Trump's zero tolerance immigration policy has been making news for a while, but the noise has never been louder. Yet the Republicans are not backing down on the policy of separating children from their parents, literally in cages. And it's the immigrants who are very much losers on this from the barbaric policy (and people talk smack about this country's handling of illegal immigrants):
“But after seeing news reports of wailing children in cages, Centeno said he now planned to stay longer in Mexico, taking a low-paying job in the kitchen of a seafood restaurant rather than risk losing his children indefinitely.
”You leave with the intention of going to the United States, where you can improve your life and that of your sons,” he said, flanked by his two boys, Axel, 9, and Steven, 3.
”But as things stand today, it’s difficult, because if you get caught, they take your kids away. I think I’m going to stay here, in Mexico, and establish myself.”
A rebound in the number of Central American migrants - most fleeing incessant gang violence in their impoverished homelands - being detained on the southern border prompted the Trump administration to implement the zero tolerance policy.
That policy, announced in April, directed that all immigrants apprehended while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally should be criminally prosecuted.
Parents referred by border agents for prosecution are held in federal jails, while their children are moved into border shelter facilities under the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a Department of Health and Human Services agency.”
It's probably this straw that's broken the camel's back:
The baritone voice of a Border Patrol agent booms above the crying. “Well, we have an orchestra here,” he jokes. “What’s missing is a conductor.”
Gruber has linked to an article highlighting just how ridiculous the defense has been.
“The Trump administration is playing a game of choose your own facts, but every single version of this story ends with screaming children in cages.”
All this in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Shaped by immigrants all over the world in it's history (including Trump's own bloodlines). The fucking richest country of the world.
It's a good thing that the US is withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council. They have no right to be there if they're only interested in regressing:
“The announcement came just a day after the U.N. human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, denounced the Trump administration for separating migrant children from their parents. But Haley cited longstanding U.S. complaints that the 47-member council is biased against Israel. She had been threatening the pull-out since last year unless the council made changes advocated by the U.S.
“Regrettably, it is now clear that our call for reform was not heeded,” Haley said.
Still, she suggested the decision need not be permanent, adding that if the council did adopt reforms, “we would be happy to rejoin it.” She said the withdrawal notwithstanding, the U.S. would continue to defend human rights at the United Nations.
The move extends a broader Trump administration pattern of stepping back from international agreements and forums under the president’s “America First” policy. Although numerous officials have said repeatedly that “America First does not mean America Alone,” the administration has retreated from multiple multilateral accords and consensuses since it took office.
Since January 2017, it has announced its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, left the U.N. educational and cultural organization and pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal. Other contentious moves have included slapping tariffs on steel and aluminum against key trading partners, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv.
...
Added Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch: “All Trump seems to care about is defending Israel.””
I wonder if this administration can last a full term.