Are we really so frightened we can't see weak and vulnerable people for who they are? Apparently the GOP hopes so ...In these final hours before Election Day, the Trump Administration and many Republican candidates will continue to flood the media with racist lies about people coming to our border seeking asylum. These lies make it all about danger to "us" and obscure what is going on in Central America that so many people would choose to flee their homes and undertake a dangerous journey to our increasingly hostile border.
These lies obscure the complex, historical reasons why people flee--reasons rooted in decades- and centuries-long issues of inequity and impunity now exacerbated by a multi-year drought in the region. These lies also obscure basic facts of international law and human rights recognized in the 1948 International Declaration of Human Rights: that all people have the right to migrate and to seek safety and asylum when their own government fails to protect them.
Many even sensible people are buying into these lies, e.g., the lies that the Democrats and/or George Soros are paying people to join caravans to "destroy America." That the caravans are full of gang members and possibly even hidden ISIS or other Islamist terrorists coming here to kill us. That these are s*$#(!!% people from s*$#(!!% countries, unworthy to join us.
People are believing the lies that the caravans represent a dangerous new flood of people when in fact the numbers joining the caravans are on a par with those leaving the region monthly for the past several years, and there is great attrition along the way. The lies that a band of mostly extremely poor families, the majority women and children, with a few belongings in a plastic grocery bag or a school backpack, represent a national security risk that requires sending 15,000 U.S. troops to the border at the cost of millions of taxpayer dollars that could be much better spent on non-militaristic solutions.
By making it all about danger to "us," these politically motivated lies obscure the truth that the people joining the caravans are by and larger some of the poorest, most vulnerable people in our hemisphere ...
1 comment:
I have no idea who the people are and when I turn on Fox, I don't get what is claimed here. I see the photos on Guardian and UK Mail and it does not look like mostly women but who can tell? The issue is that many people showing up at the border, asking for a hearing and no way can they all be given one in a reasonable time. I have heard the interviews and the ones being asked said they want better jobs or want to join with family already here. For those who want totally open borders, this is a no-brainer. A few years back, even Obama didn't want that but now it's become a partisan issue to win.
The thing that gets me the most is those wanting this won't have the people living in their house or even neighborhood. They won't be competing for those jobs. They might be paying higher taxes-- if they are among those, like us, who pay taxes.
It's not about a few thousand. It's about millions around the world where poverty doesn't give them a quality life such as even our poor know here. If a few can come this way, why not more?
In Oregon, we voted on whether to stay a sanctuary state. You might be surprised that I voted to keep the status quo mostly because I know those here illegally and understand how it would feel to have Oregonians turn on them. Sanctuary though is a bad joke as all it means is the police can't tell ICE if they have someone commit a crime. ICE can still knock on a door if they have reason to believe the person is here illegally. A lot of leftie talk is about process more than product. I've thought of that a lot lately.
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