Migrant Children in Search of Justice

[_Jersey Girl]

You're unhinged and if you really think this, we really need to divide the country along liberal and conservative lines. We can't be members of the same country. When you use impeachment to win what you couldn't win in an election, I don't think you deserve to be a citizen anymore. Why don't you just sell what you have, go to Tegucigalpa, and give these kids a better life on your own dime?

How old are you?

Will you die anytime soon?

The country desperately needs to know when your generation will be gone so it can progress and put your kind of hatred and stupidity behind it.

Why are you relying on ageism for this opposition, Kevin?

Sit there. Sit there and take this to heart.

When you engage in ageism you are reflecting the very heart of the reason why the Trump adminsitration thinks it can politically weaponize young children as tools in their game.

Trump and his ilk doesn't give a crap that these are developing human beings. He sees them as THINGS he can USE as leverage. They are things that don't matter. They are things with no power. Easy targets that can't fight back. Our gov't manipulated the law to facilitate the child/adult separations to ruthlessly fire up the base.

And guess what? It's working and do you know why? Because an enormous amount of American citizens are willing to turn a blind eye because we as a country don't give a crap about the children either.

Ever see those "Children First" bumper stickers? It's a lie.

What you are doing when you use ageism against someone here is just using the oppposite end of the age spectrum in much the same way.

That and the fact that I'm probably older than ajax, I think I've got a lot going for me and I resent it when I see someone raise the issue of age as an offensive tactic.

It stinks when you do that. You stink when you do that. It lowers you. It lowers the conversation. It lowers your mastery of the issues. It lowers your effectiveness.

[_Jersey Girl]

Excellent points, Jersey Girl! Not the least of which is that by these tactics the Trump administration is very likely setting up these children to be part of the next generation of angry terrorists and criminals and victims of human trafficking.

He is for sure facilitating the development of children who are psychologically, socially, financially and intellectually compromised to the point that he is setting them up for mental health and social issues that make them ripe for gang and other risk taking behaviors.

There is no question about it, Gunnar.

Did you watch Kanye West's statements in the Oval Office? While most reports were critical of him, did you notice how he tied together the disappearance of mental health facilities during the Reagan administration to the rise in prisioner populations in our prison systems?

Like him or not. Think him a crack pot or not. Think he's unmedicated bi-polar or not, racing thoughts whatever, the man hit the nail on the head right there.

Not only that, he hit the nail on the head sitting across a desk from a man (whom he claims to support) who facilitated damage to the minds of young children coming up from SA to the States and continues to allow this to happen as I hammer out this post.

How could Kanye himself not see this? He's not a stupid person. And yet, he made the correlation that ties right into what I said about Trump raising up the next generation of gang members.

It's an undeniable irrefutable fact.

I may not be politically savvy as many of you are, but I damn sure know what's happening to these children of separation and what the likely outcome will be long term if these practices aren't stopped, and the irony of what Trump claims about MS13 compared to his so-called policies regarding the separations doesn't escape my attention for a single second.

[_ajax18]

And guess what? It's working and do you know why? Because an enormous amount of American citizens are willing to turn a blind eye because we as a country don't give a ____ about the children either.

Jersey Girl how is this different from the government separating children from parents who are imprisoned? Does this not have the same psychological effect upon the children? Does this mean that our legal system doesn't know or care about the children as well? Should these judges be tried and convicted of child abuse?

I can understand your point of doing the best you can for the children in a bad situation. But blaming Trump for parents bringing children into the country illegally is outrageous.

[Guest]

Did you watch Kanye West's statements in the Oval Office? While most reports were critical of him, did you notice how he tied together the disappearance of mental health facilities during the Reagan administration to the rise in prisioner populations in our prison systems?

Like him or not. Think him a crack pot or not. Think he's unmedicated bi-polar or not, racing thoughts whatever, the man hit the nail on the head right there.

I can't argue with that! Kanye has said and done a lot of stupid things, but that was most definitely not one of them.

ETA: About the disappearance of mental health facilities due to Reagan, I would bet that the subsequent increase in crime, homelessness and incarceration of the mentally ill cost society far, far more dollar wise than whatever was saved by closing all those facilities,

[_Jersey Girl]

God almighty I can't look at that photo of little Fernanda without wanting to scoop her up and make her feel safe again. It tells how she broke down in tears. Let me ask you adult men here...how do YOU feel when YOU go into a courtroom environment? Does it make you nervous? Stressed? Does it get your heart rate up a little? Are you anxious about the process and the outcome?

Imagine that you are 2 years old, the room is strange to you, it is filled with adults who are strange to you, you can't even understand what they are saying to you, you might have an interpreter that could possibly be effective if your native language development hasn't been disrupted. You go in there, someone picks you up and puts you on a huge chair that you can't get down from and even if you could, you're afraid of what the strange adults might do because you already know that strange adults have the power to take your beloved adult grandma away from you so you sit there afraid to make a move, afraid to try to answer an already confusing question, scared crapless until your anxiety takes over and you fall apart in a gush of tears.

Where is her right to dignity and respect? Her right to security and comfort? Her right to be understood and her basic needs met?

Where do you feel safe at night? Where does SHE feel safe at night? What relaxes you? When does SHE get to feel relaxed?

This child's anxiety level has got to be off the chart and when children cannot endure sustained stress levels they automatically begin shutting down and detaching in an involuntary reflexive effort to save themselves. It's primal survival instinct. Flight or fight. She has no way to fight so she'll flee by withdrawing emotionally and psychologically.

Yes, it's child abuse. Yes, it's child neglect.

Yes, Trump should be charged as well as Jeff Sessions and whomever else is complicit in this.

[_Jersey Girl]

And guess what? It's working and do you know why? Because an enormous amount of American citizens are willing to turn a blind eye because we as a country don't give a ____ about the children either.

Jersey Girl how is this different from the government separating children from parents who are imprisoned? Does this not have the same psychological effect upon the children? Does this mean that our legal system doesn't know or care about the children as well? Should these judges be tried and convicted of child abuse?

I can understand your point of doing the best you can for the children in a bad situation. But blaming Trump for parents bringing children into the country illegally is outrageous.

How is it different? Because our gov't manipulated the law in order to facilitate the separations. It's freaking dishonest, underhanded, and illegal what they did.

Children of prisoners have visitation rights available to them.

Does 2 year old Fernanda get visitation with the grandma she hasn't seen since July?

[_subgenius]

Our government is having 5 year old children sign away their rights.

That is not what happened, and in our legal system one can not sign away their rights.

[_Gunnar]

Thanks, Jersey Girl, for saying all that so much better than I ever could!

[_Gunnar]

Our government is having 5 year old children sign away their rights.

That is not what happened, and in our legal system one can not sign away their rights.

Legal or not, that is precisely what the Trump administration is trying to get away with. If you really can't see that, you are as bad as they are!

[_Jersey Girl]

Did you watch Kanye West's statements in the Oval Office? While most reports were critical of him, did you notice how he tied together the disappearance of mental health facilities during the Reagan administration to the rise in prisioner populations in our prison systems?

Like him or not. Think him a crack pot or not. Think he's unmedicated bi-polar or not, racing thoughts whatever, the man hit the nail on the head right there.

I can't argue with that! Kanye has said and done a lot of stupid things, but that was most definitely not one of them.

ETA: About the disappearance of mental health facilities due to Reagan, I would bet that the subsequent increase in crime, homelessness and incarceration of the mentally ill cost society far, far more dollar wise than whatever was saved by closing all those facilities,

Likely so on the cost savings aspect. Kanye kept coming back to the connection of mental health and crime. Listen if he has any way to publicly hold Trump's feet to the fire on improved mental health care I'm right there with him!

And you know what, if he indeed is bi-polar (unmedicated or otherwise) then he understands the impact of mental health challenges first hand. We tend to appreciate celebrities who come forward creating awareness about mental health issues. Kanye gets on the other side of Trump with the cameras rolling and taping, and all you hear afterwards is how crazy he acted during his meeting with Trump when (get this) that wasn't even the meeting.

Who's crazy now?

No, he made a ton of sense particularly when he connected these two issues. I also appreciated some of his comments regarding inner city issues and education reform.