
If I build a fence around my backyard because I don't want people coming on my property ILLEGALLY that doesn't make me a racist. Maybe my neighbor is black or hispanic... so by your logic I'm a racist because I don't want people breaking the law and coming onto my property so I built a barrier to make it harder for them to do that. This is your dumb thinking.
All you have to say is you are against the rule of law and want to allow unlimited migration to the US with no vetting. You keep trying to hide that with all these explanations that make no sense.
You said you want a faster path that doesn't take as many years. Fine. Why wouldn't you support a wall in that situation? You still want people to come in ILLEGALLY while others are following your new plan? You make no sense. Why would you not want to prevent people from entering the country ILLEGALLY. What is the reason that you support people sneaking in without following the process?
The response to the above reader will be in THREE parts.
DeletePART ONE OF THREE
Since nearly every one of my Republican readers hides behind the "anonymous" blanket, I don't know if you're the same person or a different one who has made some of the earlier comments to my column above or to other columns that I have written, but I have already responded to the issue of a border wall being "racist." I will, however, repeat myself.
Donald Trump from the beginning of his campaign for president made racist statements about Mexicans and other Latinos. "They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists." That pretty well sums up that Trump IS a racist because for Trump to make a blanket statement like that MAKES HIM A RACIST. And by wanting to build a wall to keep out Mexicans and other Latinos from coming in to the United States is "racist action." Furthermore, at the beginning of his campaign Trump showed again that he IS a bigoted SOB when he said..."Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States." It is a simple point of fact...Trump is a racist...a xenophobe...and a religious bigot.
If we were to allow Trump to build such a wall...if we were to allow Trump to keep out Mexicans...Latinos... Muslims...who will he want to keep out next? Will he start banning other people from other countries? Will he want to ban blacks...all Latinos...Asians...Jews...gays...and any other minorities?
GBD
END OF PART ONE OF THREE
PART TWO OF THREE
DeleteOf the 41 federal judges that Trump has nominated and that have been confirmed over the last 17 months, 36 are white...4 are Asian-Americans...1 is Hispanic...and 0 are African-Americans. ZERO ARE BLACK! And we know that Donald Trump spent years in a racist rant about President Barack Obama not being an American citizen who was born in the United States. Of course Trump's statement was and is UNTRUE.
Trump has tried to convince everyone that banning Muslims and putting up a wall to keep out Mexicans and other Latinos is for "national security" reasons. Anybody who believes that has to be on drugs (to use a phrase). It's all out of racism and bigotry. And the U.S. Supreme Court did not consider Trump's racist and bigoted statements when the justices ruled 5 to 4 to continue Trump's travel ban.
Stop with your nonsense that by crossing the border in to America makes a person a "CRIMINAL." Trump has made it a felony. It was ALWAYS a misdemeanor under President Obama and President George W. Bush. Committing a misdemeanor does NOT make a person a "CRIMINAL" as most people define the word "CRIMINAL." And don't give me any dictionary definitions for criminal or crime. The fact of the matter is that crossing the border "illegally" was never considered a crime where people were being thrown in federal prison, and certainly not where babies were locked in cages and other children were being incarcerated in cages and "tent cities" that are surrounded by razor wire. Trump and his henchman, Jeff Sessions, and his henchwoman, "Kirstjen Nielsen, did that.
Your comment about "build(ing) a fence around my backyard" is so ludicrous that it's not even worth discussing. And to use YOUR offensive and belittling word - which is par for the course with Trumpers - your statement is "dumb."
The "rule of law" never intended to put a migrant in prison by simply seeking a better life and better lives for their children.
GBD
END OF PART TWO OF THREE
PART THREE OF THREE
DeleteAs you and other Republican readers do all the time...you did not read my response above CAREFULLY. I never said to "allow unlimited migration to the U.S. with no vetting." My plan does not state that. I am not going to copy and paste my entire plan here, so scroll above to my response that I wrote to you or another reader on June 25th, 2018, beginning at 10:30 P.M. Read THAT and stop spreading your LIES. But then...lying is what Trumpers do because Trump is the "liar-in-chief."
Once again...a WALL IS RACIST. A WALL IS XENOPHOBIC. A WALL IS BIGOTRY. Without immigrants to the United States...the United States has no country. Remember...except for the Native Americans...we are ALL descendants of IMMIGRANTS. There will NEVER be a wall.
For more, read part three of my trilogy on immigration at http://www.thecontroversy.net/2018/06/as-he-plays-his-political-games-with.html
GBD
END OF PART THREE OF THREE
So you think the United States should just do away with the process and let anybody in... let millions of people in per year? Anybody who wants to come here we just let in? Just let the entire population of all the other countries move into ours? You do come across as uninformed usually but that is particularly short-sighted of you.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your actual position? You support breaking the law is what it sounds like. Just let all these criminals skip ahead of the people who have been patient and followed the process. Very very very naive of you.
Bad news for you... The wall will happen. Trump will be re-elected. And as we're already seeing the Supreme Court will be an unstoppable tool to make sure what he wants done gets done.
No I don't "think the United States should just do away with the process and let anybody in." If you read my response to another reader above, you will see my plan. But yes...we need to welcome immigrants to our nation...especially those who live in countries that are ravaged by violence and poverty. Remember...except for Native Americans, we are ALL descendants of immigrants.
DeleteI certainly am not suggesting that "the entire population of all the other countries move" to America. And as I said to another reader above, I think you Republicans are going overboard by thinking that way. Not everybody wants to move to the United States. They love their countries, as we do ours. But those who are looking for better lives, we should welcome them.
I am not in any way "uninformed." I'm a self-described ultra-liberal progressive Democrat who believes America should lay out the welcome mat. That is my "actual position." But I think I've made that very clear in my columns.
You sound like Donald Trump and other Republicans who have this misinformed notion that just because someone is coming from another country that they are "criminals." If you read my explanation above, I state that those who have been waiting need to be made U.S. citizens immediately, if they meet the necessary requirements. For you to write "let all these criminals skip ahead" is so wrong of you. A minute percentage of immigrants are "criminals." It is YOU who sounds "very, very, very naive." Read my comments above and the 2017 report from The Washington Post. But then...you probably won't trust The Washington Post.
You are so sadly mistaken because THERE WILL NEVER BE A WALL. I've said it dozens of times and so here again I say it. First of all, the likelihood of Congress passing any immigration legislation before the mid-term elections in November is very slim. Therefore, when the Democrats regain control of both the House and the Senate - which I believe will happen - then the Democrats will compromise with the Republicans (or the Republicans and Trump will have to compromise with the Democrats) and a reasonable immigration bill will be written, passed and signed in to law. But it will NOT include a wall on the border of the U.S and Mexico. What the U.S. Supreme Court did on Tuesday, June 26th, 2018 was a disgrace. The justices did not take in to effect that Donald Trump is a racist and a religious bigot who said from day one that he wanted to ban Muslims. Who will be next? Will he start banning other people from other countries? Will he want to ban blacks...Latinos...Asians... Jews...gays...or any other minorities? If Mitch McConnell hadn't stolen the Supreme Court seat from President Obama and Merrick Garland, then the decision by the Supreme Court regarding the travel ban would have been 5 to 4 against having the ban, not in favor of it. But once special counsel Robert Mueller completes his investigation, Donald Trump will end up resigning just as Richard Nixon did. And even if we do have suffer with Trump...or even with Mike Pence...for the next two and a half years, I'm confident Democrats will win in 2020 and we will have a president who does not want to be a dictator, the likes of Mussolini. We will no longer have an Oval Office occupant who worships killers like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un. As Hawaii's Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono said...thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court's travel ban decision, June 26th, 2018 was a "very dark day for our country."
GBD
Once again you twist words; nobody has said “just because someone is coming from another country that they are "criminals,” but if you come here ILLEGALLY you are a criminal because it is a CRIME to sneak in illegally. The Democrats may succeed in preventing a wall with their misguided belief of open borders and not caring enough about America’s security they could pull it off. You are wrong about them being able to pass an immigration bill without the wall, because President Trump will not sign it. Even if the Democrats take both the House (possible) and the Senate (not likely) they won’t have 60 votes in the Senate and President Trump will veto it if they did. The question is will the Democrats keep trading American security and 1.8 million DACAs for the open borders? So I guess we know what is important to the left. I think your comment about President Trump are disgusting “in 2020 and we will have a president who does not want to be a dictator, the likes of Mussolini. We will no longer have an Oval Office occupant who worships killers like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un” President Trump hasn’t worship anyone and in no way has tried be a dictator. Worshipping killers and dictators and terrorist was left up to President Obama. His meeting with Castro and how about the America hating Rev. Jeremiah Wright and let’s not forget his love for the terrorist Bill Ayers. How about Obama’s un-Constitutional executive orders, executive order are legal and Constitutional when enforcing Presidential powers not to by-pass the Congress and the law. Maybe Senator Hirono should sit down and read the law and the Constitution because all they did is follow the law and the US Constitution.
ReplyDeleteThe response to the above reader will be in THREE parts.
DeletePART ONE OF THREE
Well it may not have been you, but it was a reader who responded on June 28th, 2018 at 8:08 A.M. who said..."Again, it seems like you just are against the rule of law and want to side with CRIMINALS. As soon as they cross the border ILLEGALLY they are CRIMINALS under US law." So THAT person...whether it was YOU or SOMEBODY ELSE...did say that once someone is "crossing the border in to America makes a person a 'CRIMINAL.'" I never "twist(ed)" anybody's words.
And if you read my comment above, I suppose to another reader, I stated..."Stop with your nonsense that by crossing the border in to America makes a person a 'CRIMINAL.' Trump has made it a felony. It was ALWAYS a misdemeanor under President Obama and President George W. Bush. Committing a misdemeanor does NOT make a person a 'CRIMINAL' as most people define the word 'CRIMINAL.' And don't give me any dictionary definitions for criminal or crime. The fact of the matter is that crossing the border 'illegally' was never considered a crime where people were being thrown in federal prison, and certainly not where babies were locked in cages and other children were being incarcerated in cages and 'tent cities' that are surrounded by razor wire. Trump and his henchman, Jeff Sessions, and his henchwoman, Kirstjen Nielsen, did that."
I wish my Republican readers would actually read what I write. Perhaps then they wouldn't write back and say that I said something that I didn't say.
Oh you are so very wrong that Donald Trump won't compromise with Democrats. When push comes to shove - and the Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate - Trump will sign an immigration bill that does NOT include a wall. Watch..he'll sign it. That is if he's still even president come early next year. Robert Mueller might have the proof to force Trump's resignation or cause his impeachment and removal from office. Who knows how many Senate seats the Democrats could pick up in the mid-term elections this November? There just may be more than you think.
All of the above being said...what's important to the "left" is NOT having a racist and xenophobic wall built.
GBD
END OF PART ONE OF THREE
PART TWO OF THREE
DeleteYou can call my words "disgusting" but a huge percentage of Americans agree that Trump thinks he's a dictator. In fact, he even inferred as much in a recent interview. On June 15th, 2018, Trump told a Fox News reporter that he wants "[his] people" to listen to him the way North Koreans do to dictator Kim Jong-un. "He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same." And don't say that was a joke, which is what some commentators want us to believe. Trump - the power-hungry narcissist that he is - wants to be just like the two people he worships - Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin. But, as always, you Trumpers have to come back with a bashing of President Obama. It's what you all do.
Opening relations with Cuba was fantastic. Just remember that President Obama met with Raul Castro...not Fidel Castro.
As for Jeremiah Wright...he's not a killer. Putin and Kim have slaughtered hundreds of people. Wright was Mr. Obama's longtime pastor. Wright officiated at the wedding ceremony of Barack and Michelle Obama, as well as at their children's baptisms. And, as for Wright's sermons, which were so controversial, Mr. Obama denounced the statements in question. He later declared that he was "outraged" and "saddened" by Wright's behavior, and President Obama resigned his membership in Wright's church. So don't compare President Obama to Donald Trump. Mr. Obama handled matters properly while Trump continues to inflame situations that he generally begins and then makes worse.
The following is from Snopes...whose fact-checking is respected as being 100 percent accurate.
"William (Bill) Ayers was one of the founders of the Weather Underground, a radical leftist organization formed in 1969 by a group of University of Chicago students. Weather Underground carried out violent actions against the government, including bombings at NYPD headquarters, the U.S. Capitol building, the Pentagon and a San Francisco police station, while Ayers (and his wife, fellow Weather Underground member Bernardine Dohrn) went into hiding to evade the FBI. Ayers and Dohrn participated in some of the early bombings, but criminal charges against them were dropped in 1974 due to illegal evidence-gathering activities by authorities, and in 1980 the couple turned themselves in. Ayers and Dohrn emerged from hiding to become university professors in Chicago; Ayers specialized in education reform and served as an advisor to Chicago mayor Richard Daley, work through which Ayers became acquainted with Barack Obama in 1995. Ayers hosted a meet-the-candidate gathering at his home as Barack Obama prepared to run for his initial election to the Illinois state senate (although Ayers later said he didn’t even know Obama at the time), the two worked with the same charity and social service organizations in Chicago (particularly the Chicago Annenberg Challenge), and Ayers contributed $200 to Obama’s re-election campaign for the Illinois state senate in 2001.Opponents have charged that Obama has been 'palling around with terrorists' and 'lied' about his connection with Ayers when he described Ayers as “a guy who lives in my neighborhood” in response to a question about their relationship posed to him during an April 2008 Democratic debate." Snopes goes on to give the facts. "The fact remains that they - Barack Obama and Bill Ayers - aren’t (and never were) particularly close. Obama has denounced Ayers’ violent radical activities (which took place when Obama was just a child), Ayers didn’t advise Obama on policy issues, the two were not close friends, and they have not remained in regular contact over the last several years." So once again, Republicans like yourself want to lie, lie, lie...and make up stories that have no truth whatsoever. There was NEVER...EVER...any "love for the terrorist Bill Ayers" by President Obama.
GBD
END OF PART TWO OF THREE
PART THREE OF THREE
DeletePresident Obama's executive orders were indeed constitutional. Furthermore, he averaged fewer executive orders per year in office than any U.S. president in 120 years...a total of only 277 orders. But Donald Trump is on track to sign more executive orders than any president in the last 50 years.
As for Senator Mazie Hirono's comment...the Hawaii Democrat was totally correct. Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court's travel ban decision, June 26th, 2018 was a "very dark day for our country."
GBD
END OF PART THREE OF THREE
You still don't get it and apparently you never will. It's why Trump will win again in 2020. Just wait and see. Liberals are going to be so over confident again and then the vote will have them crying just like last time. Then you'll be on here whining for another 4 years, but that's okay, at least you have a hobby.
ReplyDeleteI waited until today, Wednesday, January 20th, 2021, to acknowledge the reader above. I doubt the reader - after nearly two-and-a-half years - will even see this comment, but I respond to him or her this way. It is not me who is "whining," but I'm sure you are doing so. I hope you "have a hobby" to understand that Americans overall opposed Donald Trump, and not just liberals, but Democrats in general were not going to allow Trump to continue destroying our country. That's why Democrats and Independents who didn't vote in 2016 made sure to cast their ballots in 2020. So no tears from me or from the majority of Americans today. We're not crying. We're smiling and grinning from ear to ear that Joseph R. Biden, Jr. is the 46th President of the United States, and Donald Trump is gone. GBD
Delete