Children are dying at the border because of their parents. It is not the fault of the US. It is the fault of the parents.
Many of these children are mal-nourished and already have various diseases and ailments. Thus they easily pick up other germs and viruses along the way. THey essentially arrive already sick and it takes very little for their weak immune systems to cause a flu or some other virus which they cannot fight off.
We need to return to the days of Ellis island. Newcomers were given a physical and if they were found with communicable disease they went right back on the next boat. We should return to that practice and if an individual fails a physical, then they should be returned immediately to their home country.
10
You are forgetting the rest of the equation: barring communicable diseases, they were then processed for immigration. Essentially all of them. No quotas, no vetting. The world is a much more complicated place now.
2
People trust the nyt and when some less well-read people like my mother see this it implies to them that it is a new occurrence and somehow Trump is to blame. NYT, tell the whole truth!! I had to explain and show a map to my own mother marking the thousands of bodies have been found in the desert. Thousands have died and gone missing in the 20 years prior to Trump even getting elected. She was incredulous that she never knew this dirty big secret before.
6
Here’s the best help - make the parents take them home when we deport them all.
7
The illegals are trying to enter en masse because they envision a benefit-rich better life in the United States, and because they are encouraged by the American left, which wants non-whites to become a majority, in order to superimpose the left’s fantasy of a collectivist, pseudoegalitarian state.
Anyone who attempts to enter the United States should be subject to immediate deportation. Absolutely no aid should be given to these people, and any state or local government which does not cooperate fully with the federal government should lose all federal funding.
6
Remembering Forward
On a recent trip to Budapest I visited the horrific “Shoes on the Danube” Memorial on the bank of the Danube River. Alongside flowers that people leave, a plaque reads: “To the memory of the victims shot into the Danube by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944–45. Erected 16 April 2005.” The memorial consists of 60 bronzed pairs of men’s, women’s, and children’s shoes, and commemorates the wanton slaughter of thousands of Jews in 1945 by the antisemitic Arrow Cross Party, affiliated with the Nazis. The victims were ordered to remove their shoes before they would be shot and dumped into the river. I have visited this memorial three times. Each time I cry.
We need a memorial for what is happening now, to tell us what our government and our officials are doing. I propose an immigrant “Shoes in the Desert” Memorial. This should be a physical one, perhaps at the San Ysidro border crossing (San Diego) as well as a digital one easily accessed. The plaque should read: “To the memory of the immigrants seeking freedom and amnesty who are being killed and imprisoned by the government of the United States of America. Erected June, 2019.” Maybe this will remind us what we have become. As a relative of a U. S. Citizen interned in a U. S. concentration camp for Japanese Americans in W. W. II put it: “We all have the responsibility to stand up for justice.”
David Altheide
Regents' Professor Emeritus
Arizona State
Recent book: Terrorism and the Politics of Fear (2017).
7
this is a crisis created by poor environments in South and Central America. Children are not separated from their parents if their parents don't try to immigrate illegally. The Asylum Seeker label is questionable at the very best. It's just been poured into the leftist koolaid and they gulp it down.
6
All these posts state the obvious truth, repetitively and tiresomely. How can Pence, how can the Republicans, how can trump blah blah, look themselves in the eye, call themselves Christians, blah blah. Go to the border and protest loudly. If you can’t, organize a protest locally, through your church or synagogue, state DNC, local chapters of Amnesty International, ACLU and the like. Ask Doctors Without Borders to go there. Be LOUD and demand media coverage. Get OFF your screens!
5
Children shouldn’t be brought to the border.
5
Children shouldn't be dying anywhere and children die in the US everyday due to abuse and neglect. And nobody gives a rip. I'm tired of hearing about migrant children and nothing about our own. I wish we could take care of them all but really, the only reason NYT and other news outlets focus on migrant children is b/c it's the story of the day and it is a way to make Trump look bad.
7
NYT Editors,
You note that Trump announced, then delayed, then delayed again, nationwide raids. Had you the sense to skip coverage of the announcement, you could have skipped coverage of the delays. Should you record actual events, or broadcast the propaganda emanating from the White House? Are you paying top-quality reporters record this tripe, then walk it back as deceitful drivel? Doh! Why not free them to go where the real stories are? Give your subscribers more interesting reading than: Somebody said such and such, probably it's not true. The next day: "Nope. It was predictably false, but we thought you should read about it anyway."
2
If we wouldn’t treat the Jews this way we shouldn’t treat anyone this way.
1
One can but wonder if this isn’t some Machiavellian scheme to further promote the idea of chilling immigrant participation in the 2020 census in the unlikely event the Supreme Court rules against the Administration and disallows the question. By preemptively striking at suppressing immigrant participation in the census by these crude, ghastly tactics at the border, the President may be setting the stage for the census to be so skewed, as per GOP stated intent, that the matter of the census question is irrelevant. As to the children... a segment of Americans fight so hard to quash a woman’s basic right to safe terminations of unwanted pregnancy but we seem to have a completely different standard if the child is brown and drowns in a muddy river... where is the indignation from the God-fearing, church-going population when Latino kids drown; silence. A great shame on all of us.
5
Most readers slam the government for not providing basics, including beds, for the migrants. Meanwhile another group slamming the government's immigration actions, undoubtedly including some of the same readers, is busily protesting against a company precisely because it is willing to provide beds for the migrants.
I've given up expecting a coherent. consistent, comprehensive policy about anything from any group in the next five years.
"Wayfair employees walk out, hundreds protest"
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/06/26/wayfair-walkout-hundreds-protest-sales-migrant-detention-centers/1569622001/
4
Why do the governments of Central America not want their own children?
4
This is absolutely appalling what is going on in our America.
Private and for profit detention centers that consider soap and a tooth brush non essential.
Children dying in our custody and care
United State Senators are not allowed to inspect these child detention centers.
Armed guards marching these children around in single file from building to building
Has trump made us so numb that we just shrug our
shoulders?
American citizens approve and applaud these actions from their president?
What country am I living in nowadays?
It's America that I am ashamed of and all of trumps supporters are co-conspirators. They truly are deplorable.
6
CHILD NEGLECT IS A CRIME IN TEXAS AND ALL STATES OF THE UNITED STATES. WHY ISN'T TEXAS ARRESTING THE PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST THE CHILDREN LOCATED IN THEIR STATE?
4
Work to find solutions for the dysfunctional countries that these migrants come from. Better job opportunities and less crime.
4
maybe you should think about the people that are already here that need help all the hungry homeless people instead of ignoring them before we help other countries
6
They came to the country illegally; they and their families should accept the consequences of their crime. We should publicize throughout Central America the severe downside of trying to illegally immigrants grate to our country.
5
Children shouldn’t be coming to the border. Why don’t their parents care?
6
June 26, 2019
Crimes against humanity with litigation at the Hague all honorable civil people need to engage in every effort to protect and demand that those at the command do their jobs. If not they must give account to improper inaction that add to the death and this debacle of human carnage. Failure to engage in the highest levels of international diplomacy with corrective measures must held to account and stand before the court of human rights -even when those rights are pushed by border infringement with actions to find remedy in a sane and just proper course that our and all governments must be given to hearings of inaction and indeed failure to govern a populace with ways and means to give safe harbor and direction in the act to keep life protected for all and all ages - resulting is demonstration of feudal middle age terrors.....
3
Make America Great Again. Stop separating parents and children at the border. Put taxes on the wealthy - including folks like me - to assure reasonable treatment at our southern border. Reinstate the assistance to Central American countries such as Nicaragua that might help prevent people from abandoning them.
And vote Republicans out of office in 2020.
15
This transcends all politics, individuals, and issues. Infants cannot sleep on cement floors, alone, without blankets, without parents or caregivers. Dirty, infested with lice, hungry? Not here, not now. We must stop it. I live in Seattle. Tickets to El Paso are $500. Should I donate the money? Fly to the border and protest? NYTs thank you for this article but I feel like it is not enough. My 10 year old daughter asked me if we could adopt one of these children. Yes? We need leadership to guide us out of this dark place. Can we come together as a country and make this better? Yes?
8
What is the view of the pro-life people who oppose abortion? Do they care about all of these children at the border suffering from neglect, lack of beds, no soap? Here is a chance to show the world what "pro-life" really means. If they truly are pro-life they need to pool their resources and make a beeline with their supplies and give these children the aid they so desperately need.
1142
@sam finn
They did the only responsible thing a parent can do and that is to get their children to safety which is the only logical choice. The treatment of vulnerable children by this administration is evil. We can give tax giveaways to the already wealthy and corporations but we can't afford soap and blankets? This is immoral and anti abortion groups should be screaming of the injustice but they don't care of the living children just a bunch of cells that will let them control women. It is truly disgusting.
259
@Larry,
Please don't be silly. These are poor, *brown* children, with *illegal* immigrant parents. They don't even count! Can't you see that? /s
38
@Citizen
Get real.
The world has nearly 8 people.
Half (4 billion) doubtless suffering from "'poverty" and "crime" and other maladies,
and half of those (2 billion) are "children".
The USA is not responsible for them.
They are responsible for themselves,
including their own children --
-- in their own countries.
We have no duty to care for them
simply because they come to our doorstep.
14
I don't consider myself a liberal on immigration, but this is just crazy. I realize these deaths aren't Trump's fault, but I am surprised nobody has called the family separation policy cruel and unusual punishment. Surely this can be held unconstitutional by the courts.
2
I started donating monthly to ACLU the moment Trump was elected. They are doing great work.
5
The problem starts with misinformation -- people believing that if they enter the US illegally, with children in tow, that they will be welcomed and automatically be given permission to stay here. That is not true and it cannot be made true.
Somehow we have to make this understood far and wide Otherwise the result will be more children on the hands of immigration-control officials than they possibly can handle safely and humanely. The problem does not start here. It ends here.
12
@Penseur
I totally support taking in refugees. We can work with our allies to also tans in refugees. That’s what good humans do.
Stop playing the victim and step up.
1
Many thanks to the NYT Editorial Board for this article!! I've been losing sleep over how these immigrants and refugees are being treated. After reading up on our country's historical relationships with South American countries and seeing the constant cruelty of the Trump Administration, I've been sinking into depression over what our government has become. I've had a hard time finding out how to help online, even found a few scammers. But this article lifted my spirits and gave me hope. Now I do not feel hopeless and powerless. I'm now enthusiastically looking forward to using the assistance resources provided here. Thanks again. You are doing God's work!
4
Kids grow up.
And they remember things.
When these children grow up it is reasonable to posit
that they will seek revenge on those who caged them, in
horrific conditions, when they were defenseless.
And we will call it terrorism.
But it will really be blowback.
7
@Bert Floryanzia Maybe when these kids grow up they should ask their parents why they didn't bother to hold their own elected leaders accountable.
5
Is it not time to ask for explanations from the legislators who created this mess?
8
Write and call your Congressional representatives and demand they take action against the administration's inhumane practices.
Demand they agitate, hold press conferences, visit these facilities and report on conditions, all done en masse. Demand as well that your representatives reply and not with the usual proforma answer.
Demand that children be given proper nutrition, clean clothing, proper bedding all in sanitary conditions. Demand too that children be reunited with their families without delay and that, in the meantime, they be given affectionate and professional care.
Continue demanding until these children are safe and with their families, and the cruel policies of this administration are ended.
4
Perhaps if there were more concern for American children (not fetuses) on this side of the border, there would be more concern for the children coming across the border. The Federal government assumes responsibility for the migrant children, and the Feds are appropriately held accountable for their care or the lack thereof, including supplying doctors and medical treatment.
Unfortunately, American children are not the responsibility of the Federal government, and they and their families are largely left to fend for themselves. It is not just the issue of insurance but also accessibility. In New Mexico, one of the states at the center of border migrant problems, the Albuquerque Journal reported several months ago that the state's largest medical plan did not have a single primary care doctor accepting new patients.
When was the last time the Times editorialized about, showed pictures of, or even mentioned New Mexican children who died from lack of medical care? When was the last time commenters lamenting the inadequate treatment of migrant children bothered to lament the inadequate treatment of New Mexican children?
11
@Steve Fankuchen Disgust at the American Health Care "system" is constant. The desire of Republicans to treat asylum seekers and their children cruelly is of a piece with their refusal to even try to repair the exploitative and corrupt business of health care. They offer one nightmare, with many aspects: don't pit the victims of this evil regime against one another, unite to annihilate these authors of death and misery at the polls.
1
Trump should insist that we tear down the Statue of Liberty because it really does give people the wrong impression.
98
@Fran Taylor Better just to remove the poem that was affixed to the statue years after its elevation.
8
@Fran Taylor yes this is a great way to help fix the migrant crisis.
@Fran Taylor and of course replace it with a golden statue of himself giving everyone the finger
1
Just imagine all the good that could be done for these children with the revenue America wasted giving a tax break to people who essentially already have more money that they can ever spend. The selfishness and greed and cruelty that has now become acceptable, as it is espoused by our President, is mind boggling. These are innocent children. We are brutalizing them, psychologically maiming them, and terrorizing them in the name of America first. How ironic. "Bring me your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free"--and I will throw them into a detention center and punish them for thinking the American dream was real.
903
@Betty. Yes, greed is now a virtue. We may as well make the other deadly sins into virtues, too.
23
@betty I heard on TYT network that there are some US citizens who are relatives of these jailed children who have been trying to get them and the people in charge will not let them have them. The only reasons I can fathom are that the private concentration camps lose money if the kids leave and or unbelievable cruelty. All responsible should go to prison themselves, privatized prisons.
6
@betty
Read the descriptions of the conditions in Drancy where the babies and children were rounded up and kept by the Nazis.
Word for word the same as in the camps here.
2
What a sad national embarrassing moment to see on CNN the vice president unable to defend the basic rights of the child; on the face of the government lawyer attempted legalese. Is this lawyer a mother? Socrates said if you cannot protect the most vulnerable in your communities, then it's game over. With more mothers and parents now in Congress, campaigners and children's advocates need to step up and push for ratification of UN convention on the rights of children. Given the prevailing circumstances, I'm not holding my breath. He likes to cancel, terminate, repeal and abrogate norms of civilized behavior.
561
@Charles
Why should ordinary Americans push their Congress
to ratify a UN Convention so that well-paid poohbahs in the UN, and in the Academy and in the Pulpit and in the Fourth Estate and at the Bar and in a plethora of NGOs and INGOs, can have legal rectitude on top of their congenital sense of sanctimonious moral rectitude to tell the rest of us how to run our borders and our country?
The USA does just fine without all those poohbahs telling us what to do.
The very fact that tens of millions try to swarm our borders tells anybody with eyes that the USA wins the vote of people all over the world as one of the best places to be.
And they will continue to try swarm our borders whether or not we let them in.
But we have no duty to let them in.
And no capacity to let in more than a couple hundred thousand of them a year.
That means that we need to keep out nearly all of them, regardless whether they are "good people".
There are nearly 8 billion in the world.
Half (nearly 4 billion) doubtless suffering from "poverty', "crime" or other maladies.
How many do you propose to let in?
Come on now.
Cough up a number.
Then sell that number to the American people.
And control the border to keep the others out.
The poohbahs at the UN and in the Pulpit and in the Academy and at the Bar and in the Fourth Estate ought to direct their pious sanctimonious admonitions to the ruling classes of the countries that are the home of all those supposedly suffering people.
23
@sam finn, translation: Bah, humbug!
Add another link to that invisible chain!
That's my reaction as a parent. However, another reaction is that you're seriously off-topic. You seem to think the issue here is whether we "let people in." Why? No one is talking about whether they or their parents are granted asylum. There are two issues: whether we take small children from their families, and how we treat them. What's your opinion on those issues?
15
@Charles--what is most despicable about Pence and other members of the GOP is the sanctimonious righteous Christian stance, followed up by...nothing except a vacant stare. If there is a God, there must be a special hell for these people who call themselves "Christian" but who can turn away from innocent children. What would Jesus do Mr. Pence? That's what a reporter should ask him.
8
What these innocent children are being asked to ensure is child abuse. Anyone with a heart, and certainly anyone who works or volunteers with children in adverse circumstances, knows it is mistreatment of the worst sort. These children will suffer life long effects from this abuse due to the neurobiological impacts of stress. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study or ACES scoring system is a well known, accurate predictor of risk for chronic health and social problems. Some ACES factors, such as, (1) not having enough to eat, wearing dirty clothes and no one to protect you; (2) losing or being separated from a biological parent; and (3) being in a setting where you feel you might be physically hurt, are all present for these kids.
How so-called Christians, like Mike Pence, can turn a blind eye to this abuse is astonishing. If he had treated his own kids this way, social services would have removed them from his home and custody.
347
@Kathy H.
"...and also full of dirty socks." Sound familiar?
@J. and how are you not turning a blind eye? Anyone who does nothing is complicit.
3
@J. Mike Pence is not a Christian or true adherent of any religion. He is an unscrupulous, inconsiderate, unhelpful, well-insulated and widely reviled politician.
2
We need to pledge to end this crime against immigrant children and their families.
If you believe that the treatment by the present administration of immigrant minor children and their families is inhumane,
if you believe that the present administration is manipulating and destroying the lives of these children and their families for cruel spectacle,
if you believe that you will not tolerate the treatment of others that you would not wish for your own children and your own families,
then pledge to do all you can to make this stop and return these children to their families, end the torture and institute sensible, humane, compassionate immigration reform.
Write, support, march and vote. Don’t stop until this tragedy stops and these families are made whole. It could have been any of us.
340
@Patricia McNamee
AND-
The silence of the leaders of the Christian Coalition about the un-Christian treatment of these poor souls is positively deafening!
12
I've collected shoes, clothes, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and medicines for refugees being dumped on my city's streets by ICE. I've donated to RAICES and Annunciation House in El Paso. I've written and called my hopeless GOP rep, he just doesn't care. At night as I fall asleep in my comfortable warm bed, I cannot get the thought of those children trying to sleep on a cold floor, sick, hungry and scared, out of my head. Not sure what else can be done unless DHS allows volunteers and supplies into places like Clint, and since Steve Miller is dictating DHS policy on that, we know that won't happen. Perhaps if our moral and religious leaders, health care professional organizations like the ANA and AMA, and others who exist to protect abused children were to speak out daily and forcefully?
304
@Susan. I agree, I don't know why more religious leaders, in particular, aren't speaking out about this.
15
@Susan maybe you can public shame your "hopeless" GOP rep? Name of the rep? begin by writing another comment in the NYT about the situation and list the rep's name. Call you local news station to inform about some of these ideas mentioned in this article and guilt/shame your rep. :-) etc
13
@Susan, Weren't some of Steven Miller's relatives destroyed in the Holocaust? You think he'd know better?
5
Sample conversation about Immigration on the southern border:
Everyman #1. Trump says those coming across illegally are drug dealers, rapists and human traffickers.
Everyman #2. Yeah, and they coming here to steal our jobs.
Everyman #1. It's outrageous. We'll all be unemployed. They gotta be stopped.
Everyman #2. What exactly is it you do for a living?
1
18 USC 242
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
---
Seeking asylum is a protected right. It has been denied "under color of law". Deaths have been the result.
Do the math.
2
@obloco ...or, declare martial law from San Diego to Brownsville. If you're here illegally, back you go. No silly tariffs. No long wait for a judge. No need to rush congress to get this fixed before their 5 week vacay. And, once the word makes it back to the aldeanos, they will stop bringing their children here to die in federal custody.
And we lived happily ever after.
2
Keep in mind that there are some who find cruelty arousing and exciting.
1
I propose a Global Passport available to all citizens of the worl which allows travel to any country without a valid visa.
1
@Watson And President Ji and Chairman Kim say, "come on in."
1
What parent in their right mind would purposely place their child in harms way? In any State in the Union, a parent that did so would be arrested and their child placed under the protection of the State’s Child Protective Service. If the child was harmed, or worse yet killed, they would be charged with neglect or murder or something in between. They would be rightly vilified in the media.
Yet, those standards are not being applied to migrant parents that are placing their children at risk. Why is that?
8
A parent who fears more for their child's life staying where they are. It is hard to imagine in America, one of the most privileges nations ever, but that is exactly the dire situation many of these families are facing. if you can't empathize with that and see the need for a more humane solution to the problem, I just don't even know what to say.
4
You have absolutely no idea how desperate they are to get their kids out. Don't judge until you walk in their shoes.
2
I was out of town for couple of days, to attend my grandson graduation from elementary school, and got very emotional which doesn't happen often, but I watch Morning Joe in the morning and the image of drowned young father with his little girl stayed imprinted in my mind, forever.
I couldn't stop crying thinking of my two grandsons who will inherit this country and the cruelty/savagery of the people in charge.
Just beyond any possible description.
5
Actually, I find it quite remarkable how few have died, considering how many come over the border every day. Maybe they are under-reporting it, or maybe the journey thins out the crowd a bit and only the hardiest make it through. It's an arduous hike from Central America; it would be like walking from NYC to Phoenix AZ.
"Donate" would be the key word. Ask the IRS if you can pay more taxes. If everyone ponied up 5% more in taxes it would probably be a cinch to find nice (relative to what they are used to) hotel rooms for all these folks. I mean, eventually all the taxpayers are going to foot the bill together. Court and admin processing costs, border patrol overtime, airline tickets for those that get sent back. Altruism gets expensive!
3
thank you for sharing concrete action steps and links to organizations to support.
11
'He has done so by systematically creating a false narrative of immigrants as job-stealing criminals...'
'false narrative' ? No, this is the single most monstrous of his many lies, he cynically tells gullible Americans that all their problems are the fault of minorities and foreigners, he especially demonizes the most powerless amongst us, desperately poor workers who are merely trying to support their families.
This is a truly vicious lie and no decent person would believe it yet he sells it every day and there are millions of buyers among us. America is broken and it is our responsibility to address our problems, leaders and voters alike. When a leader emerges with that message perhaps then we can move forward.
14
The events mentioned in this article are nothing short of horrendous. They are, however, not the problem--they are the symptom of a much bigger one.
This president can only think along a single x-axis, or a y-one, at a time.
Being Commander in Chief requires the ability, desire and initiative to balance a number of priorities, outcomes and responses simultaneously. Trump does not have the acumen to achieve this. And if he does, he excels at hiding it. Most important, he does not seem to have the drive, the direct result of which are multiple domestic and foreign policy matters spinning out of control.
The clarion call for immediate, responsible and thoughtful responses should not have been the result of death of people at our borders.
3
Because finding real solutions doesn't work with his base. He's promised them a wall for three years and will stop at nothing to get it.
2
Trump's insistence that we have a crisis of illegal immigration is false - we have a crisis of "asylum seekers" who know they don't have credible asylum claims, so they crash the border and surrender to our overwhelmed border patrol. It doesn't matter that in reaching the US border they've already reached the safe harbor or Mexico, but hey - our economy is so much better.
10
So all the problems down south in those countries are fake?
1
American assistance to the migrant children at our Rio Grande border amounts to a band-aid over a cancer. Meanwhile the criminal source of the migration remains actively pushing out the migrants like the Salvadoran father and child drowned in the Rio Grande. And unless we are prepared to cut out the cancer, the migration of asylum seekers and refugees will continue.
The United States did not expose the migrant children to the hard conditions of a thousand-plus miles trek from Central America. The responsibility for the deaths of the father and his daughter is the El Salvadoran government. If we want to stop this cruel migration we must excise the source of it: the El Salvadoran government. Band-aids, soap, and toothpaste do not address the real problem.
11
I am at a loss for words. This goes beyond words such as appalling, inconceivable, immoral, inhumane and any synonyms one can find in a thesaurus. I am angry about the policies which have allowed this to happen. I am sad for my fellow human beings having to go through this. From the start of the Trump administration, for the first time in my life, I am ashamed to say I am an American.
Stop ignoring, and follow the policies set down in law. Stop trying to create chaos, suffering and death in order to cover up your own crimes.
5
Parents (or smugglers) should not be bringing children to the border. They are the ones putting their children in danger. The trips are dangerous, the crossings are dangerous. I have nothing but disgust for parents who send their children alone or who pay smugglers or drug lords money to bring their children across the border.
The NY Times Editorial Board often puts these pro-illegal immigrant editorials on these pages and many people see the fallacy of their arguments. Even if some of these people crossing are desperate but frankly I believe most of the desperation is economic. This does not make them eligible for Asylum. In fact the vast majority of these people are not eligible. Our laws are ludicrous. If you touch the land of the United States and ask for asylum, or even if you cross illegally and later ask for asylum we are forced to take their applications and release them into the interior of our country.
Insane. Laws need to be changed.
14
They should not be coming to the border The president and all federal officials are sworn to uphold the law and they should do so. If you do not like it change the law do not ignore it
10
Yes they should come. That’s who we are. We take in those suffering and abused and give them refuge from the storm of tyranny.
Choose.
2
The United States needs an immigration policy that combines border security, justice and humanity. I agree with your opening statement and applaud you for starting the discussion with humanity. I look forward to equally expansive discussions about humane policies that address our security and justice (for both Americans and immigrants) needs.
7
Perhaps if there were more concern for American children (not fetuses) on this side of the border, there would be more concern for the children coming across the border. The Federal government assumes responsibility for the migrant children, and the Feds are appropriately held accountable for their care or the lack thereof, including supplying doctors and medical treatment.
Unfortunately, American children are not the responsibility of the Federal government, and they and their families are largely left to fend for themselves. It is not just the issue of insurance but also accessibility. In New Mexico, one of the states at the center of border migrant problems, the Albuquerque Journal reported several months ago that the state's largest medical plan did not have a single primary care doctor accepting new patients.
When was the last time the Times editorialized about, showed pictures of, or even mentioned New Mexican children who died from lack of medical care? When was the last time commenters lamenting the inadequate treatment of migrant children bothered to lament the inadequate treatment of New Mexican children?
9
Many on the left attack both secure borders and deportations as inhumane. I wonder why they believe we should have immigration laws at all if they're not willing to enforce them. Deportations are horrible, I agree: the best way to prevent them is by stopping illegal immigration so that there are very few people to deport.
The alternative to preventing illegal immigrants from coming in is to deport them once they've already come. The latter is far worse.
14
Solution: Transport every illegal alien - man, woman or child -
to Washington DC, drop them off near the House, and then leave. You'll be amazed at how quickly our representatives will then take action. 4.5 billion? 50 or 60 billion will be a more likely figure, with more - much more - to come. Meanwhile, we can see how many of them will be taken home by AOC, whose maternal instincts will surely rise to the occasion. Ha!
13
@Joe Pearce How about dropping them off in the sanctuary cities whose citizens want to take care of them? Oh that's right, those citizens want someone else to take care of them.
5
They are quite capable of taking care of themselves.
Where is the UN?? We are breaking laws!
8
@Laura Reich. Do tell us what laws are being broken - other than by the illegals.
1
Send them back !
9
Considering that a large part of the American population today consists of descendants of people fleeing economic hardship in their countries of origin, your "send them back" sounds unspeakably arrogant and brutal.
2
Who would not be moved by these tragic events. The fact is large numbers of people, terrified and afraid to remain their countries, are trying to come here illegally by playing out liberal political asylum laws: they are not being persecuted because of their nationality, ethnicity, political views, religion and perceived membership in a social class. I do not support child separation or inhumane treatment of these people, but they not be coming here. On the other hand the Guatemalan government over a period of decades massacred 200,000 Mayan Indians because they were Indians who opposed the government - they qualify. I know first hand of an Iraqi who was arrested and tortured by the Saddam regime on a trumped up charge, stripped of his citizenship, discriminated against because he belonged to the Turkman minority, threatened with death for changing his religion (to Christian), wanted the restoration of the Hashemite monarchy and was told he would never work again in Iraq. These are valid criteria for consideration the migrants from Central America do not have.
3
America has always claimed to be one of the richest country in the World but I can see by the comments that the USA is mighty poor.
Hang on to all your money and ship those kids to the Canadian border. Do it now before winter, please or let us know. While we do have politicians and people who want to be just like Americans, there are still a lot of us that shudder at the idea of it.
Please, please send those dear children here.
8
We borrow money.
This situation is beyond disgusting; children treated worse than dogs and cats in a humane shelter.
Americans, by in large, use to be a generous and welcoming people, we can be so again. That said, I haven't marched for my country since I retired from the military; however, I am ready to march for my country again in protest of the debasement of America values by Trump and his lawless supporters.
11
@oldsoldier - I agree. This is not the country that I honorably served for 20 years. What has happened to us as a nation that allows such inhuman actions? Apparently, we have lost our way. We are much better than this.
5
@US Veteran —perhaps its time for veterans to step-up, in a non-violent way, and help make our country honorable again. We need a rally leader, a General Powell, a Col. Wilkerson or a veterans organization to help those of us who wish to serve again get organized. Any ideas?
1
Children should not be ripped out of their beds and marched one thousand miles across Mexican terrain with little food or water along the way. Please write to the leaders of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras and implore them to take better care of their own citizens.
13
@Vincent Tagliano, our elected reps need to get busy and do their jobs. The U.S. needs to work with the Central American countries to help things improve so they can stop the mass migration. It is not sustainable. The president cuts aid to these countries rather than trying to bolster them.
2
The photo mentiomed in the beginning of this article reminds me of another: During the Vietnam War, the video of a Vietnamese woman, running with her children towards the camera; their skin burned completely off by napalm. Another photo during the same war is a frame (or single photo) of a Vietbamese young man with his hands bound; being shot in the head at point blank range with a pistol at the exact moment the gun went off. Later, it was allegedly determined the man was a thief. I don't know anymore than this regarding him.
1
@Easy Goer The Ken Burns documentaries cover both of these photos. The napalm victim was Kim Phúc and the bomb was accidentally dropped by the South Vietnamese air force. Ironically enough, Kim was used for propaganda by the Communists after the war and finally in 1992 was able to escape the communists and found asylum in Canada.
The execution photo was Nguyễn Văn Lém , a Viet Cong officer or Captain and was known by the code name "Bảy Lốp" Max Hastings, writing in 2018, noted that Lém was in civilian clothes and was alleged to have just cut the throats of South Vietnamese Lt Col Nguyen Tuan, his wife, their six children and the officer’s 80-year-old mother.
According to Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949, irregular forces are entitled to prisoner of war status provided that they are commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates, have a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance, carry arms openly, and conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war. If they do not meet all of these, they may be considered francs-tireurs (in the original sense of "illegal combatant") and punished as criminals in a military jurisdiction, which may include summary execution.
So, yes, photos can tell a story but frequently take on a narrative of their own. The Viet Cong were terrible, executing whole towns (Hue massacres). These photos show the horrors of war, but don't argue 1 way or another about the truth behind the war.
One thing missing from this editorial and the NYT Picks - how does one make charitable donations for the children? I Googled this question yesterday and a news report from the Texas Observer popped up. People had shown up with diapers, food, etc. at Clinton, but CBP would not accept the donations. Read the news article. I intend to contact Catholic Charities or St. Vincent de Paul in Texas to see if they can get supplies to these children.
Oh and as for my representative, the Minority Whip of the House? I called his office. I really think he could not care less.
2
Good idea. Donate to local charities. I did to Catholic Charities of the Rio Grand. Oh, and pray for these people just trying to survive.
I've fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. I've seen terrorists that a moment ago were planting IEDs, and the moment we hit them and they get wounded they start begging for their lives and wail about their regrets and their children. I've seen documented terrorists being let go from captivity and find them again in the battlefield killing Americans.
We either have borders or we don't. If we truly want to stem the tide of illegal immigration, then let the dead ones serve as a reminder of the consequences of breaking the law. Unfortunately I don't see the same amount of empathy and outpouring for US CITIZENS murdered by illegals, and frankly as someone that served that's disgusting.
12
I am angry, really angry. We are talking about children, some as little as few months old. Where is the outrage? Hollywood ready to shout for the abuse of women, is silent! Show up in front of this place and take the kids out. Also foreign leaders: close your Embassies until the US administration agrees to return the children with their parents. This is NOT acceptable. But thats the problem: we are talking about children, who are never a priority. Never for anyone. If the camp had dogs and cats, everyone would be marching in the streets
6
Where was the NYT Editorial Board in the 1980's when groups of aliens were routinely dying in the AZ desert? Why now is this such a headline grabber? People/children are suffering/dying throughout the world attempting to immigrate. I hate to say it, but if we had a democrat in the WH, this story would be reported in a different manner. I am sure comments will put all the blame on Trump and that is a sorry state of affairs. I would also like to point out that the USBP infrastructure wasn't built to accommodate the present situation on the border. Congress has to act and the dems must forget their moral superiority to tackle this issue.
9
@Donald, Republicans and Democrats must work TOGETHER to begin solving these problems. Clearly our system is not meant for the crush of people arriving recently to the border. The problem is we are so divided now that our elected representatives refuse to compromise or work with one another. It's like deadlock. But we must stop blaming each other and passing the buck. We need, as Pope Francis would say, DIALOGUE. and working together.
2
FYI, there are many more locations for the Lights for Liberty vigil -- see https://www.lightsforliberty.org/localevents
1
Too many Jews waited too long, hoping things would get better in Germany. The whole of Europe suffered so much loss of life by waiting. Many of those crossing our border have no choice due to the poor quality of their lives in Central America. We refused entrance to a ship filled with Jews during WWII. Hard to believe we are doing it again.
6
We careen from one crisis to another. This government tortures children, threatens Iran with obliteration, cozies up to foreign tyrants, makes war on truth, healthcare coverage, the poor, the climate, and the environment. But it's all ONE crisis . We must impeach this president now. The Founders would agree unanimously. So would their wives, who would not stand for a sexual predator filling this office.
5
Times Editors - Wake Up ! People are sick of you saying there is no crisis - what do you call 11 million illegal immigrants in the country with hundred of thousands asking for asylum now.
Asylum was supposed to be for people fearing persecution based on their race, religious or nationality. These people are economic refugees. The U.S. has the right to control its borders. It has the right to only let in people through official channels. When Trump gets elected again it will your fault because people who want to control the U.S. borders only see Trump as listening to them.
I remember a guy who was trying to explain why he kept a gun in his house - he said "I don't hate anyone outside my home, but I love the people inside it, so I will protect them".
A lot of Americans do not feel that they are being protected from illegal immigration.
11
Humanitarian crisis, atrocity, I am running out of words to describe the current U.S. government's response to refugees and migrants at the southern border. Countries all over the world experience refugees at their border seeking shelter from war, violence and natural disasters. According to Unicef Ethiopia has taken in more than 900,000 refugees from neighboring countries. The mayor of Lesbos, Greece, demonstrated courage and humanity by taking in refugees who crossed the Mediterranean. Instead of giving refuge to families crossing the border we have put them in detention camps.
1
Again... Why do I have to help? Why do I have to pay?
How about the wealthy elitist families of the Golden Triangle? They have amassed generational fortunes and they should be donating THEIR MONEY to THEIR PEOPLE trapped in political limbo in Mexico or US detention centers.
6
If people don't want to risk their well-being and that of their children, they should not try to sneak into another country illegally.
9
Does Canada have this problem at their border? No. Canada is enlightened...USA not so much. The problem is an immigration policy driven by politicians who want votes from migrants. Canada requires that immigrants have skills sufficient to be self supporting. Enlightened!!!
8
While Trump may wrongly demonize immigrants, the Democrats in Congress and Open Borders crowd far more despicably romanticize and exploit migrants and their children for political gain, while offering absolutely no practical, logistical solutions whatsoever regarding how, and at what cost, we are supposed to process and absorb this teeming multitude of unskilled people.
With endless numbers following just behind them.
How can California, where I live, assimilate these people, when our cities are already blighted with unsafe, disease-ridden homeless encampments, a problem so perplexing and intractable that the infusion of millions of dollars hasn’t made a dent? The patent irresponsibility and immorality of the Left is nothing short of appalling.
11
@Caterina, to be fair, the right and the left! None of these people are doing the jobs they were elected for. And we are all so divided now that no one considers compromise or working together for the common good. I, too, ask about the homeless, those without health insurance, the elderly poor....why do we not help take care of those people? Why do we not give increased aid to the Central American countries all these folks are migrating from?
@Julianne Heck
I’m sorry but from my vantage point the Left traffics only in resistance theatre and virtue-signaling.
And despicably, hasn’t even addressed the issue human trafficking which is a fundamental, evil component of this migration. Talk about the suffering and exploitation of migrant children! It’s already likely occurred before they even reach our border.
The only liberal I’ve seen offer a rational
and responsible solution is Thomas Friedman a few months ago in this paper. He confirmed Trump’s assertion of a border emergency, as well as the acute need for a partial wall, additional border surveillance and security ; asserted that we should prioritize the legal immigration of the skilled; and should in fact discourage this southern migration of the unskilled by attempting to aid and stabilize the dysfunctional countries of origin. That’s a position many Republicans could agree with.
1
The Editorial Board is absolutely right that children shouldn't be dying at the Border. I can't help but note, however, that they shouldn't even be at the border, and would not be if their parents, coyotes, whomever had not endangered their lives by putting them in harm's way to begin with. Nor would those parents, coyotes, whomever be taking many of their child-endangerment actions had they not been continually urged to do so by the Editorial Board of the New York Times. Educate yourself, indeed!
11
True that children shouldn't be dying at the border. Also true that children shouldn't be forced into long treks by their parents in unsafe conditions to illegally cross a national border. Their parents well know the risk and still subject their children to them. It's unconscionable.
14
@Michael Yes, it is unconscionable that anyone would suggest it's okay for our government to mistreat children because they were mistreated by someone else first.
1
Here I fixed this for you:
" Children Shouldn’t Be Dying at the Border Nor in U.S. Detention Centers. Here’s How You Can Help."
The despicable condition these kids are kept in, (while C.E.O.'s profit!) will really be a stain on US history. A stain, a shame and an erosion of morality of Democracy. Shame. Shame. Shame.
3
@Jt, IT IS AWFUL! That is why we need our elected officials to do their jobs and make plans and policy and stick to those. Long-term, solid policies and procedures so people know what to expect, what we can do, and what we can't do. We can't do everything. We want to help as many as possible but still have millions already here who need help.
1
Perhaps if there were more concern for American children (not fetuses) on this side of the border, there would be more concern for the children coming across the border. The Federal government assumes responsibility for the migrant children, and the Feds are appropriately held accountable for their care or the lack thereof.
Unfortunately, American children are not the responsibility of the Federal government, and they and their families are largely left to fend for themselves. It is not just the issue of insurance but also accessibility. In New Mexico, one of the states at the center of the border migrant problems, the Albuquerque Journal reported several months ago that the state's largest medical plan did not have a single primary care doctor accepting new patients.
When was the last time the Times editorialized about, showed pictures of, or even mentioned New Mexican children who died from lack of medical care?
10
What you could do to help New York Times is to publish the names of the corporations & the individual owners thereof who are profiting from the incarceration of these children and their parents. Please do so & do so repeatedly until this atrocity is stopped. Thank you.
5
Agreed. Our border should not be a graveyard for immigrants attempting to reach America. So yes, the richest country in history should be helping these tired and poor.
That being said, I'm a problem solver who believes in attacking root causes. To me the root cause is the mess in Central American countries El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Now to be truthful, we America helped create the corrupt and criminal environment with our Cold War meddling in the last century. Nonetheless, we have to do something to clean up the corrupt governments and criminal environment, and help restore order, prosperity, and justice to those countries. If this means sending in the Marines, that's fine with me. I'd rather send Marines into Central America to clean up the mess that's having children die along our borders, than send Marines to the Middle East for oil we're not dependent on any longer.
1
@David, interesting points. I have heard a number of people mention things like this recently. Those countries need aid!
We should NOT build a wall on our southern border.
We should build two walls to create a corridor from our Mexican border to our Canadian border. Let the sanctimonious Canadians take in the hordes.
12
I will vote
no matter what
Children shouldn't be dying in New York either, but they are. Why don't you busybodies fix that first?
12
Details please?
1
@JND Busy Bodies? What are you saying? It's not my business to care about the inhumane conditions at the border? Are you saying because there are suffering children here that those children should be ignored? If children are being treated with even half the abuse that is being inflicted on the children at the border, you have a moral obligation to speak out. No child, once she steps a tiny baby toe on the soil of this country should be subjected to the living conditions the children at the border are living in. I, for one, JND, will not stop being a busy body. I am heart broken at the conditions at the border. I cry when I call my Congress people to tell them to do something. it makes me physically ill to think about the conditions at the border. So go home and close your curtains tight if that makes you feel better. I can't. And I will not stay silent.
2
I considered flying to San Diego. Instead I am donating the airfare to a local non-profit in El Paso.
4
As of May, the Border Patrol in 2019 had apprehended 593,507 migrants at the Southwest Border. Of these 56,278 were unaccompanied children while 638 were accompanied children.
By the end of the year, the total is expected to exceed on million, including more than 100,000 children.
Out of any population this size, there are going to deaths from natural cause.
The death rate for U.S. children ages 1 to 4 is 24.3 per 100,000.
The death rate for U.S children ages 5 to 14 is 13.6 per 100,000.
The death rates for teens ages 15 to 19 is 51.5 peer 100,000.
So far this year, about seven migrant children have died after the border Patrol apprehended them and took them to hospitals. If they had nor been apprehended the Border Patrol, these children would have died in the desert with not medical attention. Still, the death rate among migrant children in Border Patrol custody appears to be lower than the death rate for U.S. children.
8
@William Case No, what's happening is that children are arriving with parents or caregivers, and they are being separated from their parents and then treated as unaccompanied minors.
Immigration has been close to net neutral or negative for years, and illegal immigration in particular has been falling since 2005. There is no reason for the inhuman, barbaric treatment of children at all, but certainly not because of some fabricated notion that more people are crossing than in prior years.
Way to minimize the horrific conditions of the detention centers. I understand from the GOP that that's what Christ himself would have done. I guess not all immigration zealots are "pro life."
1
If the border patrol sits on things like it currently is doing and holds those children for a full year, then you might actually have a statistic that is usable. That currently isn’t the case. If the border patrol does that, given our peeks into how those children are being handled, I am sure that the rate will go up precipitously.
Yes, most importantly, vote!! Surveys show that the majority of eligible voters have been in favor of policies that Republicans never propose, let alone support. But these citizens don't vote, unlike the fanatical Republican base. Like a stopped clock right twice a day, Trump was very accurate about his 5th Avenue shooting remark, which is correctly quoted that he would still not "lose voters." Voters, not just supporters. So, without the majority everywhere (not just the coasts), we've continued to have "winners" by default--Republican politicians who seemingly endlessly do all this dirty work. Maybe the record turnout in 2018 and its results showed a sign that the nonvoting trend is turning around. Thereby, I'll trust the majority of citizens to vote for a change by agreeing with this editorial--that we should get out and vote!
4
So, is it alright for "adults" to die or be mistreated at the border? Why do we keep pretending that children are the only victims in this debacle?
What is going on? Are people less human when they get older?
Will this news paper help me understand what it means when it keeps focusing on "children?"
Are there no adults being mistreated at the border? If so, why aren't they being included when these problems are mentioned? I don't understand this. It seems like hypocrisy.
Are children the only human beings getting mistreated at the border, or is it acceptable for adults to be mistreated?
Is this "selective outrage" or what?
3
Of course, I agree. But there is a priority and that is our homeless crisis. Recently, in California, I was astounded at the misery. Charity begins at home. What is the point of increasing our obligations if we cannot meet the ones we have. I have yet to hear of a plan from the pro open borders supporters to alieviate any suffering. I believe 4.5 billion dollars was approved today for care at the border. How about using our resources to help our ex-military who sleep on benches and need both our care and gratitude.
11
Is it and either/ or proposition? Perhaps money spent on an insupportable amount of security for our oft-vacationing POTUS could be diverted to address at least one of these issues. We are not resource poor, we are being led to believe that money pilfered at the top is off-limits.
4
@1 Woman Money isn't everything. By focusing our human empathy, media photo ops, and political talking points on the border, we ignore suffering US citizens. Let's concentrate on solving one crisis at a time. Europe cannot absorb the masses heading their way and neither can we. Canada has enforced its immigration laws and Trudeau declared that it is 'saturated'. Apparently, the US does not have the same soverign right.
2
In the Red State of WV, where legislators are virulently Republican, my series of phone calls and emails protesting these outrages by Trump and his allies have landed me on the blocked list of constituents. My calls and emails aren’t received now or responded to. So good luck to all of you trying to reach your GOP legislators with a complaint.
7
The Dems are happy to deny any funds to make Trump look bad, or because they hate the wall. So people die. And they call HIM names.
The hypocrisy is nauseating. After two years, the House finally approved money yesterday. Too bad for those who died- that money would have come handy two years ago. Oh well.
9
@Ari Weitzner
Did you support “wet foot dry foot” which encouraged Cubans to make extremely risky sea crossings? In 2014 17 Cubans died in a single tragedy and then finally Obama ended the policy at the end of his presidency.
@Ari Weitzner Republicans control the Senate and they didn't have a bill until yesterday, either. What is nauseating is the purported "pro life" party wants to play political games with children's lives.
By separating children from their parents, imprisoning, mistreating, and traumatizing them, Trump ends any chance that these children can grow up to be useful citizens of any nation. He is scarring them for life. He contributes to creating the problem of an unemployable or criminal class that he claims to be trying to prevent.
4
Shame on every American who voted for this heartless, inhumane President and his maladministration. This is on you too.
9
I can never again ask where the true German patriots when Hitler was ruining their country.
The real question today is where are the real American patriots while Trump is ruining our country.
You may not have voted for him, but every American owns Trump’s actions.
We must stop this madness before the US of 2019 becomes the Germany of 1939.
This is our turn to stand up rather than turn our heads to OUR country’s actions.
6
Donald John Trump,Sr clearly and openly ran against any Mexican rapists, drug dealers, killers, gang members, Muslims and Africans men, women and children coming to America seeking asylum as refugees or a new home as immigrants
And 63 million Americans voted for Donald Trump including 58% of the white voting majority made-up of 62% of white men and 54% of white women.
Trump didn't run a covert stealth subtle campaign. Every American knew who Donald Trump was and was not and voted accordingly.
Trump can't be blamed on divine royal sanction selection nor an armed uniformed military coup.
3
Or, we could put the blame where it belongs - with irresponsible parents who risk the lives of their children to break our immigration laws. #FIFY
17
@RJ I see, so when a child is traumatized by someone, the correct answer is for our government to increase the child's trauma?
1
I am not sure I understand all of this. If we had a wall at the border does that mean this issue would be likely resolved? We would not have abused children in the US?
4
Not even adults should be dying at the border.
Our policies are immoral and stupid.
We are NOT “good” people.
5
Hello? WHERE in NYC do people go for group protest??? The editorial leaves it vague with deportation stats and no venue listed???
1
The Times is brave to run this article because we are all doing the things that the article suggests. And our natural response will be that the Times is vastly better placed to bring this filthy situation to the attention of America. The Flores Settlement is being grossly ignored and those who ignore it ought to be indicted and tried.
Oh I forgot! Those folks are powerful and rich and can buy their way out of trouble. Welcome to Amerika.
4
Vote out Trump and the GOP!!!
3
To the jaded youth who shrug and whine:
Trump barely, barely won the electoral against a candidate who would have been a decent or great president but didn't see Russia and Fox coming. Stop looking for hits on your lame social and vote.
Or maybe you want Trump.
3
Thank you.
1
“Children Shouldn’t Be Dying at the Border!”
“Okay we’ll send them all, with their parents, to your town.”
“Send them back!”
That’s the reality.
9
I have always wondered what exactly a human being was to do if they found themselves living in Germany in 1939? I found out during the G.W. Bush years--- there really wasn't all that much one could do. Now what do we do? At first we were told that perhaps we needed to listen to those who voted this monstrosity in--- we needed to understand them and feel their pain. I never really bought that. It's like trying to talk to one of Hitler's supporters in 1939--- pointless. Now, I think, we need to relentlessly shame and mock them. They deserve it--- they really do.
8
To all the evangelical Christian Trump supporters out there I ask one simple question: What would Jesus do?
5
The immigration policy under the Trump Administration is a national disgrace. Using lies and distortions, Trump channels hate and focuses it on the helpless. So now we have concentration camps. Trump runs them. And Trump has his SS, it's called ICE.
5
I really do want to help. child separation must stop. Inhumane conditions must stop. but it does trouble me that the NYT is urging donations to some organizations that frankly state
that there should be no immigration laws and full on open borders. No nation can do that. Is there some way we can fight inhumane conditions, yet recognize that there MUST be some laws regarding immigration. Congress go to work on laws! Go after the inhuman traffickers encouraging these folks and gouging money from them.
8
Trump and Republicans cut off US efforts that were make the situation better in the home countries of the asylum applicants. Then Republicans and Trump are shocked that there are 10 times more asylum applicants at the US boarder.
2
Correct, however sadly both sides of the political aisle are exploiting this situation for their own benefit. Why can’t either party actually come up with a way to help these kids first and then actually put a realistic, enforceable immigration plan in place.
These are concentration camps, period. These people are committing a misdemeanor, not a felony, by crossing the border "illegally." As a Texan, I am embarrassed & ashamed of the conditions in my state and hope we can vote out at least one of our embarrassing Senators in 2020. #VoteSemaHernandez if you are in Texas. I feel so helpless when I see these pictures; you are doing the right thing by publishing this article. We are now living in the equivalent of Weimar Germany & will be judged very harshly for this. These are not only human beings, most of them are children. And to the anti-abortion crowd, what are you doing for them if you think life is so sacred? These people have heartbeats, too. I wish we could storm the barricades & set them free.
6
The photo is tragic, and the border is a crisis.
But the very fact that you are pre-newsing, pre-viraling, pre-iconifying, and pre-historicing it into a crucial moment is an indicator that the war has been joined, and the first casualty of war has fallen.
As hard as it may be to believe by journalists who have long gone 100% activist and lost their objectivity in this fight, or even by their opponents in the government, the real way out of this crisis is for the public to be presented with the truth -- unadvocated, unvarnished, and unclassified. The public needs to make up its mind and decide to act. And that movement needs to be well informed and make sound decisions.
And we can't do that as long as we have no place to go to get facts, to get statistics, and to get advice from all sides. The Trump administration is wallowing in cruelty and bluster, believing that the public will lap it up. The press is working so hard to find something, anything that will go viral, that they have forgotten why we are reading them.
It's a sure bet that most of the grandstanding politicians in the Congress haven't even bothered to read the Mueller report. But it's also a sure bet that the press is already giving out awards to its reporters on the migration issue and none of them has ever read the Immigration and Naturalization Act, or even the much shorter Refugee Convention.
We need the truth so we can act. We don't need you to tell us what to do before you've told us the truth.
6
@ondelette It says "Opinion" in big letters above the headline. All newspapers have an opinion section, and NYT's is about as moderate and milquetoast as they come.
I fail to see how you can agree that there's a crisis and a tragedy at hand but also assert that the Times is somehow jumping the gun by covering the crisis.
1
Donate? Wait, citizens donate to the US government every year. it's called federal income tax. Attention Legislators: please spend our hard-earned money wisely, on justified causes such as this one. But the new House bill for billions of dollars for child immigrant welfare... ? Please don't allocate $5 billion and assume that the Spender in Chief won't divert it to "the Wall" or wherever he pleases. And please set up a permanent oversight committee to monitor all government spending and mis-spending, so that all those who waste or steal or divert taxpayer funds are caught immediately and prosecuted, and required to return the money.
Political pals are profiting from child-holding pens. Voters need to see dollar amounts per day per child, and names of the profiteers and their connected facilitators.
If we're to have an informed electorate, such facts need to be persistently exposed. Even if the story doesn't "grow legs" or garner high click counts, telling it again, maybe a different way, will afford it time to penetrate.
Many among Trump's aggrieved base care that money talks, but they don't know they're excluded from the conversations. When they see where their dollars really go, and learn names of the profiteers and string-pulling politicians trading favors, they'll be less distracted by planted stories of "free phones" and " junk-food groceries" bought on "their dime."
MSM: Keep showing the pictures and telling the facts. Much needed.
3
NYT, please post info on how those of us who are able can foster (take these children into our homes temporarily or permanently) a child. This would be enormously helpful. Thank you.
3
It is inconceivable that a headline like this should ever appear in any American newspaper. What have we become?
118
@David J
It’s a nice sentiment that this heartless display of white supremacy at the border is a divergence from who we are as a country, but our marginalized brothers and sisters know this is business as usual in the USA. From America’s Original Sin through mass incarceration, the systematic extermination of Native folks to Japanese internment and American Imperialism, our status quo is and has always been cruelty to enforce white institutions.
So be viscerally angry, yell at your Republican elected officials, donate your time and energy to challenging these vile policies, but don’t be surprised that they exist in the first place. Your privilege shows.
2
@David J
It’s a nice sentiment that this heartless display of white supremacy at the border is a divergence from who we are as a country, but our marginalized brothers and sisters know this is business as usual in the USA. From America’s Original Sin through mass incarceration, the systematic extermination of Native folks to Japanese internment and American Imperialism, our status quo is and has always been cruelty to enforce white institutions.
So be viscerally angry, yell at your Republican elected officials, donate your time and energy to challenging these vile policies, but don’t ever think this is a new battle. Your privilege shows.
" No one with a conscience can look at the photo of an asylum seeker and his 23-month-old daughter lying dead on the bank of the Rio Grande and accept the status quo."
Ok, So why not use these kinds of manipulative explicit images, which are nothing new - status quo after all, for other issues like gun violence? Since no one with a conscience can look at them and accept that status quo, yet never were used for outrage during previous administrations.
5
How can we help more immediately to send supplies diapers formula, food , soap, etc. to the infants and children? Is there an address we can ship to? Is there someone who can ensure these diapers and needed supplies reach the infants and children in these immigration detention center?
4
@Susan Chan Yes, great question. Also, some of us out here can and are willing to foster a child. More info is needed on this as well.
2
The silence of GOP and their minions is mind shattering. No comment from the vast majority of them other than to try and justify the situation. Really? These children don't have basic items of hygiene, sleep on the floor, go without proper nutrition, suffer horrendous neglect, etc. What do you have to say Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and all those who turn their heads in silence? If you do not speak out against it, then you are enablers and just as guilty in this humanitarian crisis as Stephen Miller and Trump. But else is new. I'm Canadian, and right now the world is watching with disgust....
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Dear Daycare Donnie, Moscow Mitch, Lindsay Not-Yet-Out-of-the-Closet and Stephen I-Like torturing Children-Better-than-Torturing -Animals: What do you think these kids are going to do when they finally escape their cages? I know you can't think ahead more than the next 60 seconds, so I'll lay it out for you. You are creating an army of terrorists who will be deeply angry at the torture they've endured at the hands of the United States government.
Congratulations! You've finally succeeded at something. You could teach the Islamic State a thing or two about how to harness the anger of young people who have no family and no future thanks to the cruelty you've gleefully shown them.
9
Creating a broader free-trade zone beyond Mexico that encompasses Central America could go a long way in bringing hope to people in their OWN local communities for jobs and better living conditions.
Who knows? Even some currently living in the US may want to leave and go to Guatemala.
2
@Gian Piero [Even some currently living in the US may want to leave and go to Guatemala.]:
Not if they're smart.
Climate change is going to affect large areas around the world where people grow crops which they need to live as opposed to crops for export, particularly in the tropics. Unless they migrate, large numbers of people in those areas will die.
However, the places to which they are migrating are unable to support the vast numbers of people who would need a safe haven and those safe places need to protect their citizens from this onslaught or face severe disruption to their way of life.
Short of migrating, the only option for the people in those areas is have a drastically reduced population. As serious food pressures affect people's ability to reproduce and survive, this may occur naturally. Much like the ice age caused the extinctions of peoples who lived closer to the poles, climate warming will cause the extinction of peoples who live closer to the equator.
2
I used the link to the National Bail Fund Network to find one in my state in Charlottesville. I’m mailing a check tomorrow.
Posted 6/25/19, 10.10 p.m.
3
Educate yourself. Speak up. Vote. Donate.
3
Close the border!
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@Rich Murphy: We should close our borders to all. South Americans and Northern Europeans alike. No immigrants. We have no jobs for these people.
Instead of admitting asylum seekers, help them change their home countries. If their countries are poor, help them develop industries. If their countries are dangerous, help them combat crime.
When we admit minorities who are being persecuted, we help the tyrants get rid of people they do not want. That is wrong. We should be helping to develop multicultural countries rather than helping tyrants rid their countries of ethnic minorities.
There are millions of Americans who lack a high school diploma and compete with immigrants for the low-level jobs. Employers prefer to hire immigrants because it makes them more money. A few dollars a day less for each worker means thousands of dollars a year in extra income for the owners; a good incentive to skirt the law. Businesses do not hire immigrants because citizens are not available; businesses hire immigrants because there are few American citizens who are willing to work under the slave-labor conditions which provide the greatest rewards for the owners.
6
@Anonymous
Well said. completely agree.
1
Agree. Don't let them enter illegally and make sure that Mexico will take care on them.Letting illegal migration of children to go on is inhuman. it should be neepd at the bud. Don't let them enter and inform Mexican border so they will be taken care off.
11
Thank you NYT
3
Really? Are you SURE Americans care? Because the Administration is full of Americans and they do not care, nor do the tens of millions of cult followers and Republican voters. America is pathetic and run by far right white supremacists.
5
Agree. Don't let them enter illegally and make sure that Mexico will take care on them.Letting illegal migration of children to go on is inhuman. it should be neepd at the bud. Don't let them enter and inform Mexican border control so they will be taken care off.
7
Thank you for the resources. We may be the silent majority but there is always something we can do. By doing nothing- we are inherently complicit.
This is so bad you cannot look away. Children living in squalor in cells- children dying- parents frantic- looking for their children. It breaks my heart.
I have signed up with the ACLU and am looking at a couple of other organizations to provide monthly contributions to until this nightmare is over.
4
As an American living in Toronto, my heart is breaking & I’m also furious.
On Friday July 12th, people around the world will be holding vigils to protest the inhumane conditions at the detention camps. Go to lightsforliberty.org for information. New events are being added daily (they’re also on Twitter). I hope The New York Times will help publicize this movement. Thank you.
2
There is also The Florence Project in Arizona is another group providing aid & legal assistance to migrants. It is a 501c3 group.
4
When will The Times Editorial Board do the responsible thing? Why does it continue to advocate for allowing more people to come when we cannot safely accommodate them?
Time to do the right thing, NYT Editorial Board. Tell immigrants it's not safe and they shouldn't come. Stop encouraging them. It's just a horrible thing to do. Please stop.
20
@AACNY Conversely, for $775 per child, per night, it seems like we could accommodate a whole lot more people if the private contractors were not lining their pockets.
Immigration has been net neutral or net negative for more than a decade. The horrible thing is that some people who lack Christian charity in their hearts want to close our doors to the people who need asylum.
The only solution is to have a one-world-government, with no boarders; if the entire planet does not agree on this...then we need to keep boarders.
2
@Roy: You may be willing to be reduced to a single meal a day, but I am not.
We have great natural resources: Vast forests, majestic mountains and mighty rivers. Our fertile plains feed millions of people around the globe. Because of these things, we have a low population density when compared to many other developed countries. But a low population density does not mean that we have room for many more people.
Many of the same people who want to protect our great natural resources also want to admit many more people to our country. Where will these extra people live? Which forest will we cut and crops will we plow under to build homes? Which rivers we will divert for drinking water or is there even enough? How will the need for electricity be met when we are already having brownouts every summer and it's only getting hotter?
We should try to help as many of our fellow human beings as we can. We should send foreign aid to help them fight crime, poverty and drought in their home countries. We cannot solve the world's problems by admitting everyone to the U.S.
We're like a lifeboat: If we become overloaded, we all die.
4
We can't have open borders and a welfare state at the same time. It is as unsustainable wood-fired power plant.
By the way, the daughter and father in the photo drowned because we have a semblance of a border with Mexico, not because of the government's policy regarding detainment of illegals once they are in the country.
13
That so many comments here from self-identified conservatives/Republicans/Christians distill down to "Well, thems the breaks when you takes your chances." in reaction to the sight of a dead toddler is disturbing.
So much for your self-proclaimed "exceptionalism." Your mass incarceration, militarized police, and racist xenophobia put the lie to any notion of the "shining city on a hill" filled with "a thousand points of light" of 'compassionate conservatism'. Ronald Reagan would be ashamed of you.
You may not care, but you will be judged by history to be on the wrong side of the ledger.
12
@Kent Moroz We will never recover from this; it will be a permanent stain on our country. The worst thing is that we have discovered how awful so many of our countrymen and women are. This is a crisis created solely by Donald Trump & his enablers. I live in TX and there wasn't a crisis until Trump made one to stir up his fanatical racist base. If Hillary Clinton had not cheated in 2016, Bernie Sanders would be our President & none of this would have happened. As an historian, I can say that this will bring everlasting shame to this country. As a Christian, I quote: "Jesus wept." Matthew 19:13-15 "Then there were brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence." As Christians we must obey His example and others must look to their own beliefs. I know of no religion which advocates caging children.
2
No blame at all on the parents who knew this would happen if they tried to illegally enter America?
11
@Jake Seeking asylum in the U.S. is not illegal.
5
The people who don't understand the circumstances that propel these desperate people to leave their countries to seek refuge in the USA simply astound me.
They are threatened daily by gang violence the likes of which you cannot or will not fathom. Join or be killed. Simple as that. There are no jobs and no decent education for the young. What commerce there is quickly vanishes as violence increases. No decent medical facilities and what is available can't be paid for...no money. Killings by drug cartels daily, revenge violence, bodies left in the streets, too dangerous for anybody to leave their homes at times. Poverty with no hope of change. Imagine bringing a child up in those conditions? Would you stay?
You Trumpers with hearts of stone should take a few weeks off and see the sights where these people come from. You couldn't hack it for 1 hour. One hour.
7
These children are in cages and dying because of the illegal actions of their parents. Their parents have decided that their discomfort and potential death are worth the risk of becoming U.S. citizens. That was their choice.
They are coming here illegally.
If people are seeking asylum from their situation in Guatemala, their country of asylum is Mexico, the first safe country that they reach. While it's true that some cities in Mexico are unsafe, the same can be said of the U.S.
https://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain/opendocpdf.pdf?reldoc=y&docid=4bab55da2
People don't have the legal option of choosing where they prefer to have asylum.
https://cis.org/Cadman/Why-Shouldnt-Central-Americans-Have-Apply-Asylum-Mexico
The more than we coddle them, the more that will come. We cannot solve the world's problems by admitting everyone to the U.S. We are like a lifeboat; if we try to save too many, we'll all die.
12
@Anonymous . As many soft heads are disturbed by commenters like you, I am encouraged that there are still some NYTimes readers with brains. They claim not to be "open border" in philosophy, but they clearly are because, in THEIR view (which is THE truth, they believe), the circumstances warrant due to the conditions these people live in.
They believe they are the "silent majority" and they are neither. Used to be a registered Dem most of my life but now hope Republicans take control again so they can actually get some fixes passed. Face it, if there were a wall 30 feet high, we could then focus on the visa overstayers and the tunnels. There should be zero illegal immigration. Zero.
5
@Anonymous That was the attitude when the Titanic sank. Not all the lifeboats,& there weren't enough, were full by any means. Many more lives could have been saved. The same applies here. I don't consider cages to be "coddling" them. Grow a heart; we have room. These are asylum seekers; that is not illegal. Regardless, crossing illegally is a misdemeanor, not a felony. I live in TX. There was no crisis until Trump created one. (And I did not vote for him; I voted Green because of Hillary's cheating). I am not a Trump Texan.
To be Honest
I expect , Catholic church must involve this issue, a.k.a Vatican.
At the end many of those are coming from Catholic nations. Vatican should pull their weight, if any.
4
This has gone on since 1994. The Democrats until recent reporting did not care since the deaths of the children were planned consequences of CBP, prevention by deterrence policy instituted by Bill Clinton. Its good the Times and Journal are reporting this now but 7000 people approximately have died already because of this policy during the last 25 years. So much for Emma Lazarus, "give me your tired your poor. " While the South enslaved blacks, the U.S. leaves undocumented Central Americans to die in the desert
1
The New York Times is deliberately misleading readers about last week’s Ninth Circuit Court hearing. Justice Department lawyer Sarah Fabian argued that the federal government had not violated the 1997 Flores agreement by not providing migrant children in short-term detention facilities beds, soap and toothbrushes.
Sarah Fabian is an Obama administration holdover who served as senior litigation counsel in the Office of Immigration Litigation under Attorney General Eric Holder. The short-term detention facilities are Border Patrol processing stations. They are operated today exactly as they were under previous administrations. Photos published during the Obama administration also show migrant children sleeping beneath aluminum foil blankets on concrete floors.
Under normal conditions, migrants spend less than 12 hours at the processing centers before being transferred to long-term detention facilities. This is why the stations have no beds, showers or cafeterias.
The recent surge of illegal border crossers overwhelmed the processing centers, causing migrants to be detained longer than normal before being transferred. Some of the $4.5 billion border funding bill passed yesterday by the House of Representatives will probably go to upgrading the processing stations.
11
NY Times - this editorial should be open access for people who want to help.
2
US Citizens didn't kidnap these children and dump them at the border. This is the inevitable outcome of well-intended programs, like DACA, that de facto reward bringing children illegally into the US.
Primary fault for these children's plight are rgw adult illegal aliens bringing them across the border. Focus on fixing the problem--illegal immigration--instead of the consequences and the issue of sick and dying illegal immigrant children disappears.
14
Seeking asylum in the U.S. is not illegal.
1
Here's how you can help these children, Editorial Board. Stop running meaningless, picayune articles about Joe Biden's distant past. If you help perpetuate 4 more years of Trump, you will share in the blame for their plight.
4
Hey NYT, why isn't the information in this article being made readily available to anyone who wishes to access it? I get that NYT needs to fund its operations for continued excellence in journalism, and I happily pay for a monthly subscription for that reason. But I would think this article in particular is one that ought to be made available for mass consumption. Charge subscriptions for the crosswords, the magazine, the food recipes -- heck, even most of the daily news content... But I submit that articles such as this one should be made freely available. (And I'd gladly up my subscription fee to help subsidize that.)
2
Funny how so many Americans look at this and say, 'It's not my problem'. Well, sad actually. Yeah, it IS your problem. Our government has been mucking things up in Central America for over a century. Keeping the dreaded Socialists at bay in order to keep American corporate profit rolling in. In the process, they helped turn these countries into the war zone hellholes that they are today. Unfortunately, that same government represents all of us, like it or not, and we are responsible for their actions. We owe these people for what our government has done to their countries.
8
The Syrian boy‘s name was Alan Kurdi. Do him the honor and refer to him with his name, please.
5
The New York Times launched its “Truth is Hard to Find Campaign” in 2018, but its Editorial Board still has a hard time telling the truth about the Trump administration’s “child separation policy.” The truth is that there is no Trump child separation policy.
In 2015, Judge Dolly Gee of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California ruled that accompanied children must be treated the same as unaccompanied children apprehended at the border. They cannot be held in custody with their parents, but must be released to childcare centers operated by the Department of Health and Human Resources.
Judge Gee’s order is the only reason Customs and Border Protection separates accompanied children deform their parents. The administration would prefer to hold them in custody with their parents.
The vast majority of children apprehended the border are unaccompanied children. As of the end of May, the Border Patrol had apprehended 56,278 unaccompanied children and 638 accompanied children.
I
7
AGREE . They should be caught and swiftly released to Mexican Boarder patrol authorities
4
We are only healthy to the extent we are humane. (Kurt Vonnegut)
We are neither healthy nor humane.
9
Is "O’er the land of the free" of your national anthem still valid?
3
@N: It's the land of the free, not the land of the free pass.
9
Something to say to people who believe immigrants steal your jobs...
Do you guys really think that immigrants would be taking the "well payed jobs" you guys want?
My answer is no. I think they would be forced to take low payed jobs to support their family and face discrimination in their workplace because they are immigrants.
5
@Juneseek Kim: There are millions of Americans who lack a high school diploma and compete with immigrants for the low-level jobs. Employers prefer to hire immigrants because it makes them more money. A few dollars a day less for each worker means thousands of dollars a year in extra income for the owners; a good incentive to skirt the law.
Businesses do not hire immigrants because citizens are not available; businesses hire immigrants because there are few American citizens who are willing to work under the slave-labor conditions which provide the greatest rewards for the owners.
These are low-paying jobs because immigrants are willing to take them. Without immigrants, businesses will have to pay more and improve working conditions. Yes, we'll pay more, but more citizens will be working.
5
@Anonymous The correct response is to hold the businesses responsible. The fault w/your logic is that capitalism makes slaves of all workers for the profit of a limited few. Jobs are increasingly being taken by machines; there aren't enough. And all work deserves decent pay,not the pittances most workers receive.
1
Children Shouldn’t Be Dying at the Border. Here’s How Their Parents Can Help:
Don't try and cross the border.
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Get rid of Trump as soon as possible. This reign of terror has to end.
6
To damage kids this way is inhumane, inhuman and sick. I have become literally sick watching this happen. Stop the abuse of children.
6
@Zappo: [To damage kids this way is inhumane, inhuman and sick. I have become literally sick watching this happen. Stop the abuse of children.]
Yes, stop the abuse of the children; don't bring them here, it's dangerous and the conditions are bad.
7
We are all of immigrant stock. Diversity is strength. Brown people have become the target of Trump's strategy of giving his followers someone to hate and fear. We've seen this before. Please note the irony of Trump accusing immigrants of being rapists.
10
"No one with a conscience can look at the photo of an asylum seeker and his 23-month-old daughter lying dead on the bank of the Rio Grande and accept the status quo."
Mr. Trump has spoken of migrants as animals. He has encouraged his supporters to dehumanize anyone from Latin America, even legal citizens. Looking at the photos and reports of the dying and mistreated, Trump supporters and perhaps even Trump himself will say... 'serves them right', 'fewer to contaminate our country'.
5
Vote out every single Republican in DC. That will help save these children.
8
The U S has much to be proud of but our history dealing with immigrants isn't necessarily one of them. Remember, the US is one of the nations that turned away the MS St. Louis, carrying 900 German Jews, fleeing Nazi Germany. These refugees were forced to return to Germany to be exterminated. There are always a reasons to turn away refugees, especially when our government is providing misinformation and stoking fear and hatred of refugees for political gain. Remember, almost all of us are the descendants of people who came here fleeing from something with little money, education or skills.
4
Yeah, when your Senators are named Cruz and Cornyn, all you can expect is for them to regurgitate from the Trump garbage can of outright lies, slanders and mis-directions while they collect their millions in donations from the dark money groups who are probably profiting obscenely from running private prisons and these detention facilities. It's pathetic, sickening, and outrageous.
4
Same with Tillis and Burr in North Carolina. Deaf ears and open pockets.
2
@Brannon Perkison, it's bad on both sides. Total lack of nuance from too many in politics, regardless of party. Hypocrisy on both sides.
When you live in Vermont and the names of your Senators are Leahy and Sanders, they regurgitate nonsense talking points from the Democrats (while simultaneously fully embracing the neo-liberal, military Keynesianism that grips both parties, such as jamming the basing of Lockheed's budget-busting, ear-splitting F-35 fighter jet in Vermont's most densely populated area, regardless of negative impact to health and home values of the very demographics Democrats pretend to care about). Yes, in spite of all the talk, Bernie Sanders is fully on-board with this.
1
@Brannon Perkison Cruz & Cornyn are disasters & they do not and never have represented me. TX is so badly gerrymandered by the Republicans that the cows in west TX have more say in the government here than Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Lubbock, & El Paso combined. I voted for Beto against Cruz, although I am supporting Sanders for Prez. Sema Hernandez is running against Cornyn & I will vote for her in the primary; there is also another lady running. I will vote for Jack the Ripper before I will vote for Cornyn or Cruz. Some of us are trapped in TX w/no escape due to our health insurance. I can't leave.
1
Separating children from their parents is the worst thing the U.S. Government has ever done. It's an insane policy being carried out by an insane President.
6
@John Q Actually we interred Japanese Americans in prison camp after Pearl Harbor -- even the ones born and raised here. Pretty shameful, but more understandable as a reaction to actually being attacked than what we have now, which is institutionalized racism enacted by a psychopathic liar who will do anything to have and hang on to power. Hopefully we'll overcome this without having to drop a nuclear bomb on someone.
4
@John Q [Separating children from their parents is the worst thing the U.S. Government has ever done.]
Is it inhumane when we incarcerate people who commit fraud, embezzlement or larceny to deter their criminal activity which they are doing to improve their lives or when they are accused of these crimes and cannot post bail?
When we do that, we separate them from their children which is done to more than 1,000 children of American parents in our cities each DAY. Not only is this done to American citizens who are convicted of crimes, but to citizens who are accused of crimes who do not have a connection to their communities and who cannot post bail.
2
America should be marching in the streets. Literally. If we stand for anything we stand for children to be free from incarceration, free from being deprived of proper care and, worse, free from separation from their mothers by our president while he sleeps in a clean bed. And mostly free from fake TV gods. I call on all Americans to organize, march and make reality TV of what a real America looks like.
4
I wish 10% of the commenters would volunteer at a local shelter -- we can't get people to show up. There are plenty of kids close by - just as needy
Lots of limousine liberals in the world ....blame others ... do nothing.
Words are cheap
2
Baby Jesus was a refugee fleeing a murderous tyrant bent on killing him. He also was a brown skin baby. What does Jesus think about this? Remember he said what ever you do for the least of these you do for me. And what you do or not do for the least of these you have done or not done for Him. The fact so many people who call themselves followers of Christ are OK with this is shocking.
4
@Anthony: Jesus also said, "Render unto Ceaser...."
1
@Anonymous
He also said and render the things due God, Too.
No man, woman or child anywhere in the crosshairs of Putin's selected lackey and his republican shills are safe until the criminal, third-rate narcissistic swindler and his family of parasites are tried and locked up. Look at what they are doing to the USA and to the world. LOOK! Bandage measures are not going to help until then-- in fact, anyone willing to help asylum seekers is ever more likely to face criminal charges for doing so.
1
Thank you, NYT, for promoting ACTION and publishing links to organizations that are trying to help.
3
The current generation of American children + millennials cannot afford college, health care, a home. And that's the lucky middle class ones. There are millions more raised in poverty and homelessness.
THAT is who ought get American tax dollars.
Those two U.S. generations will inherit more than $22 trillion in our growing national debt, thanks to Bush, Obama and now Trump. America is not the world's trash can or orphanage. We never needed the nearly 100 million 3rd worlders we let in since LBJ/Democrats upended our immigration laws in 1965. No one has had the spine or brains to repeal that law and fix what has been broken for 55 years, since baby boomers were still kids. This was always the logical result, with more and more and economic migrants swarming to get into the U.S. from all failed overpopulated 3rd world locales, not just Central and South American illegals but Africans as well now. Enough is enough. I refuse to saddle any additional American generations with this never ending invasion after invasion.
4
@Maggie: Automation is swiftly changing the employment situation worldwide, especially in North America. PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that almost 40% of US jobs could be taken by robots by 2030. As more people are replaced by machines, work hours must be reduced to maintain full employment. This reduction in work hours will eventually have to result in guaranteed incomes for Americans to remove them from the workforce.
The children and grandchildren of those who we admit today will be competing with current Americans' children and grandchildren for a piece of that guaranteed income. The living standards of our progeny will be diminished by the progeny of any future immigrants. And no, immigrants are not needed to keep Social Security solvent.
2
Yes, I’m voting. For Trump!
2
Contact Congress, and flood Pelosi's office, to force her to impeach Trump, Pence and his entire cabinet. It is actually surprising that there is no more outrage that children are being tortured and dying, at the hands of the US Government.
There is a striking parallel here:
From 1934 - 1945, Germans did not feel outrage, because the victims were Jews, Gypsies and Communists. The solution? Round them up, put them in ghettos, transport them to concentration camps and the execute them en masse.
In 2019, Americans do not feel outrage, because the victims are in the US illegally. The solution? Round them up, put them in concentration camps, have them live in horrible conditions, starve, get sick and die. And, use mental torture techniques, on children.
In both cases the government justify what they are doing; politicians, and the masses, accept their explanation.
If this were France, or Hong Kong, people would be on the streets. In the US, they have accepted what Trump, his administration, Congress, Republicans and Democrats is doing to handle illegal immigration.
4
I realize that not all your readers believe in a power greater than human, but, nevertheless they may be interested in knowing what believers in Christ adhere to in terms of revealed truth when it comes to the mistreatment of children. Here is what Jesus said in Matthew’s Gospel,”Whoever causes one of these little ones* who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
In other words, if you tell a Federal Judge that infants don’t need soap or toothbrushes, you should expect to have a milestone tied around you neck and be dragged to the bottom of the sea. I hope that Republicans make a decent choice and approve the Dems new bill, avoiding a trip down under.
2
Why is it, since the millennium, that whenever Republicans are elected to office, within a couple of years we are dealing with the government subjecting people to cruel and inhuman treatment? Would a spokesperson for the G.O.P. please answer?
3
The argument goes the parents put the children in danger, the smugglers used the children and so forth, so they somehow deserve it. But the real issue is that children are being violated and worse by the very people who are supposed to take care of them, in this case the US government. It has stopped being relevant who is at fault for getting those kids here because the responsibility lies with the adults in the room now that they are here. The adults have abdicated and left the job of caring for these children to anyone standing around, even youngsters and babies. Is anyone surprised we have a moral crisis, a legal crisis, a medical and an ethical crisis from a lack of responsible leadership. I keep thinking of the saying, “if you can’t tell your mother you probably shouldn’t be doing it.” This entire program has been built on secrecy and lies and as we uncover the horrible truths inside these facilities we discover why they couldn’t tell us and let us peak inside sooner.
4
@R. Pasricha They are not telling us because they have contracted these centers to the for-profit prison industry. They don't want us to know how much money they are making from this.
As an American I was saddened but do not feel responsible or guilty for the tragic death of the father and his daughter at the border.
I do feel responsible for the separation of families and the treatment of children after they are in our custody.
Small immigration numbers, fair treatment. This is the consensus throughout the West and the only way to avoid an extreme voting backlash, which some Democrats have not yet understood.
4
I will help by supporting President Trump's effort to curb an overwhelming surge in immigrants coming to the United States, immigrants who know the risks inherent in their journey. My priority remains wanting economic support of the underserved Americans, who deserve better.
@New York Times: You're exploiting the migrant story.
7
@Mature Market
Supporting trump? The man who wants to take insurance away from millions, gave tax breaks to the rich and made relations with Iran far more dangerous. How exactly do those things help underserved Americans?
Your claim that the Times is exploiting the situation can be translated as "I don't want light shone on the misdeeds of the monster I support."
6
@Max Deitenbeck: I am totally against almost everything that Trump has done; immigration is an exception.
I consider Trump to be venal and completely unfit for the office that he now holds. I support a woman's right to choose and the rights of the LGBTQ community.
What has become the dumpster-fire on our southern border is what is best for America in the long run and keeping out these and other immigrants, legal and illegal, is necessary to protect our future.
PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that almost 40% of US jobs could be taken by robots by 2030. As more people are replaced by machines, work hours must be reduced to maintain full employment. This reduction in work hours will eventually have to result in guaranteed incomes for Americans to remove them from the workforce. The living standards of our progeny will be diminished by the progeny of any future immigrants.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/technology/automation-davos-world-economic-forum.html
2
If our government spent one percent of the ridiculous amount of money we spend on pointless, costly and seemingly endless wars, we could help stabilize countries like Guatemala. No one wants to leave their own land, their culture, their way of life, but when hope for survival due to economic peril, due to criminal threats, becomes minimal, people become refugees. If we had worked to stabilize Syria, imagine how much of the European migrant crisis could have been avoided. If we had worked to avoid war in Iraq rather than completely destabilized the Mideast, imagine how different the world would be. We essentially provided the basis for the foundation of ISIS over there, attacking a nation that had nothing to do with 9/11. (Meanwhile our leaders continue their friendship and sell arms to Saudi Arabia, where many of the 9/11 terrorists were from.) Our foreign policy is insane! Now, we are setting things in motion to further destabilize Central America and Mexico. This is on the GOP and the folks who continuously vote for war over diplomacy and financial aide. And the innocent (as always) bear the burden and suffer most. Obama stabilized things world over, (and not enough by my count), but now Trump has set us back farther. We Americans had better decide soon what our values are: Do we actually care about children and families or don't we? Do we represent democratic ideals or don't we? Is our faith put into action, or merely empty words? Decide Americans.
6
I don't believe the Government of the USA, I don't believe the ownership of New York Times, I don't believe the President of the USA. I do want to end this crisis at the border but then I also want to help the homeless that I see on our streets every day. So, I'm not swayed by the NYT and I'm frustrated by both sides of the government and will not hold my breath that anything is going to get done before the worst case scenario appears and, difficult though it is, this isn't it yet!
7
This has been described as a humanitarian crisis and disaster. Well, we have voluntary organizations that deal with feeding and sheltering people more humanly and effectively than CBP can in this crisis. Why haven't they been engaged with this? regardless of who is politically at fault or parental responsibility. children need to be cared for humanly. Children should not be victimized by any government but especially by a government elected by people of faith.
@NormanSmith02 [ Why haven't they been engaged with this?]
Even they become overwhelmed.
1
Yes, we all need to speak up, donate and educate ourselves. Including about climate change. Because the climate crisis is forcing people to flee their homelands for the United States.
Some of the stories from the last year: "Drought leaves 2.8 million hungry in Central America" and "Guatamala Migrants: Climate Change Driving Exodus" and "The Crop Monitor has Largely Classified Maize Conditions in Guatamala and Honduras as Failure".
What can you do? Take public transportation, bike or walk instead of driving so much. Insulate your home. Put solar panels on your roof. Stop wasting food. Compost. Eat more plants and less meat. Fly much less. Consume much less. Share more. Divest from oil and gas and big agribusiness. Simplify, simplify, simplify.
4
@Sio What else can you do to that's even more effective than all of you solutions combined? Don't have any children.
Reducing individual consuption and waste is pointless when the number of individuals keeps increasing. Consider these two points - 1. According to Pew, 90% of America's future population growth is from immigration. 2. According to the World Bank the typical American is responsible for 16.5 tons of CO2 a year. The typical Honduran is responsible for 1.1 tons.
Do you see the issue here? It's not just CO2, but land, water and air resources consumed by more and more people immigrating to the US. Americans need to understand the coorelation between population and sustainability.
@Dan Yes I understand. I have not procreated nor do I plan on. I do help care for a nephew who has been adopted. His biological mother died in childbirth. There are many children already in the world who need loving homes.
1
I don't know what the right solution is. But it doesn't include non humain and unsanitary detainment facilities.
Obviously, we can't open up our borders and simply let potentially hundreds of millions of people enter the US. Long term, we need to address the root problem: unlivable conditions in the subject countries. Providing aid, medical services, birth control, education funding are all things that could help. Not something that will happen quickly, or even over 10 or 20 years. In the mean time, we need at least to ensure humain conditions in the detainment camps.0
It's unbelievable that Trump can ignore these conditions. And it's further unbelievable that he does the exact opposite of what's needed to reduce the waves of attempting immigrants - cutting off humanitarian support in the source countries.
4
Children should not be brought by their parents to the border. All Latin American countries have democratically elected governments, and they should do more to keep their citizens safe from crime.
This NY times article unfortunately makes it look like it's the US responsibility to protect the children who show up. One humane way would be to put them back on a flight to Guatemala or wherever.
6
@Inveterate: We do not have to send them back to Guatemala.
If people are seeking asylum from their situation in Guatemala, their country of asylum is Mexico, the first safe country that they reach.
https://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain/opendocpdf.pdf?reldoc=y&docid=4bab55da2
While it's true that some cities in Mexico are unsafe, the same can be said of the U.S.
People don't have the legal option of choosing where they prefer to have asylum.
https://cis.org/Cadman/Why-Shouldnt-Central-Americans-Have-Apply-Asylum-Mexico
2
I’ve made several attempts the past several days to contact my Congressional Representative since last week well before the NYT Editorial Board published this editorial (which I included the NYT on in several of my correspondences), however the only response I received back was an “automated” email from the Democratic Rep.
Furthermore, no matter how horrific a photo is of a dead infant or child, editorials like this are more encouragement to ill informed migrants to attempt a long and often treacherous journey because this may give them a false sense of security.
I very doubt that any member of the NYT Editorial Board would put politics over the life of an innocent infant, but their “thousand” plus words of this editorial “is not worth” another photo of a drowned child”!
3
I trust that the times and all these organizations are working to get the word out in the northern triangle that taking 2 yo kids on a dangerous, extensive journey based on false information is not a good idea. The best place to save these people is not at our border but to discourage them from leaving thier home countries and to set up an orderly process so that they can apply from there.
4
"by insisting that there is a crisis of illegal immigration where there is none" Huh?
6
And here is something else you can all do : Outsource your lawn mowing and snow blowing - to Latin American migrant workers. Let us please stop hating them because they look different. Leave that to Trump and his supporters.
2
Poverty,, Income Inequality are brutal everywhere... not just on the Rio Grande River crossing.
Children and adults are dying everywhere, including the Southern Border of the US.
Open your eyes and you will see it. Immigration is a convenient political issue.
Kids in American are losing their parents to drugs, prison, divorce etc . All these have rough consequences oin our children. Not one or two, but 100s of thousands. Not politcially cool to talk about them or publicise these issues... or issue a clarion call to "Speak Up, Educated Yourself and Vote".
4
You say, "No one with a conscience can look at the photo of an asylum seeker and his 23-month-old daughter lying dead on the bank of the Rio Grande and accept the status quo."
I think you have been proven wrong by a number of Republicans in the House, Senate, the White House and many state houses.
1
@Marc That’s the point - the Republicans you’re talking about have no conscience.
2
More money needs to go to the countries that these people are leaving. These poor children need help, yes, but 4.5 BILLION dollars seems a fortune and I question how it will be spent-especially by this ridiculous administration.
2
Thank you for this editorial.
1
Parents shouldn't put their kids in harm's way.
6
@turbot
Which is exactly why they are seeking asylum in the US, to remove their families from harm.
3
"Children Shouldn’t Be Dying at the Border. Here’s How You Can Help.
Speak up. Donate. Educate yourself. Vote."
Yes, vote for Trump who has the only plan that will stop the flood of immigrant families putting themselves in danger.
3
@Amy
Yeah? How about you give us the details of that plan. We're all still waiting for Mexico to pay for the useless wall.
2
The man's evil knows no bounds.
3
Nicely done.
And they would not be dying at the border if someone irresponsible was not bringing them. If America is so terrible, why do all these people want to come here?
4
Nothing will improve until we get Stephen Miller our of the White House. This vicious xenophobe has throughout his life shown his cruelty to anyone with a brown face. He is the descendant of immigrants, but he has no pity, no moderation and no limits to his imagination as to how to inflict torture on innocents, particularly children, whom he actually blames for our immigration difficulties. Miller is the rot at the core of Trump's failing immigration policy. He must go.
4
AMMPPARO
This is the immigration assistance arm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Of America.....
Call the New England Synod to provide “ hands on care “and representation in courts for families and unaccompanied minors .
We contacted them yesterday. We are ready to join up as helpers at courts. And we are heading to Homestead Fl. This year as snowbirds to protest and help. I have an active nursing license in Florida and Ct. and New Hampshire so I have a flex ability to serve the migrants and refugees.
So let’s do this and take back the night.
And yes we are putting our lives at risk of harm and incarceration for “ not going gentle into that goodnight” but “ raging before the dying of the light”
“ Jesus wept”
1
Where is Mrs. Trump this time? She’s a mother. What about Ivanka? Usually, she and Jared go on “vacation” when the heat gets too hot in the kitchen.
Someone needs to start a GoFundMe page to hire Led by Donkeys. They are the company responsible for displaying the Obama / Trump approval ratings & John McCain hat on London monuments during Trump’s visit. They should project the photograph of Oscar Martinez Ramirez and his daughter onto the Trump hotel in DC. Or better yet onto the side of the Lincoln Memorial on July 4th. Another future project for Led by Donkeys - project a big “Trump Heights” image onto the side of Rikers Island.
Contacting my senators & representative again. Also, will be contacting the UN - this is a human rights crisis.
2
First things first. Are there not enough American children suffering from malnutrition, living in sub standard housing, having to endure cold winters in unheated apartments in any of the 5 boroughs , going without proper, balanced diets to justify focusing on them first? De Blasio, a foolish man, like the governor, pats himself on the back for supporting sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants,including in some cases felons, drug traffikers, and the Times newspaper is egging him on?No wonder Trump can hold standing room only rallies with more folks waiting outside forced to watch on closed circuit t.v. screens than the number of aficionados inside at the rally.I keep thinking of the 12 victims of that BLAZE in the Bronx almost 2 years ago who would be alive were OUR POOR well looked after with the same degree of concern that governor extends to illegal immigration..South SIDE of Chicago remains a killing ground, yet supporting safe zones for "indocumentados" remains Number One priority. No wonder people r fed up. Yet political class continues to prosper, persists in encouraging illegal immigration because it benefits the chambers of commerce which reckons that the more illegal labor the flatter the wages all around."Quelle foutaise!" You at the EB should be ashamed of yourselves!It's a zero sum game, and while hundreds of thousands of citizens in California go homeless, governor is encouraging more illegal immigration from south of the border!
3
To those I know and don't know who support the way we treat people in desperate straights -
Matthew 25:45
“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
The time will come when you have to answer for what you do, good luck with that and pack lightly…
2
Children. These are children. Crimes against humanity.
""Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”"
Ah yes, once upon a time those seeking a better life were called to come...
1
There is a saying that campers and National Park visitors know well: "A fed bear is a dead bear." This is because a bear that is fed begins to lose its fear of humans and then becomes a danger. The migrants are not bears, but the principle is the same.
Ideally, we can take all these migrants and process them in a reasonable fashion, but, the reality is that unless we can dissuade migrants from coming, they will continue to come. If we give them aid and comfort, even more will come - and more tragedies like this will occur and more of them will be in camps for even more years. And we the taxpayers are paying for it because these migrants aren't even contributing to the economy in any way.
For you people making $150k+ higher a year: Do you want them living in detention centers in your neighborhoods, unemployed and needing food and services and, you paying for it all. Put the detention centers in your well-manicured tony neighborhoods and maybe you'd be less encouraging of the migrants coming.
I am saddened by the picture of the drowned man and daughter. People are saying that the Trump Administration's policies are at fault for this. That may be so, but that's not the whole truth. Our unrealistic American idealism is equally to blame by creating policies that have led to unrealistic encouragement to come here.
That little girl is dead because her father chose to bring her here and not anywhere else.
5
There’s plenty of funding to care for the refugees, especially the children. The challenge, according to some witness reports is that even “donations” are being denied from reaching the children. So, what we have is a violation of the rights of man, or crimes against humanity. What organizations and lawyers can do is file suits in US courts as well as the World Court against Trump and Stephen Miller. The latter should be arrested is he sets foot in foreign soil.
1
This is purely a HUMANITARIAN crisis. Reserve all discussion of taxes, abortion, or voting rights. THIS IS ABOUT CAMPS FOR TORTURE. The only reason for everyone "discussing" anything is that the camps are cut off from inspection and contact. The tents and building are chosen for their inconvenient and inaccessible location. First find out where they are, how many exactly, and let us see them. Then go back to other issues.
3
This piece advocates for open borders and unrestricted immigration. How is allowing millions of poor, uneducated migrants to come into the country going to make our country better? How is this going to make for a more environmentally sustainable America? How is this going to make for a more unified country? Who is going to pay for all of these people and their children?
8
Children shouldn't be dying at the border because they shouldn't be at the border. Whose genius idea was it to allow them to be here when we cannot safely accommodate them? Not Trump's, I can assure you.
7
I wrote my master's thesis on U.S. newspaper reporting of Mexican immigration. It included reporting that began in 1930 and ended in 1974. I received my degree in 1976.
What I found was that immigration officials consistently demonized undocumented immigrants, alleging that they stole jobs--how does one manage that when employers determine who gets hired?--brought disease, engaged in criminal activity and were prone to get on welfare.
Officials time and again used warlike language, invoking "invasions" and being "overrun."
Sadly, newspapers simply reported what officials said, creating the plain impression it was all true.
Of course, the country did not fall apart, but in fact prospered for most of those years. Immigrants became citizens, their children acculturated and became as American as tacos and piñatas.
So, the Trump narrative is not new.
What is heartening is that the media are not swallowing this narrative and laying bare the inhumanity and callousness that for too long have infused immigration enforcement.
3
Whatever your take on immigration, legal or otherwise, the question everyone should be asking is would I deliberately harm another human being? If you support Trump's efforts at the border and elsewhere toward immigrants then your answer is Yes. Immigration reform is a huge challenge that the U.S. has to face and until humane immigration is in place please just stop hurting people.
5
An unacceptable crisis at the border is evidenced by the deceased father and daughter. No one should die to reach America, regardless of their claim. May their souls rest in peace.
2
If I stood on a highway overpass, above a very busy roadway and threw handfuls of $20 bills, in full view of poor, desperate people, what do you think would happen?
What if I advertised, using Central American media, that if you can make it Estados Unitas, you can apply for asylum. And, you will be allowed to stay until your court date. And, on the down low, if you don't show up for court, they won't look for you.
And, to my dear Democrat friends, you know this is wrong. Do you wonder if all of the legal immigrants know this is wrong? Those waiting for their family to arrive must see the unfairness of this. How do you explain to them, they need to educate themselves and donate?
6
Thank you NY Times. Once again, you've made my subscription well worth it.
1
So it has come to this. I was naive and never expected to see the Times encourage people to actively attempt to deter our public officials from enforcing the law. But the Times obsession with its open borders advocacy has led to this shameless editorial. I had never thought, in a million years, that I could ever vote for Donald Trump, but because I agree with him on immigration (although not with his racist bluster), I might, or more probably, will not vote.
6
This really bugs the heck out of me. So eager to care for an illegal yet as a life-long disabled wheelchair using citizen of America I can't get. Where is the fair in that NYTimes readers?
6
Mass, non-violent protests are needed to quell this lawless president and those who corrupt our democracy.
One of many manifestations of the lawlessness of our president is the un-American conditions at our boarder. Trump, Pence and their supporters moan that there is no money to feed and house immigrant children separated from their parents at the border. That is poppycock; here are a few funding fixes:
—All money from Trump's total disregard of the Emoluments Clause should be clawed back from Trump and used to provide humane treatment for asylum seekers held in detention camps.
—Take the money Trump redirected from other budget items to build his unneeded border wall and redirect it to the care of the children Trump's administration has been exploiting to fire up his base.
—Stop outsourcing the care of children held in detention to fake non-profits and profit organizations. These organizations overcharge, cook the books for bonus and kick back tax payer money to political campaigns. Most privatization is crony capitalism and feeds our system of legalize bribery.
Americans, by in large, use to be a generous and welcoming people, we can be so again. That said, I haven't marched for my country since I retired from the military; however, I am ready to march for my country again in protest of the debasement of America values by Trump and his lawless supporters in and out of government.
1
I am so ashamed of being an American citizen. Just like Germany in the 1930's and early 40's. Well, all this stuff doesn't affect me and my family, so why should I care? I am complicit if I do nothing.
3
@christina r garcia
So let me make sure I understand your comment -
You are equating the crisis at our Southern border to Nazi Germany of the '30's and '40's??
Judging by this rationale, the US is
- forcibly removing families from their homes,
- taking their possessions
- shipping them off in cattle cars to horrific concentration and work camps (These illegal immigrants are going to detention centers - NOT concentration camps) - while I agree the conditions are terrible at some (but not every one) of these centers, using the term "concentration camps" as some of the misguided, eager to sensationalize this crisis for their own rhetoric, Leftists use - is totally insulting to those who have actually survived these death camps
- killing these people at will with the full acceptance of the government
So, apparently the horrors of Nazi Germany didn't affect you, so why should you care?
I take it this is what you meant by your comment.
Feel better now??
1
When in 2020 the coastal liberals are wondering why Trump won re-election when no one they know supports him, look back at editorials by the NY elitist such as this one. It is a fact that most Americans do not approve of Illegal immigration. While the Democrats and their boot lickers in the press try to combine illegal and legal immigration together to say that republicans are against immigrants, it is not true. While the Democrats continue to attempt to increase the amount of RESIDENTS to blue cities to the detriment of citizens for voting power only Trump is showing resistance to this existential threat. I am a person of color and I am amazed how even black Democrats are supporting this intake which will negatively impact black political power in the U.S. Even most of the Republican Party elite are tacitly pushing for increased cheap labor in our country supported by such evil groups as the Chamber of commerce. If Trump does win I see additional hope that we will avoid the deluge. If he does not we will either surrender to the inevitable ( which I see as likely) or to fight to keep control of our country and it’s culture. I’m at the point which if a presidential candidate was willing to take extreme measure to remove illegal immigrants and restore our border, I would support them. There are many Americans who are heading towards that decision because our leaders serve others and are willing to see our laws broken without consequences.
4
Let's look from outside of the box.
This problem will never be solved unless south of the our border countries will be as rich as western European nations or Canada.
We also greatly contributed the Latin America's Problem , remember it was called America's (US) back yard.
Now , bill come to due, in fact it was around mid 1980's , as usual we prefer to sleep over it.
US is not a country able to solve this problem, we do not have money, political will, national cohesion or may be moral integrity.
So kick the can down the road is only solution, and Trump is kicking the can very hard, gringo.
1
My comment will never be a Times pick, but it needs to be said: Volunteer for a Guardian ad Litem or Casa program. The volunteers in these programs represent abused, abandoned and neglected children in every state. The migrant children highlighted by this piece are in the same dire straits as the many thousands of American children who suffer every day, but are ignored because they serve no political agenda. The truth is that any American parent who subjected their child to a perilous journey on foot with inadequate food and medicine would be deemed abusive.
3
Child abuse is criminal, right?
If an individual issues orders leading to child abuse - can he not be prosecuted?
And could the Democrat candidates state their intention to do so?
2
I read and listen to he republican dialog that blames democrats for every ill conceived policy of my government against humans who are trying to cross our southern border to escape inhuman living conditions in Central and South American countries. I shudder at the insidious encroachment of fascist thought processes and lies that are corrupting the minds of many of my fellow citizens who are innocent of the evils that can follow from allowing fascists to speak for them. The republican party has lost its way in our nation and it is no longer the GOP, the Grand Old Party.
1
Build a wall...worked for North and South Korea for many years!
1
These are the New Americans. Let them in.
2
Where is the compassion. It has nothing to do with whether one is for or against immigration. It has to do with the babies and older children who are being held in the most, inhuman, appalling conditions. Now things will only get worse with the new acting head of border security. He claims he can look into the eyes of those children and see who will become a terrorist. This disgusting administration can look forward to a well earned and deserved despicable legacy. Please vote them out of office. None of them, starting at the top are fit to be dog catcher.
3
The first and foremost blame for these children’s plight must fall on the parents or other adults who brought them thousands of miles in order to breach our border. Asylum requests are required to be made at the nearest border. We’re enticing and enabling even more illegal migration by offering rewards like sanctuary cities, US drivers licenses, and amnesty for the migrants and their children. Paradoxically, those who advocate for open borders must also share some of the blame for failed attempts like the ones described in this article.
6
We are suffering an unusual heat wave in Europe. This is a warning for what is lying ahead. Global climate change is going to force more and more people to move from their scorching hot inhabitable regions to ones where survival will still be possible. Forced displacement will concern many more human beings than today. Will we be capable of rising to the challenge or will we heartlessly shut our borders and let millions of displaced people die?
2
Part of the problem we face today is the US government is no longer capable of solving complex problems other than by applying simplistic and often brutal solutions. The problem on our southern border is truly a difficult one that can be solved humanely only by addressing the economic and political problems in Latin America that are at its root.
The alternative is brutality. Trump does not have the skills for the former—and even if he did, it's questionable whether the US's dysfunctional system of government can manage such complex problems any longer, even with a competent president in office.
As it is, brutality is all Trump and his government is capable of—and brutality is wildly popular with Trump's brutish base. In fact Trump's rise to power was propelled more than anything by his demonization of Latinx immigrants as rapists and murderers. So the choice seems to be between brutality and inaction. The Democrats are in a tough position because they want the complex, humane solution, but they know it's impossible politically and also practically.
Ultimately, the solution to this problem (and to many others) starts with a transformational reform of our own government. America desperately needs a better system of government, one that can adequately deal with complex modern problems. As it is we are trying to run a 21st century nation with 18th century political structures. Failure is almost guaranteed. And if we can't reform our democracy, we will surely lose it.
3
@617to416 You are right, except that our problem is not our structural form of government; it's our economic system. We are suffering all the ailments of late stage overblown capitalism & are reaping the whirlwind. We cannot continue mindless consumption & endless wars. Both parties are complicit in this. Trump manufactured the border crisis; I live in TX and there was no crisis until he created one. Yes, we need an effective immigration policy but this isn't it. Our problems all stem from the greed of the large corporations, the establishment hacks in power in Congress, the military-industrial complex, & the enablers in this President's coterie of pals. We were never a democracy but we were a republic; now we are an oligarchy descending into a tyrannous dictatorship. This started under Reagan, continued w/the neolib takeover of the Dems under Clinton, exploded under both Bushes, & was continued under Obama.Most of it was deliberately laid out in the Powell memo and the Kochs, et.al. have run this country into the ground. Trump is the end result of all of it. My ancestors fought in the Revolution; now I am seeing their work destroyed.
1
@Hedgiemom
I completely agree about the problems caused by our (and really the world's) economic system. We have a system that has generated great wealth and high living standards for many, but is increasingly destroying our life-sustaining environment, tearing apart communities, and driving average people into the anxiety that comes with financial insecurity.
At the same time, I don't think we can address any of these problems with our current governmental structure. The problems stem from something broader, but the solutions require an effective, efficient, well-functioning government. Without better government, we can't solve the problems. And to get better government, we'd need to reform the government's structure.
1
Okay - I live in Pelosi's district. Who do I call?
One of Trump's more annoying traits is his refusal to accept responsibility for anything that goes wrong. His administration is basically guilty of child cruelty for actions taken at the border. Trump's response to any criticism is to blame Obama for starting the policy of child separation of illegal immigrants. So what if he did? Trump has continued the policy with vigor for two and a half years and could have long since ended the policy. He accuses the Democrats of failing to provide funds for the care of the children like the United States government can't afford to provide them with soap and toothbrushes and an occasional shower. The problem with Trump is that he is just not very bright.
The single best word to describe Trump and Republicans:
Incompetent.
We don't have time for incompetence anymore.
1
What has become the dumpster-fire on our southern border is what is best for America in the long run and keeping out these and other immigrants, legal and illegal, is necessary to protect our future.
PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that almost 40% of US jobs could be taken by robots by 2030. As more people are replaced by machines, work hours must be reduced to maintain full employment. This reduction in work hours will eventually have to result in guaranteed incomes for Americans to remove them from the workforce. The living standards of our progeny will be diminished by the progeny of any future immigrants.
As for now, there are millions of Americans who lack a high school diploma and compete with immigrants for the low-level jobs. Employers prefer to hire immigrants because it makes them more money. A few dollars a day less for each worker means thousands of dollars a year in extra income for the owners; a good incentive to skirt the law. Businesses do not hire immigrants because citizens are not available; businesses hire immigrants because there are few American citizens who are willing to work under the slave-labor conditions which provide the greatest rewards for the owners.
We should try to help as many of our fellow human beings as we can. We should send foreign aid to help them fight crime, poverty and drought in their home countries. We cannot solve the world's problems by admitting everyone to the U.S.
6
Today in America 250 or more NAS babies will be born, addicted to heroin or fentanyl. They will be given morphine and slowly weaned off that drug until the can be released, usually into foster care.
The price America pays for an unsecured border is high, and long term it is damaging. Our media picks and chooses which tragedies to put on the front page, and some they ignore
4
I just don't get how you " Make American Great Again" by committing atrocities such as separating children from their parents and caging them like animals. Even if, by some miracle, such actions do stop the flow of migrants and refugees at its Southern border, the U.S. has still lost an incalculable amount of goodwill around the world.
If this is what "making America great again" looks like, America can keep its "greatness."
1
The US has not been prepared for the hordes of illegal immigrants flooding into our country. Thousands upon thousands have been arriving on a regular basis many with children in tow. Some of these children have been used as pawns to allow adults to enter. There is absolutely no relation between them; and once these adults are in our country, these children have been abandoned. This is child abuse and these adults should be sent home immediately. These innocent children are the victims of child abuse. I do not think that anyone was prepared for this onslaught. We need better protections at our borders. Maybe we need that border wall after all to prevent this from reoccurring over and over again.
5
Many of our fellow citizens demand these repugnant policies. Maybe some of the GOP really want them as well. But it's certain that the reality TV star in the White House calls for them only because that's what his voters want.
How do we get to them? They watch only Fox and they don't really read. There must be some form of discreet, non-actionable shaming that might work.
US taxpayers are paying approximately $650 a day housing these children, and yet we can't provide soap or a toothbrush?? Some private company is really cleaning up$$$.
5
“Speak up. Donate. Educate yourself. Vote.” What an interesting idea! And what system of governance is it that empowers the population to travel efficiently along that path?
The media intentionally produces content that attracts more trolls than productive results. Journalism, in the market system as it exists, is not a primary piece of the educational mechanism. The “educational media” are not joined by the efficiencies of technology needed for busy populations. Busy people need to educate and vote for the results they are electing their representatives to achieve on their behalf, they do not need to donate anything. They need acceptable, efficient and effective tools.
What part of “never again” do we not understand?
1
So When it comes to Iran or Saudi Arabia, America decides and Iran will be punished by sanctions, Saudi's cleared of killing in broad day light a journalist.
UN and EU bow their head says Yes sir.
When America does ugly things and forfeit it's international obligations, No body again Un and EU bows their head and says Yes sir.
That is the Power of Trump or Let's say Crazy does.
Food for thought.
Many Europeans, wanting to provide safe haven to the Jews, did not for fear of imprisonment and even execution by the Nazis. Today, we want this (I don't know which word to use---abuse, oppression, persecution---)to be stopped. If contacting our elected officials, donating to legal and humanitarian organizations, and protests don't work, and I think there's a chance it won't work, then what? What is the stronger action to be taken? In a conversation with a friend, an idea was tossed around. A national action of rallies every day in every city and town such that people ,non-essential workers, would not be at work for the day and possibly days until this horror is stopped. Do we up the intensity of our actions, peaceful of course, to make this happen? I only know one thing. We can't let this go on.
1
This was a good editorial but The Editorial Board goes beyond a denunciation of child deaths and the treatment of children to some pretty extreme suggestions. For instance, they recommend, or reference an organization they support recommending, that immigration raids be "reported" so that the word can be sent out. What?!?!?! That way the immigrants who have valid removal orders issued by an Immigration Judge can evade federal agents? DHS released information indicating that a substantial minority of the targeted immigrants are convicted criminals and we want to help them evade detention? This is part-and-parcel with the abolish ICE lunacy.
The Times has bought into the idea that all immigration is an unalloyed good and that's fine, but I would wager that most people want continued immigration limits, continued enforcement at the border with humane detention, and continued interior enforcement. People can be worried about a true humanitarian crisis that is evolving and also be worried that children have suddenly become tokens to avoid detention (with all of the awful implications for trafficking that entails) and worry that the sacrosanct idea of asylum has been distorted to include anyone suffering in poverty or living in an area overwhelmed with violent crime.
Trump's election was always going to radicalize the Democratic Party's literati, but they are now completely disconnected from typical Democratic voters.
7
another example of trump policy, inhumane, incompetent, cruel,
this treatment, and policy not american, my children, your children, all our children . what a terrible stain on our country,
where is the leadership, compassion, and decency?
Tragic photo of drowned father and daughter should be publicized South of US border. Potential immigrants need education too.
1
Crimes against humanity. Period!
Remember when over 70,000 unaccompanied minors flooded our borders *in one year* under Obama? He just threw them out into the country, often sending them to municipalities without warnings.
This is a manufactured crisis because it was far worse under Obama.
2
US is not responsible for all the kids in south and central America.
These kids should have stayed home. US or Donald Trump did not force them to leave their homes and illegally enter into US. They should be sent back to their countries of origin.
Most of these kids' parents entered into US illegally, they paid others to bring their kids into US. While US is busy fighting manufactured wars around the world, the real threat is on the southern border of US.
9
I am willing and able to provide a safe, loving temporary home for migrant children until they can be reunited with their families. However, I'm not sure this actually a good thing to do as the organizations facilitating these foster care situations have contracts with the government and seem to therefore be complicit in this horrific situation. Thoughts?
1
These are crimes against humanity and those responsible should be prosecuted. If Trump continues to lie about it and blame Democrats for what clearly amounts to child abuse and human rights violations by his administration, an indictment issued by the Criminal Court of Justice at the Hague might be a wakeup call -- as well as disabusing him of any hope for a Nobel Peace Prize.
2
Perhaps if there were more concern for children (not fetuses) on this side of the border, there would be more concern for the children coming across the border. The Federal government assumes responsibility for the migrant children and the Feds are appropriately held accountable for their care.
Unfortunately, American children are not the responsibility of the Federal government, and they and their families are largely left to fend for themselves. It is not just the issue of insurance but also accessibility. In New Mexico, one of the states at the center of the border migrants problems, the Albuquerque Journal reported several months ago that the state's largest medical plan did not have a single primary care doctor accepting new patients.
When was the last time the Times editorialized about, showed pictures of, or even mentioned New Mexican children who died from lack of medical care?
6
If only every word posted here was matched by an action to end this horror. If only a post somehow contributed to our nation' s abuse visited on these children.
If only.
Thank you for this editorial, I look forward to a similar piece, every day headlined until we end this abuse of children and their families. [Perhaps a Page 1 daily scorebox, "Refugee Children Detained, Released, and Remaining in Our Internment Camps"?]. A massive effort I agree, matching our massive violation of human rights and dignity. Redemptive-focused justice, I agree. Restorative justice, if at all possible, comes later.
Dog shelters are required by law to provide better treatment for those whose welfare they are charged with.
2
An international human rights agency needs to investigate the US treatment of imprisoned asylum-seeking immigrants, especially children. An international court should charge the US with crimes against humanity.
8
Thank you for doing this. We are not powerless. Border security does not mean cruelty.
4
Easy solution-
US Gov’t takes over(books) all motels and hotels in a given area, children are assigned rooms accordingly, with support from invested groups to ensure all needs are taken care of.
If hotels/ motels do not have restaurants, order from local sources, supporting local communities. Hospitals send over needed personnel to assist as needed. Keep nurse on duty 24/7.
Pay local teachers to instruct children in the evenings and on weekends.
Price: keep our Souls
4
The duty of a parent is to protect their children, not use them and abuse them. As a nation we have the responsibility to ensure the children in our country are able to do more than just barely survive. We also have a moral obligation to make it difficult, ideally impossible, for human traffickers to operate in this country. Since we refuse to see the branch (people suffering in the US and being the top destination for human trafficking in the WORLD) in our own eye we put on sackcloth and gnash our teeth over the everyone else.
It is time that we stop this racist policy of allowing Central and South Americans to illegally enter the US and stay until their asylum claims are processed. The people in refugee camps in Jordan and Turkey cannot come here and wait the 2+ years in comfort and safety. People in hot war zones cannot just come here. Where is the humanitarian concern for these human beings? Why are they less deserving and less equal?
6
@skramsv
I'm all for letting in more refugees from the Middle East. Glad to know you are too.
Build an impenetrable barrier and make all of them come through ports of entry.
Problem- totally - solved.
6
When AOC referred to the detention centers as concentration camps, I put it down to naive hyperbole, and a cheap comparison to the Holocaust. Now that we know the conditions under which these children are being kept, I take it back. Trump and the GOP and their followers have dehumanized the migrants. They have conflated illegal and legal immigration and asylum seeking into one, all answered with a loud "no". Why is it that these Americans deny that the vast majority of the population but for those descended from indigenous peoples are descendants of immigrants. Or is it that only when they are Caucasian it is okay?
This picture of the deceased father and daughter will be iconic in focusing Americans of conscience to use every means that they can to fight this administration and every GOP elected official - all of them listed in this editorial. Trump et al have no moral compass, but Americans can show the world that they still do. There will be a reckoning for all of this one day, beyond the 2020 election. Americans will stand accused of crimes against humanity and we will see them in the dock, personifying what Arendt called the banality of evil.
173
@Judy
With all due respect, calling the US detention centers concentration camps is indeed naive hyperbole. The detainees are not being used as slave labor. Neither are they subjected to constant terror in the form of random murders and torture. They are not being purposely starved while being worked, literally, to death.
Equating the serious wrongs being perpetrated on immigrants with the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust serves no purpose whatsoever. People can, and should, be moved to action without unnecessary hyperbole.
11
@TLLMDJD
You are right of course about adults and those who could be made to work. These children are too young for that. Many children were immediately killed in the camps. The horrific conditions under which these children are being kept are comparable: unable to wash or change their clothes, inadequate food and water, inadequate care, older children being forced to care for younger ones and so much more. Some would view being torn away from their parents as a form of abuse that will leave lifelong scars. So, while my comment may have been hyperbolic as no other circumstance can ever compare to Nazi death camps, their is an element of cruelty here that is a stain on the US and its purported reputation of exceptionalism. That was the point I was perhaps inelegantly trying to make.
7
@Judy
Thank you for your clarification. I think you and I are largely in agreement.
2
The children are dying because their parents are placing them in danger and we have an incomprehensible immigration system that constantly creates a moral hazard. Trump can only attack the latter; the parents are responsible for the former.
54
@Wine Country Dude The parents are seeking asylum from danger. We are making that process even more dangerous. That speaks ill of our nation, and any that do not step forward to stop this horror.
57
@Wine Country Dude
And democrats are exacerbating the problem. They just keep pushing bodies through the border and then complain that they aren't treated well. That's just ridiculous.
18
@Wine Country Dude
Maybe rethink that..
The unknown dangers parents put their children in while fleeing are minuscule compared to the unimaginable dangers of staying put.....torture, death, nothingness..As a Parent to 3 sons I treasure more than life itself I'd risk the former before I'd risk the latter
30
The cellular and landline numbers of Stephen Miller should be in this article. And also his mailing addresses, for both home and office.
1
My brother is a drug addict like you read about. He has gone from family member to family member in search of one thing: cash. Nothing more, nothing less.
We have learned (mostly the hard way) to stop listening to his endless nonsensical stories and tales of woe and crazy efforts to manipulate by using the following magic word: NO.
Wonder of wonders! The nonsense stopped, the adult addict hit bottom and life as we knew it is marching on, albeit with a lot of tears and hand-wringing and drama that only a manipulative person can bring to the table.
My advice on this sordid mess at the border? Say NO to the masses and let the fine people of Mexico figure out whatever the issues are that are compelling their citizens to risk life and limb (and use their children in the process). It took me 53 years to learn that the "emergencies" and drama and the plight of others is, more often than not, self-inflicted. We are better off and these would-be citizens are better off if they deal with their own problems.
11
@Mike
Your brother's condition was self-inflicted. The people fleeing gang violence are being threatened by others.
Better choice: Send money for bus passes for return trip home for all. Include gift money for box lunch would be a nice value-added for the integrity of American sovereignty.
7
"Speak-up". Questions for the Democrat candidates at tonight's debate: at what saturation-point should people not authorized to cross into our country be denied entry - if any? "Specifically" how would you stop them - if at all? Should Republican-supporting "employers" who "illegally" hire and profit by exploiting these workers be arrested, fined and/or incarnated in conformity with current immigration law? Should there be an amnesty for these workers and if yes, should they be given the full panoply of U.S labor law - minimum wage, overtime, etc. - protections? Tough questions. but hey, so is being President of the United States - except for Trump, who revels in his ignorance
60
This story needs to be shareable with all. Your article viewing limitations are preventing that from happening.
"Mr. Trump’s latest display of cruel bluster was the announcement, and then the delay, of nationwide raids to deport undocumented families."
Trump blinked and delayed because the main-stream media and Democratic Party began freaking and started yelling about separating families. But these are families who have already received full due process and who have exhausted their legal claims.
If you can't deport people who have received full due process; gone through the asylum process; claims heard by an immigration judge; and claims rejected and deportation orders issued and received, who can you deport? This is why the Democratic Party is identified as the party of de facto open borders and unlimited immigration, both legal and illegal.
7
I wonder why the United Nations does not condemn this human rights abuse?
2
The need for speaking out is of the highest priority. The media should let us all know the perspective of the religious communities and what they are doing to help these children.
Where is the voice of the Catholic Church? We can presume that many, if not all, of these children are Catholic.
Where is the voice of the Christian community that does not subscribe to the Trump policies?
Where is the voice of the evangelical and other Christians that are, I am told, down on their knees thanking the Lord for Donald Trump?
Where is the voice of the Lutherans, the Jews, the Muslims, the Methodists, the Buddhists?
Where is the moral leadership that we have all been led to believe lies with organized religion?
What is the media role in making sure that these organizations cannot escape into silence and avoid accountability for their inaction and lack of leadership.
2
US citizenry /government has done little to stop mass slaughter of American school children. Why is anyone surprised we are capable of caging, mistreating , starving, and torturing immigrant children?
One can judge a nation on how it's treats its poor, children, and marginalized. US has never been as compassionate or genteel as we'd like to think.
This is what evil is.
4
Here’s what you can do: Demand the Senate and House to change asylum laws. You have to request asylum from your country, not here.
Ask your representatives to call for mandating e-verify, ending chain migration and the visa lottery.
Seek those who have over stayed their visas and deport them.
Deport as many as possible.
This is what you do.
6
I called my liberal rep to support raids, ICE and border patrol. No borders, no enforcement equals no country. I like our country and want to keep it.
7
I’m assuming the people responsible for this tragedy will be prosecuted?
1
There is another place where children are dying, I haven't seen an headline or any real consideration of that fact. I am , of course. thinking of Syria. The difference being that these children can't be put in the political blame game that the democrats seem to enjoy playing. I do not want children suffering at all, but I don't want them being used as pawns either
1
What IS it with the teeth-gritting Democrats refusing to help these poor people avoid dying? The President can't enact laws by himself.
For shame, Ms. Pelosi.You could pay for a dozen buildings for temporary residence, medical care, and schooling yourself and never miss the millions.
2
As a legal immigrant who filed for his first US visa in 1999, and since then spent $100,000 in official US legal and immigration fees towards student exchange visas, visitors visa, work visas, labor certification authorization, travel parlor paperwork (while awaiting the green card), the green card, and now for two years going through the US naturalization process (all while paying US income taxes, social security and Medicare UNABLE to use any of the benefits, and also paying hospital bills on time), and receiving two graduate degrees while serving tables at night, may I advice the best solution to address the problem: STOP jumping the border trying to invade illegally a foreign country. These are not undocumented immigrants, these are ILLEGAL migrants. When I go to a bar and forget my green card I become undocumented. At no point in time do I become illegal. So please don’t confuse the terms between hard working legal immigrants and illegal migrants. Running for an international border with a child in hands is an unethical act of lunacy. I am surprised there are not more deaths at the border. Encouraging that behavior is enabling the crime and rape that come with illegal migration and trafficking. If you truly care about these poor people - build the wall and spend funds on sponsoring their visa applications in home countries; do so with your personal money via charities. The tax & legal fees burden on legal immigrants like myself is intolerable because of these criminals.
39
@YM, the terminology "undocumented," was strangely adopted by most of the main-stream media over the course of the last decade. It is a made-up term. Orwellian obfuscation at its best. The legal terminology in US Federal Code is "illegal alien." The common terminology used before they adopted "undocumented" was "illegal alien." It is not clear why they chose to switch to the term "undocumented." But it was a switch away from the more active descriptive language of illegal alien or illegal immigrant, which correctly describes the status of the person who illegally crossed the border. "Undocumented" is passive language. As if the intentional act of illegally crossing the border, whether by paying a coyote to smuggle oneself and one's family across or whether by sneaking across without the help of of a coyote, is something that just randomly happened. Also, the term is nonsense because, with the exception of truly state-persecuted and stateless people such as the Rohinga in Myanmar, no one who is a citizen of a nation-state is undocumented. People from the nations in Central America either already have or can get passports from their home nations, to which they belong. If they are "undocumented," it is because they intentionally leave their documents behind or throw them out to sow confusion in the US legal system. The terminology "undocumented" and its mass adoption by main-stream media is Orwellian obfuscation at its very finest.
26
@YM I know many legal immigrants. There are only a few who express your views. To them, I ask, since it’s such a nightmare to work here legally, why not just work illegally?
The obvious answer is that being here legally conveys such tremendous benefit that it’s worth your time and money to work within the system. And while I admire your accomplishments, I’m guessing you came from a well-off family.
Remember, you are only here by the good graces of your hosts, we American citizens. As your hosts, we may welcome other guests. You don’t get to decide to keep out those less fortunate than you unless and until you become a citizen yourself.
If you can’t find any compassion in your heart for people who are so desperate that they are willing to risk their lives and the lives of their children to come here, then I would suggest that you still have something to learn about what it means to be American.
6
@GRH, the people we're discussing in this thread are neither undocumented nor illegal. They're asylum seekers who met all legal requirements for applying for asylum.
3
Children should not be crossing a border illegally. Then they wouldn't die at the border.
Children should also not be pawns in a false asylum claim, and the US should not permit them to be used for this, when the real purpose is simple economic immigration to the country that provides the most lucrative social benefits.
Why aren't these people staying in Mexico, or heading south to Argentina/Colombia/etc...??? Because we give them more.
Beggars shouldn't be choosers. And the US government and liberal left should not be encouraging this.
Poor children are very sad. But the motivation behind permitting this is simply to increase votes.
26
@Ny Surgeon, I agree that Trump is using these children as pawns to excite his base. He's the most cynical politician I've ever seen.
Where did you hear that these were false asylum claims, or that these children didn't come with their families? Please provide a reliable citation. My understanding is that the vast majority of these children come with a parent or other family member, and that the families are fleeing gang violence.
1
@SandraH.
Nearly all of the asylum claims are false in the sense that they are not political persecutions or some targeted danger. The economic situation is terrible, so they leave. Why do they come here instead of heading south or stop in Mexico if it was truly because Honduras is unsafe? Simply because we give better free benefits.
If we continue to provide a way in, these people will come. You want a humanitarian solution via the UN? OK. We take some, others go elsewhere. But the free train to US taxpayer subsidized everything must stop. And until that happens, 4 more years!
5
@Ny Surgeon
No. The motivation is not to increase votes. They can't vote. It might increase population count for added representatives but that works for republicans and democrats.
Last I also checked nothing keeps republicans from acting racist and keeping this people out of their party. That is their own issue and not one we as a society should in any way support. The irony is the people from South America typically are far more religious and would have fit well with republicans but they squandered it because of their bigotry.
Also it's not poor children. It's children period. People period. Lives period. I believe in Liberty and Justice for all. I believe in letting people come here who are suffering and to work with other nations to assist in times of need. You might not.
I would ask that you do some self reflecting and try and be a little less selfish. I doubt your personal world will change at all by allowing these people in because of the violence down south that is very real and known.
Why do I have to help?
How about the wealthy elitists of the Golden Triangle? They have amassed vast, generational fortunes! Why aren't THEY donating and contributing to the plight of their own people?
17
I should think the humanity you share with these people compels your help.
Certainly the very wealthy should be persuaded to help, but if you can do something, there’s no excuse not to.
7
Martin Niemöller’s well-known post-war poem also answers your question.
3
@Allen Nikora Oh I want to like your post 1000 times. I hope those who don't know what you reference will take 30 seconds to look it up.
While I cannot travel to the border, or even to Homestead where Trump is warehousing precious children, I do have ability to donate and write to my state and local reps. Unfortunately, both my senators and state reps are not receptive. Charlie Crist will be my champion in this fight I guess. Thank you for providing the names of these activist orgs. This will go down in the history books as one the larger stains on our national soul.
585
@GramLy The vigils scheduled for July 12th at 9 PM are being organized all over the nation. Michigan already has six announced sites. You can see the growing list here: https://www.lightsforliberty.org/
15
@GramLy
I, too, have a member of Congress in my part of Florida who doesn't want to hear about this and if you try, you are cut off the phone. Tell Charlie C to get on this and NOW. Find a place to protest on July 12. I am physically ill thinking about those little ones -- what the heck have we become?
19
@GramLy Go ahead and write anyway. If we feel our reps are not receptive - that is not a reason to be quiet or give up. Just think of those babies. Pressure works on our reps and senators when they get enough of it. So tell all your friends too. Have calling parties. I call my reps literally every day. They are sick of me and I don't care. Then you know you tried. And at the next election - we boot the brutal ones out. Look what they are doing in our names.
27
Remember that traumatic separation of children from family can cause a lifelong psychiatric illness known as attachment disorder. This is the first crime the government is committing. The second is confinement is subhuman conditions, especially having young children without enough trained adult caregivers. No day care or residential treatment center in the US not run by ICE/DHS would be allowed to operate in these conditions.
I believe that for the Trump administration the cruelty of these sites is intentional because Trump believes it shows his "toughness" and he hopes it will dissuade immigrants from seeking refugee status. It's not working.
804
@wts I wonder if, in time, the emotionally damaged children would get together and file a class action lawsuit against Trump and his staff who subjected them to this abominable treatment?
35
@wts
How come no one blames the parents for putting their kids in these dangerous situations. If I understand correctly, the trip itself could kill an infant. The heat, malnutrition, walking for days on end, lack of medicines, etc...
What kind of parent puts their kids through this hell
19
@Wilfrido Freire Yes, the parents or adults bringing the children on this dangerous journey must take responsibility for their actions. However, that does not in any way, shape, or form justify the conditions these children are being housed under. There is NO excuse for ever treating anyone, child or adult, with such neglect for and denial of their basic human needs. When pointing a finger at the parents, remember, there are 3 pointing back at us. We can and must do better.
88
Do you realize the implications of comparing this migrant drowning to that of Alan Kurdi. Angela Merkel basically opened the flood gates after that incident and had to shut it closed when it became politically and practically unbearable. It ushered in the rise of the far-right in Germany, France, Spain, and elsewhere. Responding to individual tragedies with bad policy is a disastrous idea.
Even liberal social welfare states like Denmark have decided to stop allowing nearly all migrants and asylum seekers. The poorly educated migrants they were receiving didn’t speak Danish, were difficult to place in employment, and a drain on tax coffers. Both the center-left and center-right realized their expansive system of social insurance couldn’t survive such a deluge.
7
It's not just children who shouldn't be at risk at the border. It's all those who want "in."
But what good are the immigration laws we have if we allow others to break them? First, change the laws. Second, find a source of funds to help immigrants. Third, be careful we don't regret it.
3
But for Native Americans, all U.S. citizens are immigrants or descended from immigrants. Even Little Donnie, whose family has not been in the U.S. that long. I am descended from Dutch immigrants who arrived on Manhattan Island, give or take a year or two, about 1650, 374 years ago.
For the most, today's part immigrants are not taking jobs away from U.S. citizens, but are filling jobs American's won't do (low wages and benefits if any) or can't do (not sufficient or necessary education in a changing economy). Their goal is to live the American Dream, not to be dependent on government services. When you think about it, that in a sense is the way it has always been. People would not come to our borders is there was no opportunity. Many immigrants, whether from Central America, Asia, or Africa have a strong work ethic increasingly missing from the United States.
The world has changed since the immediate post-World War II economy. What has changed? The United States now has competition in the world. Too many of us have become complacent and aspire only a status quo that no longer exists.
The competition is in large part because of the United States leading by example. In my view, the United States and most other countries are better for it. To shut our doors to immigrants is to deny our past as a country and how we got here.
At present, we are not leading by example. We are slowly destroying what made us a world leader.
550
@red or green No, not all Americans are immigrants or descendants of immigrants (exluding Native americans). The overwhelming majority of black Americans are descended from slaves, brought to the US against their will.
37
@red or green ever heard of legal immigrants? You know the kind that follow the law and wait years to get here?
24
@red or green This is so trite.
10
How would Melania like her kid thrown in a cage without food or soap? And then tell him to babysit younger kids, toddlers, and babies?
71
Interesting suggestions
How about we have an asylum policy that doesn’t encourage everyone to just come over the border with no chance of deportation?
How about we have a wall so those poor families don’t make this awful perilous journey?
How about we address the cultures of gang violence in their home countries that drive them to seek shelter?
How about we have policies similar to every other country in the world and not accept every random to walk a cross the border?
15
We don't need a wall.
We only need to upgrade e-verify, and then prosecute every employer who seeks to undermine American labor by hiring an undocumented worker at a wage below the stipulated minimum.
1
Don’t believe the lies: From an NPR article “the Center for Migration Studies of New York finds that from 2016-2017, people who overstayed their visas accounted for 62 percent of the newly undocumented, while 38 percent had crossed a border illegally.”
1
Why are Americans not in the Streets?
We have the government we deserve.
32
Children belong with their parents.
And these parents belong outside the USA.
They are not Americans.
They can leave the detention camps any time they want --
straight back to the other side of the border.
34
@sam finn
Funny, but I never realized the name "sam fin" was a Native American name. Considering that many of the people seaking asylum are have an indigenous ancestry, aA lot of the people you are condemning have a more legitimate claim to this entire continent than you have.
3
@Jbugko
It is not correct to judge people using their name.
Nobody who is the citizen of another country has the "legitimate claim to this entire continent.."
Would you like to change frontiers?!
12
@Lea, it's just that the Puritans came to shore with not only illegal immigrants, but disease, crime and anchor babies. They also claimed the entire continent for themselves, and praised their god for the right to kill and drive out everyone already there.
Now pathetic, desperate people come knocking for help, and here's Sam Finn and Lea to cluck at the VERY IDEA of new people coming into this country.
Seriously, have you never heard of the concept of Manifest Destiny? It's the white race's belief that yes, they DO have the only "legitimate claim to this entire continent", and no one can argue because God said so. Now we just can't let anyone else in? Give me a break, American hypocrites!
Why does it seem like there are only two options?
The Trump option: Concentration camps, children dying, families separated, with brutal and unaccountable ICE and CBP trampling over every right and constitutional protection we have (and we started down this road before Trump).
The other option (Democratic?): Stop deportations, don’t detain people, seemingly, if you get over the border you can stay indefinitely, BUT it is definitely NOT an open border policy, or so supporters of this position say.
Why not other options?
How about speedy and well funded immigration courts instead of giant detention camps? Why not ICE and CBP disbanded or reformed to make them accountable, law abiding, and humane? Criminal prosecutions of people who hire illegal workers?
And- drum roll please- how about a foreign policy that builds up our southern neighbors instead of undermining them which creates the crime and economic instability which causes these mass migrations? Our foreign policy is at the root of a lot of this migration.
I’d like to see some more nuanced discussions.
14
Excellent post! Unfortunately what you’re proposing would involve our two political parties working together on a program that will take several years. Not only will they not work together, when’s the last time a politician proposed a program that one couldn’t finish in his or her respective term in office?
1
I support the President's policies 100%. Immigration --both legal and illegal -- as well as naive and impossible to enforce asylum laws, have put this nation in an existential position. This willingness to accept blame and responsibility for global poverty will destroy the country much faster than global warming ever could.
10
That’s unbelievably short sighted. The illegal immigration won’t cease because we need the labor and these people are desperate. Trump is playing on the racism of his base. Otherwise, you and others would be addressing “visa overstays” etc. - but I guess our president is fine with the “white” illegal immigrants....
@Grunt
Steve Miller is that you?
WayFair employees are walking out to protest the company selling the government beds to be used in a way the employees disapprove. The profit on the $200,000 sales is $86,000.
The company’s position is to sell to lawful purchasers—but communicates in advertising that its beds in homes are to provide a restful sleep.
Would it accommodate the interests if WayFair were to match employee contributions to RAICES, the child resettlement-family reunification organization, dollar for dollar up to $43,000?
In doing so, WayFair might also keep faith with shareholders, build employee morale and loyalty—and achieve invaluable public relations and respect no advertising could achieve.
When children sleep soundly united with their parents, no one loses.
5
I believe every single response to any question at the Democratic debates tonight and tomorrow should be "That is a good question but what we need to be talking about right now is how to stop the cruel and inhumane policies of this Administration that are causing so much suffering among the people seeking asylum at our southern border."
I also believe Donald Trump, Stephen Miller and the other Administration employees in ICE and the Border Patrol who are carrying out these inhumane policies should be indicted by the World Court in The Hague and warrants issues so that should they ever travel outside of the U.S. they can be detained, charged and brought to justice.
12
@Sue A good question would be, "How do you explain what is going on at the southern border, to legal immigrants?"
1
Dear Sue,
Amen. My thoughts exactly, esp. regarding indicting these monsters for crimes against humanity.
But in the meantime, what about the children being warehoused in immoral conditions? What can we do to help them?
6
Of all the suggestions, I noticed that donating supplies like diapers, baby food, toys, etc. is missing. Is this because the government continues to turn away donations? I think many people, regardless of how they feel about immigration, would be willing to do this.
9
I wrote to the NYT asking for advice on what I could do & I thank you for this article. I hope everyone who reads it will will get moving to make a difference. We are a great country and always have been , we can accomplish anything.
3
I agree that President Trump should change the system for incarcerating these children that President Obama instituted.
6
We should be marching en masse on these horrific detention centers and liberating these child prisoners and their parents and welcoming them into our communities. We are better than our government, let's prove it.
7
The missing step required to take action on the inhumane treatment of babies and children - the very first step - is to CARE.
4
I think the first step should be to impeach Trump. There lies the crux of the problem i.e. Donald J. Trump.
9
I think the most important thing you can do is to work to elect a Democratic president in 2020. It will take more than getting more votes, as we learned in 2000, and 2016.
7
How about stop encouraging taking children on these lethal journeys to be used as visas? How about investing in better security infrastructure at the border that could save lives and reduce illegal crossings? How about acknowledging that there is a crisis on the border and working together to tackle it rather than cynically using children dying in the desert as political weapons?
23
@natan, Trump uses these children as political weapons because he thinks his cruelty appeals to his base. Unfortunately, his base absolves him of responsibility by shifting the blame to the parents or Democrats.
If Trump wanted to work with Democrats to solve this problem, he could have had a deal in his first week in office. In fact he did agree to a comprehensive immigration deal with Pelosi and Schumer that included $28 billion for his wall, but he walked it back because Stephen Miller convinced him he shouldn't give the Dreamers legal status.
Trump doesn't want a deal because he needs to have this issue for 2020.
21
@SandraH.
Trump is not supposed to be making policies and laws, no president should be. This is the constitutional duty of Congress. And Dreamers can get legal status anytime they wish to follow current immigration law and get a student visa. Those that choose not to follow the law do not deserve legal status.
5
WHERE ARE THE ENFORCERS OF CHILD PROTECTION LAWS? All workers who come into contact with children MUST be cleared of criminal offenses and trained in how to work professionally with children. They must also, by law, be trained in identifying signs of suspected child abuse and/or neglect, as they also become mandated reporters. There are NO exceptions of these requirements for any facility where children receive government services. What is at issue is NOT the citizenship of the children, but rather the obligations of the caregivers. I find it shocking that there have not been any reports of suspected child abuse not only missing from the childcare workers, but also missing from the reports of the few people who have visited the substandard, abusive sites. They also have a duty to report the suspected child abuse and neglect to local officials, using a local hotline, naming the alleged perpetrators (i.e., the administrators of the substandard sites where refugee children are allegedly being subjected to abuse). The silence is deafening! A brief check of the child protection laws, federal, state and local, should clear up any doubt about the dereliction of duty of the administrators of the center where children are subjected to substandard, abusive treatment. Cattle and livestock have more stringent rules of oversight against abuse than these children! Not surprisingly, the first child abuse laws in the country were animal rights statutes! SAVE THE CHILDREN!
15
I’m confused about how you emphatically say there is no immigration crisis yet constantly report the horrible treatment of these MIGRANTS and the inhumane conditions they are being kept in. Is this not evidence of immigration crisis? What to you is the definition of an immigration crisis?
20
@Kev I don’t think anyone would say this isn’t a crisis. They may disagree on whether it is a humanitarian crisis, or something else.
5
There are a few hundred Democratic reps who have said this over and over.
2
@Kev It's a created crisis, created by the people who then use the crisis to try to get their way politically. Trump has taken these children hostage and seems to be trying to use them as a bargaining chip. Utterly immoral.
5
Let's not forget, this kind of torturous trauma these children are being forced to endure will absolutely shape their opinion of this country, it's policies and it's people. Thank for calling all of us to action, this abuse is anti-American and cannot stand.
15
These are immigrants who just need a safe place to live. They are not demanding welfare. They do back-breaking work in our farms and wherever else they can find work. They are not stealing American jobs. Let us be real. They often work for less than minimum wage. I am absolutely sure that we can keep these children safe and one day make them highly productive members of our society. So why than should we separate them from their mothers? What purpose does it serve? Why have we become such mean people?
28
@SridharC
Why do you support human trafficking and aid and abet human traffickers? The people who are crossing the border illegally are being forced to labor for human traffickers that own people, yes they actually purchase them from other traffickers, and contract them out to construction companies, food processors, and farms.
Please read the UN document on Human Trafficking. Also ask your elected representatives why people in refugee camps in Jordan and Turkey must wait in conditions that are as bad or worse for 2+ years AFTER applying for asylum in the US. Smacks of racism wouldn't you say?
“… reminiscent of the photo of a drowned Syrian boy washed up on a Turkish beach in 2015 …”
Despite the wishes of many of their citizens, European politicians felt pushed by the photo of the drowned Syrian boy into accepting millions of refugees and economic migrants. This resulted in the rise of the far right and changes in political leadership.
The U.S. media might stir up a frenzy over the sad death of a migrant father and son, but politicians would be wise to recognize that much of the public does not want what has become tantamount to having open borders. Unlike Ocasio-Cortez, we want the government to deport everyone who does not qualify for asylum.
Hillary Clinton might have won the presidency had she not promised to provide a path to citizenship for people who were living here illegally.
Immigration judges are ruling that 85 to 90% of Central Americans do not qualify for asylum, but we need to take special care of all of the children who are currently being detained. If they and their families are found not to qualify for asylum, then they should be quickly deported. If other Central Americans hear that failed asylum seekers are being returned, then they will be less likely to come here with their own children.
17
@ann, Hillary Clinton could have perhaps won had she called out Trump's divisive and inflammatory rhetoric; recognized the common humanity & dignity of all human beings; and then made 100% clear she believed in & would work for the recommendations of her husband's own Bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform, led by Barbara Jordan. AKA, chain migration reform; elimination of diversity visa lottery; reduction of legal immigration from then 1990's average of 750,000 per year back to 1980's average of 550,000 per year; imposition of mandatory E-Verify; and increased funding for civil society in Central America. Instead, as you said, she capitulated to the anti-environment, anti-labor, unlimited open borders crowd and the rest is history.
OTOH, she voted in favor of Iraq War; never showed serious penance over this; and doubled and tripled down with the Obama administration in continuing the disastrous Bush-Cheney foreign policy, including Iraq and Afghanistan "Forever" Wars; and expanding the neo-con, intervention-first regime change nonsense to Libya, Syria, Ukraine, etc. Hillary Clinton: "We came, we saw, he died," followed by laugh. Dulles Brothers no doubt approved from the grave; and Henry Kissinger no doubt approved in this life but perhaps not the American people.
9
@ann: “we want the government to deport everyone who does not qualify for asylum.” Please speak for yourself. As a US citizen descended from immigrants, I want no part of your “we.” And that’s before we even discuss the fact that Trump and his henchmen have made even the attempt to secure asylum a Herculean task, in the course of which they continue to repeatedly and viciously violate both human rights and common decency.
I read Eli Board "I’m in the 1 Percent. Please, Raise My Taxes." before reading this piece. In my country (close to one his parents immigrated from, by the way - indeed in the past, for a time, they were united into Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), we can give percentage of our taxes to chosen non-governmental organization, even specific action of particular organization. Looks like this mechanism is present in some other countries in this area, as well as for example in Japan. I know it is not a quick solution for current issue, but perhaps implementing percentage tax designation in the United States could help in the future to send governmental money where public wants them to go, like this neglected issue.
1
I'm a teacher, and I share what's happening at the border with my students. However, can I really share the photos of the father and his 23-month old daughter lying dead at the edge of the river? Do I show them how callous, how indifferent, how evil we have become as a nation, particularly when we have helped to create this poverty? As to what they can do at age 13 or 14, I have told them to be aware and to be conscious of the suffering and know its history; to know that the 13 or 14 year-old traveling alone to cross the border could be any of them, had they been born in El Salvador or Honduras. I ask them as they grow older to work to undo this unfairness, and I believe they understand the gravity and profound grief of the situation.
12
Show them the picture. There is no more hiding the total picture. Your students are the future. They need to be morally weaponized for the political war.
Our students in Europe saw the photo of the Syrian boy.
What to make of this whole sordid mess? I do know this suffering didn't start at the border in the U.S. - it started from wherever they originally came. Were there safe and sanitary facilities in Central America? Did they have toothpaste and showers/soap during their trek? The humanity needs to be addressed in the home countries, by building their economies, supporting democratic governments, developing infrastructure. To be sure, it's a tall order that can't be addressed overnight. But taking civic action and depending on the compassion of this nation to donate to humanitarian efforts is not sustainable in the long run - especially when there are hundreds of thousands crossing the border every week.
11
@C.Hester Toothpaste is not a humanitarian effort. Turning the lights off at night is not a humanitarian effort.
The harshness of the conditions these people were fleeing is irrelevant. This is about us, as a nation. Are we a nation that detains babies and doesn’t bother with diapers or caregiving? Are we a nation that can’t even provide small children with the conditions required for POWs by the Geneva Convention?
I believe we are better than this. I hope we are better than this.
13
@Mercury S
We are a nation that routinely rips newborns out of the arms of their mothers within hours of their birth because their mothers are incarnated and they insist that this practice is a very good thing. Never mind programs have been created for the mothers who qualify that allow their children to stay with them for the first few years. These programs have been proven to be extremely beneficial to both mother and child.
1
@Mercury S
Very well stated.
Thank you for reporting on this! Please keep making it a priority. These children don't have a voice without you- and us.
18
Neither the Democrats or the Republicans are interested in Immigration reform. The Republicans want cheap labor. The Democrats want votes. So let's be honest and admit this to the American public. Then we can decide whether or not we want open borders. Because that is what everyone means though they don't come out and say it. Asylum is only meant for those who are persecuted for politics, beliefs, religion, etc., not living in a violent neighborhood, etc. These people are looking for a job and a better life, they are not eligible for asylum. So let's get honest about this. If we agree to open borders, take down the gates. If we want a rational immigration policy, then the first thing we need to do is mandate checking citizenship through e-verify and severely punishing employers who hire illegals. If people can't work, they won't come here.
17
@Doris Keyes
Undocumented people don't vote. They are far to afraid to vote. The only thing it could possibly do is maybe raise the representation count. At the same time though you have Texas so this works both ways for Republicans and Democrats.
Open border implies no rational checking of information in and out. An acute problem in central America is just that, temporary. Give them work visas for 3 years. Review the situation in South America. As things stabilize and we support healthy governments people can move back. Mexico's economy has done well and the migration has been negative.
If they feel safe to go home and also have a second home in the US we all benefit. It allows us to share our values, build relationships and move the world towards a healthier center. That doesn't work when we abuse each other though.
As for e-verify it has to be enforced and how much will it cost. The real issue isn't e-verify but getting people proper documentation which isn't that darn hard. That's the one thing our government does well.
In other nations have a lottery system weighted on years in queue to alleviate the issues long term. When we have an acute situation work with other nations to find and distribute the groups somewhat so we can assist in migrations from violence. Work with Canada to take in more migrants when we receive a large influx from world events. The normal migration can be handled by yearly lottery based on years in queue.
4
@Mathias
"Give them work visas for 3 years."
Presidents have given temporary protected status to illegal migrants if their countries had undergone a cataclysmic event which would have made it very difficult for them to return at that time. The problem with this is that most migrants never want to leave the U.S.
The Trump Administration found that some countries were no longer suffering from their cataclysmic events so that their citizens would no longer qualify for temporary protected status. A federal judge blocked this decision, and some Democrats want everyone who has had temporary protected status to be able to live here permanently.
What was meant to be "temporary" is turning into "permanent".
6
@ann Yes, if you’ve let people live here for 25 years, at that point, it seems wrong to say, oops, temporary status. They’ve built a life here. The obvious solution is to be more rigorous with the visa stay.
1
Can state child protective services agencies use their power to take custody away from the federal government and place children in foster homes? In my home state of New Jersey, the Department of Youth and Family Services has jurisdiction to remove children from abusive or neglectful families. The same power exists in Texas and Florida. Why can’t the child protection agencies step up to also remove children from abusive or neglectful detention facilities and then place them in foster homes? The framework to address child abuse is in place at the state level. Let’s use it.
8
"Concentration camp" is defined as "a place where large numbers of people (such as prisoners of war, political prisoners, refugees, or the members of an ethnic or religious minority) are detained or confined under armed guard." And "internment camp" is defined as: "the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges, and thus no trial." This is what we are doing, on our soil. To children who broke no laws. Children of parents, the vast majority of whom also broke no laws.
Now, the action by House Democrats to improve the living conditions of these children is helpful. But none of their actions change the fact that these children, who have broken no laws, are in internment camps on our soil.
I have seen comment after comment after comment here, attempting to justify Trump's practices with the lame refrain that "the Left just wants to let everyone in". Now, let's think about this for a second. Apparently Trump voters believe that the Left is responsible for the failure of immigration reform? Let's stop and unpack this "reasoning". Trump had two years of a Republican Congress when he could have had any type of "immigration reform" he wanted. Instead, he did nothing, except strip children from their mother's arms.
And why? Because Trump voters love this. Any time brown-skinned people are made to suffer, they cheer. There is no "reasoning" with people who justify putting children in cages. And no more "reaching out".
30
@DB Cooper
Don't lie, these children did break US immigration law because their parents willingly chose to break the law. If they did not break any laws as you say they would have visas. Many were not with an adult.
The condition of these detention centers is abhorrent and must be changed BUT these centers existed before Trump was elected and the conditions were not any different.
4
There's a difference between being tough on immigration, and being heartless on immigration.
29
I've just emailed the President, my senators and congressman to end this horrible treatment of fellow human beings. The picture of a father and his 23 month old daughter say it all. Where are the religious and spiritual leaders in this country. Our President surrounds himself with evangelical practitioners. Where is Christ in what is happened at the border and in detention facilities in our country? Writing letters and making phone calls to leaders doesn't seem to make a difference. It's time for the UN to open a human rights investigation into our President.
20
@Martha Genaey Have you emailed all of these same people about the horrible treatment and neglect of our American homeless vets, mentally ill, drug and alcohol addicted American citizens?
And Americans who just can’t afford to pay rent?
Americans first.
As a grandchild of Russian immigrants, the photo of the father and his child dead on the banks of the Rio Grande simply broke my heart. This is NOT what our country is about! This is Not who we are, but sadly under the present administration, it is who we have become. We cannot allow this tragedy and blot on our nation to continue.
Do not neglect to vote in 2020. Our lives and democracy depend on it.
21
Can Trump be tried for war crimes? I guess not for there is no declared war. The Americans rave and rant, and have been doing so since 2016, but can do nothing about it. I disagree with those who want this news on the front page every day. It has nearly been there always. It is now a new normal. Move on.
1
@Alfred Neuman
Only if you want to try Obama as well. Obama deported far more people than Trump has at this point in his presidency, albeit more quietly and without his finger on the twitter button, without so much fanfare. The policy of detention centers providing minimal services (i.e. soap) to detainees dates back to at least Obama, and possibly further back than him because he too found himself in a bind with families from impoverished countries using their children (or just children in general) as a way to ensure entry to the U.S. Trump may not use the verbiage the we would like in a president, but war crimes...no, this is excessive. Besides, if you want war crimes, look at Obama's "red line" warning to Syria which he backed away from enforcing while Assad used chemical weapons on his own people. Obama shrank back on his empty challenge and the European refugee crisis exploded, partially on his watch.
11
@Alfred Neuman
War crimes?! Perhaps you should be asking why the Democrats haven't pursued impeachment proceedings against him yet. I think the answer there is obvious: the US financial markets are currently very strong, and no one wants to risk rocking that boat, including our lawmakers who no doubt have untold wealth invested in stocks.
@a_teacher, you're repeating Trump talking points. The policy of child separation as a deterrence is new. It's a Trump policy, never employed in the Obama administration. Likewise, internment camps housing small children who arrived with a family member is a Trump phenomenon.
You could trace the Syrian war all the way back to our decision to invade Iraq. I suspect that if Obama had decided to wage war on Assad, we'd still see the refugee crisis.
As long as the Democrats sit on their hands and are fearful to pass desperately needed good legislation to address the immigration issues because they're fearful it will help Trump, then nothing can ever happen.
The Dems need a unified, strong moral voice backed by purposeful legislation that addresses security, and humane treatment of immigrants as well as the overwhelming of the resources of our agencies to confront Trump's madness and cruelty.
The Dems need to make moral, economic, and security issues the ones to be tackled, realistically, and then stand together to make it happen.
Call out Trump! Call out his cronies and his inhuman treatment of children and families. Make Trump and the Republicans ashamed. Send Congressional representative to the border with cameras and the means to document Trump's vile actions and make it public.
This isn't rocket science. It's hardball politics and the Democrats have to get to bat and hit some home runs.
It's time the Democrats drew some blood instead of cowering.
9
This is their own land. People have been traveling north and south for thousands of years. Well before first Europeans crossed Atlantic, put a fence and declared United States of America having English Common Law as the governing law of the land in 1776. We need to be more considerate, compassionate while dealing with people from south. This is their land and NOT only belongs to descendants of European Settlors who call themselves as "Americans".
9
@Trevor Diaz
I don't think there was as much traveling between north and Central America as you would like to think. There were no horses or wheeled carts.
8
Nonsense Trevor.
The inhabitants of these two continents were divided up into political units of tribes, nations, etc. well before Europeans ever arrived, just like in every other human society.
Some were allied and some were hostile to one another, just like in every other human society.
They took captives, slaves, and killed each other, just like in every other human society.
And wandering around by yourself, outside your group’s territory? I wouldn’t recommend it. The least of your worries would be toothpaste.
Sure there was. Just because it was slower didn’t mean it didn’t happen. There were trade routes all over both North and South America long before the horse & cart came here.
Paul is right.
Please place their picture on your front page every day.
I'm a combat vet and I weep thinking about it.
13
For those looking to help migrants in the San Francisco Bay Area, please consider donating to Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA, or Women United and Active). MUA is an immigrant-led grassroots organization providing critical support to asylum seekers and organizing immigrants to defend their rights. www.mujeresunidas.net
For those who would like to address the root causes of the migration crisis in Central America, please consider donating to EcoViva. EcoViva has worked for many years with rural communities in El Salvador and Honduras to support local organizing around sustainable development, job opportunities, youth leadership, and democracy. www.ecoviva.org
6
Another way to make a difference: donate to The Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas! Run by the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, the HRC provides care and resources to asylum-seeking immigrants at the Texas-Mexico border, such as food, clothing, legal orientation and medical assistance. Welcoming as many as 300 individuals per day, the center has served over 100,000 immigrants since 2013. This is an incredibly worthy organization doing a world of good on a shoe-string budget. https://www.catholiccharitiesrgv.org/respitecenter/home.aspx
7
Thank you, Editorial Board for bringing a small amount of equanimity into this horrible nightmare situation of how to advocate for the children who are being harmed by gross neglect. Fortunately, the House of Representatives is paying attention to this situation. It is difficult to not think about the kids often, kids being passively tortured by our government. I feel secondarily traumatized by hearing of children being treated with a disregard for their human rights. Yet we must use non-violence or we become like them, the people who can hand a baby to a sad 8 year old, and know this child is hungry.
6
Thank you for posting this. I've been wondering how to help; this is an excellent primer.
11
Can someone send a memo to most of these organizations that they should accept PayPal and Venmo donations?
7
I moved to this country as a legal immigrant and became a citizen a few years ago. I did it for many reasons, but one of them was the belief and trust on the core values that have shaped America as a welcoming and diverse nation. The last years enduring this administration have been such as struggle to reconcile the bullying, the daily lying and the lack of decency with my belief in the core principles behind this great nation. I have had to face my kids, first generation Americans, eye to eye and rationalize the events. I’ve told them that it is just a period and that it will be fine in the long run. This last action on immigrants without any consideration for their humanity, have shocked me to the core. I don’t know what to believe or what to say to them anymore. Have we reached the bottom yet?
23
@Juan Ayala
National politics is horrible in the United States. I recommend participating locally and caring about your family. Develop a strong support base of good people around you. That is true anywhere in life.
Change things locally by being involved as much as possible and caring about people and the world around us.
The idea of liberty lives on in all of us. At the very core it is respect. Liberty fails when respect is lost just as we are witnessing. Just like a relationship we have to rekindle that and do some introspection and work on ourselves as a nation.
Laws don't make us free. It is when we respect each other that we are truly free. Liberty is the greatest amount of freedom we have with boundaries of respect. Laws come into being typically when we lose respect and thus erodes our liberties which affects the amount of freedom we have. Those boundaries of respect are actively being redefined as a nation in this moment. We have lost site of things that matter. And are far to greedy. It's time to figure out what we really want in life.
It is natural to be sad. Love your family and the people you care about. In the end the people you love are what matters because that is where we hopefully have the greatest respect and caring in our lives. People like ourselves will be okay. This is just one step in our cosmic journey.
The image of a drowned child and father is tragic and disturbing.
We must do everything in our power to discourage all illegal immigration into the U.S.
Trump’s agreement with Mexico is the best place to start. The likely Safe Third Country agreement with Guatemala is necessary as well. Reforming our asylum laws and procedures, especially speeding up hearing and rejections (90%) is critical.
And, of course, completing the 280 miles of new border fencing requested by Customs and Border Protection is non-negotiable.
All of these steps will dramatically reduce the incentive to come here illegally.
But we must also launch a comprehensive communications program throughout Central America, letting their populations know the very real, life-threatening perils of trying to enter the U.S. illegally.
I’ve done my part by writing to my Congressman and Senators, encouraging them to immediately and effectively support all of these border security measures.
If we do all of these things, maybe we won’t have to see such horrible pictures in the future.
20
@John
Over Half of Trump's fanbase believes they got what they deserved. Next time a natural disaster hits Trump country please show them the same contempt and indifference.
You sound like such a good American, John.
The United States are a republic not a democracy.
As long as sparsely populated, poor, rural states have a disproportionately large influence over government, this is what we should expect.
20
Why do you not put the story not on the front page every day?
685
@Paul The amount of virtue signaling in these comments is astounding. All this outrage, but not one person willing to take in an immigrant child, and there is no doubt every single person who is so 'outraged' by all of this could do exactly that if they really wanted to, if it really was important enough to them. But that would involve a whole lot of personal sacrifice that they aren't willing to make. It's easy to arm-chair quarterback your outrage isn't it? Easy to get so angry, but at the same time, make no real sacrifice except for a willingness to donate a little bit financially or make a couple of angry phone calls to lawmakers. But so many people here sleep better at night after expressing their outrage at Trump in this comment section. Again, if those of you expressing such bitter outrage at the plight of these children, how sincere are you really if you yourself aren't prepared to take in an immigrant family and support them under your own roof?
13
@David T
Why not free them and give them a visa to work. Sounds pretty darn simple to me and requires no money going to million dollar prison contractors. The odd benefit is it also supports liberty.
And the rest of us can work through our local organizations and communities to help where needed.
Sounds like a plan to me! Hope you like it Dave. Maybe you'll sleep better at night if you can sign off on it.
13
@David T, why not let these detained children join their families in the United States? That would be the humane solution. They don't need foster parents--they need their own parents.
It's interesting that Trump supporters try to guilt-trip those who speak out against Trump's family separation policy--a policy that makes absolutely no sense on any level except to excite his base. Trump supporters are willing to spend $750 a night per child to keep children warehoused in kennel-like conditions just because they want to inflict punishment on asylum seekers.
19
I know you (the NYTs) get quoted often, but you have a very small readership. Any messages or advice from you is preaching to the choir. The typical US citizen is a combination of childishness and selfishness. Much like the president. And like the president, they don't read.
On a side note, I'll bet the majority of your readers are shareholders of some type and as such are more interested in money than justice. So even in the choir, most are not listening.
16
@Chris: You could not be more wrong.
1
This isn't about immigration or illegals or laws or borders. It's about our humanity. These are children.
498
Yes it is! I am outraged that my country is doing this! Yes there is a problem, this is not how to deal with it!
18
@Carolina
Yes, they are children -- children who probably never should have been brought into a world of desperation and poverty.
2
@Carolina
The Sheep and the Goats … 44 And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then the King will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’ 46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal …
I know it really isn't prosperity gospel but it is one of the things this old atheist remembers from his catholic school education.
5
What is being done about human smugglers and what they're doing to endanger children and families along the border? They are being paid in the thousands to literally dump migrants along the border. I've been reading they are also misinforming or misleading migrants about the dangers or what they might face. Granted nothing excuses the mistreatment they face once apprehended by US officials, but there is a lot of 'stakeholders' behind the mistreatment of child migrants. Address it all.
133
@pvks20016 Yes other stakeholders are the private prison companies that are earning $700 a day per child to provide concentration camp conditions. Wayfair employees walked out today upon learning that Wayfair was invested in this private prison enterprise.
22
@pvks20016, my understanding is that smugglers aren't involved much with asylum seekers because the latter aren't trying to cross the border illegally. There's no money to be made from people who plan to turn themselves in.
Where did you read that smugglers are taking money from asylum seekers?
7
@SandraH.
that is ludicrous, almost all that cross are indentured to the horrific traffickers who tell them to bring children and tell them all will be well. We need aid to the central american nations to help build the economies there, and we need to go after the traffickers who make are almost as despicable as trump and friends
1
Look for local events at the Lights for Liberty site:
https://www.lightsforliberty.org/localevents
9
When will the Editorial Board be dispensing sage advice to the governments of Central America regarding what THEY need to do? Or is that just expecting way too much?
45
@Vincent Tagliano
This story is about the plight of innocent children in detention camps and how we can help them NOW.
5
Members of the Editorial Board - Thank you.
51
Maybe we should pay for the guys who run CBP to see "Come from Away." These people are running away from Hell. Hospitality isn't really that hard.
And where is corporate America? We know why Trump and Pelosi and McConnell can't get anything done, but what about Procter and Gamble and Kimberly and Clark and the Lever Brothers and Kellogg and Post? How about some stuff from The Gap? Some cots from Coleman. I'd happily give to a matching campaign that covered some of the cost.
We saw what happens when truckloads of supplies arrived in Venezuela. What would happen if they arrived at one of our detention centers?
46
Dear Editorial Board:
I followed your advice and wrote to Senator Daines asking him to speak up on behalf of the children and families being held in inhumane conditions.
I just received a response from Daines saying that he would
"... not support any proposal that contains amnesty for illegal immigrants currently in our country. We cannot reward unlawful behavior, because doing so will only encourage more people to enter our country illegally. The rule of law is a fundamental foundation of our country, and it must be protected. Instead, I believe our highest priorities must be securing our border, strengthening interior enforcement of our current laws, and thoroughly scrutinizing potential immigrants."
This is in a nutshell the heart of the problem. First, our representatives in Congress do not even bother to read the letters/emails they receive and, even if they did, they do not care what their constituents think.
Strengthening the border and thoroughly scrutinizing potential immigrants take priority over humane treatment of children and their families. These are not abstract "problems." They are human beings.
To whom can we appeal next? Who will step in to protect these children and their families? The United Nations?
97
@avrds Will you and all other Americans who feel so strongly about this, open your homes to an immigrant family, have them move in with you and cover all of their costs, and alow them to live with you indefinitely, until such a point that that family becomes self-sufficient? If you are so genuine in your outrage and concern, surely you would want to do this. Making a phone call and writing letters is easy. This would validate your concern and outrage, but I suspect you aren't willing to do this.
59
@avrds
So, Senator Daines in Montana is ignoring you.
Guess what?
Senators Feinstein and Harris in California are ignoring me.
16
@David T
I’m in.
15
Thank you, NY Times, for these suggestions and contacts. That helps.
29
Bravo to the Editorial Board. Woke me up once again from the slumber of denial and got me back to calling, donating and fighting.
39
@Katie Franko I would honestly like to ask you and all other Americans who feel so strongly about this, open your homes to an immigrant family, have them move in with you and cover all of their costs, and alow them to live with you indefinitely, until such a point that that family becomes self-sufficient? If you are so genuine in your outrage and concern, surely you would want to do this. "Calling, donating and fighting" is just going through the motions. Doing what I suggest would validate your concern and outrage (but I suspect you and others aren't willing to do this.)
39
@David T As long as you have an open mind
Sure.
Give them toothbrushes and soap (rationed daily).
But -- no need whatsoever for private quarters.
They can all be put in one set of common facilities --
4 big sleeping halls --
With individual, single-size pads and blankets.
One sleeping hall for juvenile females.
One for juvenile males.
One for adult males.
One for adult females -- including females with infant children -- the mothers are all "sisters", right? They can share their sisterhood/motherhood in a common large sleeping hall.
And ditto for bathing facilities.
And ditto for toilet facilities.
They can all visit together every day
in one big daytime hall.
For those who insist on "family" facilities,
then one single large sleeping hall for families,
all families,
all together,
all genders,
and all ages.
If they don't like that?
Then back to sleeping halls separated by gender and age.
But, in any case, no private quarters.
Not for "families".
Not for anyone else.
And one large hall for dining.
One common menu -- mess-hall style.
And one large hall and/or yard
for physical recreation.
And one large hall for other daytime activities.
And one single common curfew
-- lights out -- electronics off.
To the sleeping halls -- until daybreak.
With access to the toilet facilities as needed.
And they can be given plastic brooms and mops and plastic water buckets.
And the denizens of each sleeping hall they can organize themselves to clean it.
They don't get Club Med.
Nor even Motel 6.
Nor college dorms.
22
... you know claiming refugee status isn’t illegal, right?
68
@sam Finn Posts like yours make me ever more certain that those who support Trump’s policies are indeed my enemy.
1
@Jess O’Neill
I don't think these people know that, no. All they see is that "brown invasion" Trump keeps blathering on about.
1
AOC (with Godwin's blessing) is absolutely correct. These are concentration camps, and any member of the Federal government who defends (much less promotes) this practice merits the infamous F-label. Gotta tell it like it is. And get those members of the Federal government out of whatever office they hold. Or if it takes packing SCOTUS, then so be it. This nation cannot survive fascism as its modus operandi.
46
• But, by his divisive, incoherent and barbaric policies, Mr. Trump has only made agreeing on an approach to immigration in the United States far more difficult ... most maliciously, by dreaming up schemes to torment these people ....
The most appalling of these has been the separation of children from their parents and detaining them in conditions no child anywhere should suffer, and certainly not children in the care of the American government.
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (aka AOC) June 19, 2019:
“DHS ripped 1000s of children from their parents & put them in cages w inhumane conditions.
They call their cells 'dog pounds' & 'freezers.'
I will never apologize for calling these [concentration] camps what they are.
If that makes you uncomfortable, fight the camps - not the nomenclature.
• Mr. Trump’s latest display of cruel bluster was the announcement of nationwide raids to deport undocumented families. ...and spread panic through immigrant communities.
Ever hear of KRISTALLNACHT or the NIGHT OF BROKEN GLASS?
“Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.”
~ EDWARD ABBEY
THANK YOU NEW YORK TIMES for the poignant 'to do' list!
51
The NYT’s comments and articles about babies in cages and concentrations camps are utter nonsense.
Most Americans welcome LEGAL immigrants, but do not want ILLEGAL immigrants. They recognize that the US cannot afford (or choose not) to support our own citizens: the poor, the ill, elderly, disabled, veterans, et al., and that they and other US taxpayers cannot possibly support the hundreds of millions of foreigners who would like to come here.
US laws allow foreigners to seek entry and citizenship. Those who do not follow these laws are in this country illegally and should be detained and deported; this is policy in other countries, too.
The cruelty lies not in limiting legal immigration, or detaining and deporting illegal immigrants, or forcing those who wish to enter the US to wait for processing. What is cruel, unethical and probably illegal is encouraging parents to bring their children on the dangerous trek to US borders and teaching the parents how to game the system to enter the US by falsely claiming asylum, persecution, etc. Indeed, many believe bringing children on such perilous journeys constitutes child abuse.
No other nation has open borders, nor should the US.
104
Mon Ray in KS....as the article states, comprehensive immigration reform IS needed. But in mean time there is NO excuse for unsanitary, cruel (7 y o s trying to comfort 1 year olds?), NEGLECTFUL treatment just so this administration can make a point about there being too many illegal immigrants!!
End of story! Uphold your values and principles on how HUMAN BEING AND CHILDREN should be treated!
109
@Mon Ray This is a strawman argument. Without refuting your points, I think we all can agree that children shouldn't be separated from their families and tossed into inhumane living conditions by the American government.
83
You seem unaware of the fact that many of these people WERE seeking asylum.
73
"They perform the jobs nobody wants" ... And for that we are supposed to support +25 family members who are either too young or too old to perform the jobs nobody wants..
23
I’m very happy with our policy at the border - how do I support the President and his desire to protect our borders ?
28
Thank you for your practical suggestions. I contacted both my senators and my representative as soon as the stories came out.
In all of the outrages of the Trump administration, this is the atrocity that will top the history book lists.
Deliberate child abuse is unforgivable. All of those Republicans who claim to be "pro-life" are in reality for forced births. They say zero about this crime against humanity. They do nothing. All of those Republican men who want to deny women and girls basic rights to make decisions about their bodies are blind, deaf and dumb when actual children are being cruelly treated.
These children need to be reunited with their loving families whether those families are siblings, guardians, aunts or uncles, grandparents, or their own parents. They have homes waiting for them.
Animal shelters have better conditions.
Shame on all Trump politicians, and shame on all Trump voters.
39
HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?! In just 2 years we have gone from a civilized nation where no children would ever be tortured by our government, crushed into filth-filled cages, forced to sleep on cold cement, forced to take care of babies with no supplies or assistance, and all this after being taken away from the adults who loved them enough to try to get them to a safe life.
Where is the outrage from the Pro-Lifers who publicly weep about small groups of fetal cells but aren't waving signs and publicly weeping for the hundreds of dear, dear children who are alive and being tortured physically and mentally because of the cruel actions and inactions done by the Republican politicians they support? How quickly our civilized nation has been turned into a brutal, soulless nation in the 2 years under the reign of Trump and his power mad Republicans. God help the United States of America.
48
Wake up, NY Times editorial board. "Trump" was elected. Whatever horrendous policies are being implemented now are not solely his responsibility but the people who have put their faith in that amoral world view. "American" values are not as clear as you are trying to portray.
6
Thank you for crafting this important and useful piece. Action is a moral imperative.
14
Illinois recently passed legislation making it illegal to operate a for-profit detention centers. I realize this doesn’t solve the problem but it at least seems like an obvious and logical move in the right direction. I live in a progressive state and other legislation has been enacted to help protect refugees and immigrants, but I haven’t heard of any such legislation pending here or elsewhere. Does anyone know why other states aren’t immediately passing a similar law? Or maybe they are but it’s just been buried the constant onslaught of daily chaos (ahem - I mean - news)?
13
True leaders balance legitimate interests without pandering to a base that, sadly, seems guided down a truly deplorable path. So many claim to be followers of Jesus. Could any honestly say that Jesus is on the side of these separations? Is this how to treat the least of us? The rest of us must truly restore greatness by reviving our compassion and using our hearts to make an America a place can be thankful and proud to call home.
12
@dukesphere
In the Trump America, Jesus and his family would have been arrested amd deported.
30
@dukesphere
It's all about the separation...
the separation of church and state.
Jesus himself explicitly called for separation of church and state (i.e. give to Caesar what is Caesar's, my kingdom is not of this earth, etc.)
And let's not forget that religious organizations of many denominations are addicted to the financial lifeline of federal dollars for processing refugees. No federal dollars should be flowing to these church organizations.
4
Thank you for this piece. It offers concrete actions. One that is missing and hugely important is that everyone should be involved in getting the vote out in swing states. It will take people power to retake the country in 2020. As a political refugee myself, I see that democracy and the rule of law are at stake, along with the lives of immigrants and the suffering of more children.
15
@Marcela Vonvacano - Get the vote out? We don't even know who the nominees are yet. And I hate to point it out to everyone but the last president is out motorboating with the Cloonies and doesn't seem the least bit outraged by what is going on. The last time I heard from Hillary she was hawking a book.
I get a chuckle when I see some Senator opine "this is not America", when referring to the kids in cages.
I beg to differ, Senator. It Is America. It's happening under your watch.
Sadly, this will fade from the minds of most people as summer outings take the place of protests. As Trump creates yet another fake crisis that Only He Can Fix.
Looking back over the years there has Never been a president so divisive. There is a good reason why Trump was elected - because a lot of people feel the same way as him on immigration and race. A lot of people are bullies deep down inside and are drawn to Trump's nastiness. A lot of people would shoot first and ask questions later.
That is America, folks.
I don't mean YOU, reader of this comment. I mean the 40% who do not read NYT or WaPo, choosing to get their news from the Evil Trinity of prime time at FOX.
I've watched America from a distance for many years and saw how you bounced back from a lot of bad stuff. But this time the Office of the Presidency is being destroyed from within. It will be so easy for the next occupant to continue along this path. Perhaps not as bad as the current occupant, but never to return to "normal".
Time will tell.
29
@Fred
The U.S. and your country have what is known as a "Safe Third Country" agreement which says that migrant who want asylum must request it in whichever country they first enter. This means that Central Americas must request asylum in the U.S. before doing so in Canada.
About 3 years ago, migrants realized that the agreement did not apply to anyone who crossed from the U.S. to Canada in-between official border crossings. Some migrants tried this, and requested asylum.
Their entrance has angered much of the Canadian public so Trudeau is making it a priority to quickly deport everyone whose request for asylum is denied. His party has also introduced a bill that would automatically deny asylum to anyone (with few exceptions) whom the U.S. decides does not qualify for asylum.
If you think Canada would do better with such a deluge of asylum seekers, then why don't you persuade your fellow Canadians to accept them? We could cancel the Safe Third Country agreement.
5
“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” - Mahatma Gandhi.
72
@Voice from the Crowd But these "weakest members" you speak of aren't actually members (re: 'citizens') of the United States. They are coming into our country illegally. Our actual weakest members-- the hundreds of thousands of homeless in this country, are suffering, and their suffering grows as more and more resources are diverted to aiding non-U.S. citizens.
25
@Voice from the Crowd A very noble statement. If only India didn't treat its weakest members worse than slaves.
14
Trump catches all the blame here, and I guess that's the job of the incumbent, but this is four decades of institutional immigration failure. The Times rightly points out this was an issue in the Obama Administration too but let's place blame where it appropriately lies. ALL of Washington DC owns this mess, starting with that body of abject failure, Congress.
47
Here is an idea. It’s the parents abusing them. It’s easy, stay home and don’t bring them to the border. Walla. No abuse
30
That is what our country once said to a ship full of desperate Jewish people. We sent them back to their certain deaths. Nothing is that simple.
34
@Brad L.
Staying home is often far more dangerous than taking a chance on coming here. These people are trying to get their children into a safer place. You would, too, in similar circumstances.
Then they come here and encounter a wave of deplorable hatred and abuse, have their children ripped away and lost in some administrative hole, and generally treated to an America that the world is coming to despise.
Pretty simple. Come here legally and you will not face this horrible situation. The ILLEGAL immigrates are seeking a better economic opportunity. I support that as an American but you cannot just show up and cross the border. As a country we cannot have open borders. U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed that May apprehensions topped 144,000. This year has seen 676,315 apprehensions so far, up 99% over this time last year. The US immigration enforcement system was designed to swiftly detain and deport migrants who attempted to sneak into the US illegally. Border Patrol agents aren’t equipped to deal with large groups of families who travel through Mexico by bus and then turn themselves in at the border. We need to stop making this a political issue as both parties have been shameful in there response over the last 20 years. We need immigration reform now!
44
Is it illegal to cross the US border to seek asylum? My understanding is that it is legal.
21
Didn’t someone in the WH promise to stop all of this with a wall paid for by Mexico? Too bad he didn’t think his campaign promise to build that free wall would cause record numbers of folks from many different countries to show up at that border which was supposed to be closing with that fake wall. (He also Cut $aid to Central American countries.) He didn’t expect that? The number of folks at the border are 3-5X higher than in the Bush and Obama years. Trump made it worse. Far worse. And then he made it cruel because Steven Miller and Steve Brannon told him to punish those folks.
11
@Just 4 Play
It is legal to seek asylum. I keep saying this to Trumpites, but they just don't get it.
1
There is no doubt that Trump created this by his policies ; however , to those so appalled by these conditions , you can change this by voting against him , his policies and get a candidate who will do something about it and finally push through comprehensive immigration reform . Beating your chest , crying , tweeting or commenting mea culpa is not enough . Remove thine own mote from thy own eye . Our politicians are weak , or bought , or have a motive for turning a blind eye because it benefits them . It is a false narrative unless you actually go there and either make it better or admit to hypocrisy because it makes you look good or kind ; that is not caring .
5
@sm - "...it and finally push through comprehensive immigration reform ."
And who prey tell is going to do that? The Democrats who just gave up the White House two years ago or the Republicans who are in the White House.
Congress is not going to do anything about immigration because American businesses LOVE the cheap, off-the-books labor.
As bad as this is, we cannot pick and choose who we can harm. Tom Steyer hires mentally disabled children, yet feigns astonishment at the treatment of immigrant children. Both are terrible, both deserve to be covered, but the NYT seems determined not to cover certain types of news that would besmirch the reputation of certain Billionaires no matter how evil. We cannot pick and choose which evil best fits in with our agenda. By applying such distinctions, the media is aiding and abetting certain evils--and creating narratives that are incomplete.
Not covering inconvenient evils, is being complicit in the continuation and perpetuation of evil. We cannot pick and choose the justices we prefer, we can only fight injustice wherever it rears its ugly head---and that head is Tom Steyer.
Hopefully the FBI will make up for the incompetence of our media institutions---assuming that those leading the investigation have not already been bribed.
That is what Tom Steyer does, he bribes public officials so that they will commit injustices or at the very least overlook them. We must stay in touch with our humanity. We are better than this, as human beings. Do not be tempted by the dark side...
3
How can we justify neglecting and harming a child no matter who they are or where they are from? To make a negotiating point? Because they’re brown and poor? Because we got here first? There’s no reason that isn’t deeply sick. We’re rich enough to put these kids up decently, our poverty is spiritual.
22
@Tom Baroli
If we are so rich why we are not doing anything about the homeless American children?
23
That is the question! WHY aren’t we?
9
because they are brown too!
7
This is an issue that the mainstream media will help get Trump elected again. Although the border situation needs help and improvement from the federal gov't, it is not a top issue on most voter's minds since there are many, many American children who go to bed without soaps or tooth brushes. Heck, many don't even have a bed. The mainstream media is pushing this issue to make the Democrats look like they're more concern about illegal immigrants than poor Americans.
29
These kids were brought here Illegally and many were brought because there parents were told/trained that doing so would improve there chances of gaming our broken system that Trump wants Congress to fix/ meanwhile 2.5 million children
National Center on Family Homelessness. A staggering 2.5 million children are now homeless each year in America. This historic high represents one in every 30 children in the United States. These kids are getting First class treatment compared to our Own Citizen Children!
22
no they are not. we don't do near enough for homeless citizens yet they aren't deliberately separated fron their relatives, deliberately subjected to the elements and denied basics like toothbrushes and soap. FGS stop acting like this is ok it's NOT!
17
I believe it's time for the United Nations to step-up and declare this a humanitarian crisis. Warehousing both children and adults in the ways described is beyond deplorable.
There was a time when leaders of the United States couldn't find a microphone fast enough to call out other countries for similar circumstances.
Antonio Guterres where are you? Where is your voice?
21
"There’s No Excuse for Mistreating Children at the Border. Here’s What To Do About It.. Speak up. Donate. Educate yourself. Vote."
You left the most important option .. "Deport."
Illegals are illegals, no matter adult or children.
21
Read this:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/05/opinion/honduras-women-murders.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
These people are human beings. They’re not “illegals.” Every parent on the planet wants the same thing: for their children to be safe, to have access to a home, education, health care. That’s why they come here. These reasons have always been why immigrants come to America.
This “President” has done more to make the current situation worse. He has no problem with private corporations making money off of this dire situation where lives are at stake.
He doesn’t care, of course, because he isn’t a smart or decent man.
But we can be. We must be. You can too.
13
You don’t know the law. A person who presents himself at the border for asylum is not breaking any laws.
19
not illegal
6
To curtail the creeping slime that is oozing into every pillar of our democracy, it's time for people to take to the streets, write letters, speak up, join forces, and above all, VOTE. How is it that we have a president who rips children from their families? When we hear the Democratic candidates state emphatically that "this is not who we are," we also need to hear from them how and why they think we have arrived at this dismal moment in our history. When and how did we fail?
8
Hey Congress, do your job and appropriate necessary funds.
9
Imagine there's no heaven....bad day's at black rock peeps. Hang on.
1
The NYT tells us we need "reform" and then spends hundreds of words implying that people should be able to just stroll into the country as a welcome addition. Yes press for more spending to improve the conditions for children. Yes to e-verify. Yes to penalizing and prosecuting those that hire illegals. And yes to enforcing immigration laws.
33
Thanks for the editorial!
It persuaded me to join the ACLU and even monthly donations.
Wish I could do more, and I will have my eyes open to do so.
This border situation is insanely wrong. America, the beautiful? Not so much. I fought in Vietnam for this?
20
@Jim Muncy, no, you fought in Vietnam because of Democratic Party honchos like LBJ who lied about Gulf of Tonkin to massively expand the war. "Best and the Brightest" and fabulist notions of "Domino Theory" that conveniently benefited Texas military-industrialists with ties to LBJ, among others. 58,000+ good Americans dead; many more injured; millions of innocent Vietnamese dead.
Apart from perhaps some parallels such as funneling tax dollars to reward some campaign donors, such as private detention center operators, the situation on the Southern border has almost nothing to do with the disastrous and ill-fated Vietnam adventurism.
I guess one could also say that if Bush-Cheney had chosen to study history, including the history they lived through such as Vietnam, and had avoided starting trillion dollar wars against countries that never attacked the United States such as Iraq, they would not have thoroughly destroyed whatever shred of credibility still existed in the "normal" GOP after Reagan-Bush, Sr-Gingrich, etc. and created the opening a mile wide for Trump in 2016.
1
Why no Red Cross at the camps?
from an article dated 6-20-18 in The Daily Beast:
“In the past, the American Red Cross has been asked by the authorities to provide services for migrant children and families, and we have inquired to see if we can assist in any way with regard to this current situation,” the statement continued. “But the federal government has control of these facilities, and the American Red Cross does not regularly have access to places of detention for migrants.”
UPDATE: After this article published, a Red Cross representative reached out to The Daily Beast to note that "every charity plays its own role, and we often partner with one another. In this case, our role is to work with the federal government authorities who have responsibility for border control and immigration to offer our assistance—but without that permission, we do not have access to these children or the places of detention."
"By way of comparison, in 2014—at the request of the federal government—we supported the urgent humanitarian needs of unaccompanied immigrant children crossing U.S. borders. We provided blankets and hygiene kits to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for use by children, and provided assistance placing phone calls to the children’s families. We are willing to provide the same or similar services in this situation."
I found this article by searching using Red Cross and 2019 detention camps.
19
I agree with every word.
Moreover, there's no excuse for mistreating children. Period. Full stop.
Not only at our borders, but nowhere.
And what I can do about it? How about what YOU do about it?
You (and I) have been speaking up. We have condemned, objected, and even screamed.
Has anything changed?
Not by a long shot.
People voted (midterms). The bone-spur leader was soundly rebuked.
Did anything change?
I'm sorry to say I see no end in sight to this horrendous turn of events.
January 2021 is too far into the future for so many of us, never mind children!
12
The Texas Civil Rights Project is another organization that is engaged in this effort.
11
According to the U.N. 2018 report on immigration most of the people attempting to enter the U.S. pay smugglers from $6k to $10k to get to the border. The per capita income of Honduras, home to many of the immigrants, is about $5k.
So these folks pay coyotes a staggering one to two years pay and present themselves at the U.S. border, demand and get housing, food, medical care for themselves and any children accompanying them for U.S. taxpayers. As an added bonus if they don’t like the accommodations or how things are going they and their children get a free flight back to their home country.
Unbelievable!
18
@Johnny M
Can you imagine how horrible the conditions are that people are forced to scrape together and borrow to leave their countries? Threatening gangs, spousal abuse, lack of work, deteriorating climate - conditions so bad that people will do anything to escape. The housing, food, medical care that you suggest they are getting is no picnic in the park. If you are a religious person, I suggest that you have a conversation with God about your attitude.
12
I think it is a good idea to keep things simple. So, why not each member of The Editorial Board take on child, or one family, into their own home. We will follow your lead.
41
Is this a Fox News talking point ? All the cold-hearted people who endorse the maltreatment seem to suggest those who want things improved simply invite the immigrants to their homes. Such a frivolous rejoinder.
29
@Suburban Cowboy It's not a" frivolous rejoinder," it is a legitimate point to be made. So many of you are so outraged, and you will fill these comment boards with your virtuous indignation and name-calling of others who don''t share you viewpoint, but when it comes to actually doing something that will make a difference, like opening your homes to an immigrant family and supporting them financially until they are self-sufficient, you want no part of that personal sacrifice.
26
Have Trump suggest it to Congress, I will open my home. And I am sure many others would too. I am stone cold serious. And we will drive them to their status adjudication on schedule. I don’t think Pelosi would object, Mitch and his crew on the other hand, well,,,
17
Please publish a Spanish language equivalent of this article.
7
@Alex F.
As Lincoln Steffens might have proclaimed
(if he could return in 2019 to his native California),
"I have seen the future, and it speaks Spanish".
He was wrong about the Soviet Union,
when he returned exactly 100 years ago from the Soviet Union and proclaimed then,
"I have seen the future, and it works".
We'll see about California -- and the rest of the USA.
4
"Give me your poor huddled masses..." if only that still held true! Throughout it's brief but tumultuous history, the United States has unfortunately incorporated some troubling and dark chapters. From the original sin of slavery, the notorious anti-Assian legislation like the Exclusion Act and the so-called "head tax", to Jim Crow and segregation to the internment of Japanese-Americans to name but a few.
The current anti-imigrant fervor accompanied by draconian policies and reprehensible actions such as the detainment of children, will surely be recorded as yet another one of those historical blemishes which will further stain the national psyche and moral make-up of the nation.
I would like to say that sanity would prevail and the better angels of our nature will step forth...but given the dispiriting times we live in...my cynicism takes over when I think about it...and I loathe saying the worse is yet to come...
8
Send the migrant children to registered Democrat voters for them to house and support. Put their meaningless platitudes and virtue signalling to the test and see if they will really walk the walk.
32
Yeah I agree let’s turn completely innocent children into pawns in a sick greedy game. Makes perfect sense if you lack a heart.
16
These are mere stopgap measures to salve some of our national shame. By all means, do as suggested. But, our chief task is to vote these greedy, self-centered, racist, unfeeling, moral degenerates out of office come November 2020. Not just Trump, but every single Republican politician who has failed to speak up and act on behalf of the American people and those who seek comfort here, deserves to be soundly trounced and replaced with people with a true reverence for our Constitution, our Rule of Law, and our people. Presidents and others have given us plenty of reasons, over the years, to feel shame for our nation. But nothing comes close to the putrid "leadership" we suffer right now.
10
What is sad is the number of people who don't understand the difference between "concentration camps" and "death/labor camps".
It was acceptable, for instance when Ed Asner (producer/star) of "Lou Grant" to have a 'Japanese-American' (d/k whether he was or wasn't) speak of the Internment of Americans of Japanese ancestry, living on the West Coast as gathering them 'in concentration camps, not death camps like the Nazis' and receiving only positive support from everyone - including death camp survivors.
That was in the 1970s, the reason this is a paraphrase, and not an exact quotation.
Let a sometimes poorly spoken, sometimes apparently anti-Semitic Representative make an apt comparison and one would think the world had ended.
The law requiring asylum-seekers be allowed into the US was passed after anti-Semitic US officials turned away thousands trying to escape the Nazi 'Final Solution', while rounding up any person with a trace of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast, depriving them of their property and deporting them to the middle of Oklahoma. The law is being ignored to people fleeing death, and seeking to enter the US from Central America by the same bigots who sent Jews back to Occupied Europe and assured death.
Comparison warranted, though the Rep. needs a better speech writer.
4
It's also time for members of the clergy to speak out loudly and clearly on this issue. There is a moral force that is amplified by the voices of Michael Curry, the Rev. Barber, and so many other leaders of faith, Muslim, Jewish, Quaker, Buddhist... it's time for the Pope, as well as the leaders of other major religions, to drop in and make a house call on these detention centers.
World religions and customs may disagree on much, but they are pretty universal in their idea of hospitality to strangers and kindness to little children.
Surely, this is not the America or the universal human values that our soldiers imagined on the beaches of Normandy, that patriots like Virginia Hall risked their lives to defend. Locking up little children in camps on the anniversary of the end of WW2?
20
I suspect that there is a large group of American who are disgusted with where our governent has been taken. A policy of war on children? Incarceration without family. Then the speechifying about how these children do not need baths, clean clothes, diapers, food enough. Children caring for children. Please. Donate. A dollar joined with another dollar becomes much. I do not know why the Red Cross is not at the camps. But our task is to not let up. Keep these children in our sights. Perhaps we make up boxes of necessities and send them to the groups there.
6
Aren't there any cheap hotels along the border?
5
Why isn’t the American Red Cross involved in this humanitarian disaster????
Why are billionaires like the Koch Brothers donating? Do they only donate if they can get their names on buildings?
5
Nah, I don't think so, Editorial Board. The President is enforcing the law, something the last, Democratic administration failed to do. The Democrat-controlled House has two weeks to enter into serious negotiations with the White House. I am optimistic they will be serious negotiations because the Trump administration will begin the deportation of thousands of illegal migrants if there is no progress toward a legal solution.
24
"The United States urgently needs an immigration policy that combines border security, justice and humanity. "
A judge has ruled that these children need to be kept with their parents, that family integrity is a constitutional right and is being violated. The United States, unfortunately, is taking children away from their family unit and reclassifying them as unaccompanied children.
The Flores settlement mandates that children must be held in safe and sanitary conditions and moved out of Border Patrol custody without unnecessary delays.
I find it despicable that certain people are making money off of abusing children. It costs $775 a day to ‘warehouse’ children who are sleeping with army blankets on cold floors, one blanket on top and one on the bottom, and getting sick. Older children are taking care of younger ones. Some guards are kind and some are not. Why is this country accepting that this abuse of children is acceptable? I am abhorred by the lack of decency that these children are experiencing.
We are creating children who will never mentally recover and Trump, who is responsible, is proudly talking about what great things he is doing to get rid of the immigrants. He is lying to say that immigrants are criminals, rapists, drug dealers and job-stealers.
I cannot state strongly enough that Trump lacks any sense of compassion, ethics or morality. When he does claim to care, it is simply empty rhetoric which is quickly forgotten.
18
A few thoughts. I have and will continue to donate to Catholics Charities on the border to help kids and families coming across. One thing that irritates, as in this article, however, is the never ending call for comprehensive immigration reform. It sounds impressive, but, it is a meaningless term. What I think it is and you think it is are likely two different things. So, when you talk with candidates, ask them to in detail to describe what they mean. It is so easy to be against bad treatment and dodge the what our immigration policy should be question.
3
I may have missed it, but has the New York Times offered a solution to preventing immigrants, including those adults escorting children (whether their biological children or not), from entering the United States illegally? If a U.S. citizen were to commit a crime here in the U.S.-- let's say shoplifting a $5,000 watch from a jewelry story-- while in the company of his/her child, that child would be separated from his parent. And if the perpetrator were a single parent, with no living relatives to give the child to, he/she would still be separated from their child after they were arrested. These immigrants are committing a crime by illegally entering the country. But again, what does the Times offer as a solution other than to advocate for anyone crossing our border with children be allowed to go on their merry way, or be put up at a Holiday Inn at taxpayer's expense? This only encourages more people to bring children on this dangerous trek. Here's an idea: Why doesn't every capable American who wants open borders personally take in an immigrant family and pay for all their expenses for at least a year, or to a point that family becomes self-supportive? But that will never happen.
55
Sir, do you encourage imprisonment of kids as a deterrence method to dissuade immigrants from crossing the borders? It certainly seems to be part of your opinion. That sort of vitriol has been professed (and put into practice )throughout history . Read up. Meet some foreigners. Travel abroad. Buy one less gun and more books. Ameliorate your own person and understanding will follow.
10
@the horror
Your response to David T has nothing to do with what he is saying in his comment(s).
First, you don't know if this person is well travelled or not, or if he has guns and no books.
These are cheap shots.
"Ameliorate your own person and understanding will follow."
15
@Lea Thanks Lea. I replied respectfully before to @ the horror's comments but the Times for some reason didn't approve my comment. So thank you for speaking up on my behalf.
6
I've never understood the rationale of people living in abject poverty who think having children will lift them up.
15
That recent hearing in SF the editorial refers to was all about violations by the *Obama* administration. Odd that the Times didn't devote similar vitriol to covering it at the time. Go figure.
16
In less than two hundred years America went from a overseas colony of a great nation to the richest most powerful nation on Earth. It made many mistakes along the way but even as a war in Viet Nam raged needlessly America by virtue of government of the people by the people and for the people America was the best place in the world.
The GOP in its lust for power and under the leadership of men like Buckley, Goldwater, Nixon and Reagan succeeded in fomenting a general discontent directed at those who created a dynamic, wealthy and powerful nation.
The lie that government of the people was evil was propagated. The most destructive lie made famous by Reagan that the government was "I am from the Federal government and I'm here to help being the last thing anyone wanted to hear."
Forty years later even if the answer to the question of whether the nation can be healed is as simple as an end to Oligarchy, Plutocracy and today's Kakistocracy is as simple as returning to government of the people.
While terms like concentration camp bring to mind a modern holocaust I think of an earlier usually misunderstood holocaust that occurred in Ireland perpetrated by a government operating under the values and ethics as today's GOP.
There was no famine in Ireland its food export economy flourished but it needed an embargo to stop the hungry being fed.
Americans know what is happening is wrong but they elected Reagan who could justify the unjustifiable and today a madman is in control.
9
I urge you to add the Florence Project to your list of local organizations to support. They are the ONLY organization in the state of Arizona that provides free legal and social services to detained men, women, and children under threat of deportation. They have been working around the clock to reunite families, and support refugees and migrants even after their release from detention by connecting them with medical or psychological care, housing resources, rehabilitation programs, and access to education. Their work is crucial, and deserves your support: www.firrp.org
5
I guess 45 postponed the raids so that everyone could attend his amazing new and improved celebration on 7/4. First time in my life I've felt like wearing black instead of red, white, and blue.
6
I don’t like President Trump’s overwrought and divisive rhetoric about immigration; some of his words are downright heartless. But he is largely correct in his assessment of the underlying root cause. Enormous numbers of economic migrants are arriving at our southern border, many using children as pawns to garner sympathy. Far more are arriving than we can accommodate.
People who maintain these people are here legally by seeking asylum are disingenuous at best. Our asylum laws were never intended to encourage economic migration. Many asylum seekers fail to appear at their immigration hearings. Most are simply illegal immigrants.
The underlying causes are world overpopulation and failed countries.These are incredibly difficult problems, but they are the ones towards which we should direct our attention. If we allow those who arrive illegally to stay, we do nothing to help the millions more who remain in their home countries. The people who come deserve sympathy, so do the many more left behind.
The reason people are coming and subjecting children to extraordinarily dangerous journeys is that we are providing encouragement, including liberal American media. But, admitting illegal migrants does not solve the problem. It may help those most visible to our media, but it hurts many more, those left behind. We should accommodate as many who arrive legally as we can, but we should not encourage abuse and disrespect of our laws in how we select those who may stay.
30
Irish potato famine
German agricultural "reform"
Russian pograms
Italy's domestic instability
Nordic crop failures & political upheaval
Asian government changes: Meiji Restoration, the Koreas, 60s sw Asia
Puritians selling themselves for something better
We ALL came here escaping from turmoil and starvation looking for something better for our children. We can not deny others - the door must remain open
13
@Alex For the 'Law and Order' party, Trump sure does break a lot of laws, whether implicit, ethical, or criminal. It is entirely disingenuous, to assume that this is about 'illegal' immigrants. Thousands of children, sitting in concentration camps, are by definition, going through a legal process. And you are sanctioning the abuse of children, children, babies, as some kind of deterrent. Did not Trump announce that he had stopped this policy some months ago? Another lie, I assume.
9
Seriously? “We ALL...” Nice try.
1
How about instead of leading with supporting people who have already had their cases adjucated and been told no, The NY Times start a campaign to demand that Congress and the White House together get serious about immigration in combining border security, national protection, pathways for the Dreamers along with monitored financial and operational support for the countries these people are fleeing. And before the next election. It's amazing that other countries have immigration laws and actually enforce them and that we don't. If we don't like the current laws demand the legislators change them.
16
Someone on a talk show this morning asked if the detained kids were getting vaccinated for measles. Anyone know?
3
If they aren’t getting enough food, diapers and soap, I’d be real surprised if they were getting measles vaccine. All it’s going to take is one kid to bring it in and it’s going to spread like wildfire. How many will die then?
There are now local vigils scheduled for July 12 across the country: https://www.lightsforliberty.org/localevents
1
Have done all of the above for last two years and there has been no change. Have thrown in the towel. Tired of both parties and the press. There is no honor in any politician and they have no respect for individuals they serve.
5
Thank you for the list of action items, donating and writing to our representative is the least I can do. I wish I had the time to go down to the border for a protest or a vigil but if one is organized in my city, I will attend and make myself heard.
3
Where is the Christian "Religious Right" on this issue. I believe Jesus advocated on behalf of the poor, sick and hungry.
9
@White Rabbit
The Pentateuch does too: the widow, the orphan, and yes, the stranger, too.
1
@White Rabbit Why isn't the Southern Poverty Law Center setting up offices in Guatemala or Honduras? Both countries are further south than us, poorer than us and in much more dire need of laws than us.
3
Thank you for the links, New York Times. I've been heartsick about these children, babies, and families. It's easy to donate online. I'm hoping my small donation will help a child, and move them towards reuniting with their family.
3
There is no excuse for a country not enforcing its laws and letting 22 million people live illegally working in an underground economy not knowing if they will be staying or going. I have done charity work all over the world and don't think letting a few million in the US makes a dent in the world's suffering. Most is caused by overpopulation anyway.
It is morally wrong to force Americans to pay taxes that pays for non-citizens health care, education, and babies.
28
Thank you for providing this guide. The only way to not despair is to take action.
5
Why do you consider "cruel bluster" the deportation of people who are illegally in our country?
The immigration law should be respected.
Why you, The Board of NYT, are on the side of the people who don't respect the law of the country?
What kind of parents come illegally here knowing that they will be separated from their children?
27
Thank you for providing this v helpful information. May I suggest you run a banner and/or box on your Sunday paper weekly listing the resources and reminding citizens they can make a difference in helping these children?
I'm sure my rich Episcopal Church wd be willing to contribute by time/labor and money to help.
Also, are their any counseling centers/therapist to help these kids deal w attachment abandonment which will impact them the rest of their lives?
5
Thank you for all this information.
I would also like to know: who are the companies profiting from these internments? Which ones are building these horrid facilities without such basic infrastructure as heating, adequate bathrooms, etc?
I believe we should also be putting pressure on them as they are not only enabling this situation but benefiting from it.
14
One of the most important questions is: Where are the Democrats? This tragedy should have been investigated yesterday!
7
Trump needs to be arrested for crimes against humanity. He went from calling immigrants animals to treating them so badly that even if they they were animals he would be charged with countless felonies against these people.
See legal codes:
California penal code section 597
New Mexico statutes 30-18-1
Texas penal code 42.09 & 49.092
PS those are listed as examples due to those states land border with Mexico. I'm sure you'll find similar laws in every state and US territory.
5
Don't forget that these are illegal immigrants. Every one of these migrants knew they were breaking the law. The first and foremost blame should fall on the parents of these children who brought them thousands of miles to breach our border.
35
@Stanley Gomez And that justifies inhumane treatment?
6
Wrong. It is not illegal to ask for asylum.
The NYT Editorial Board is absolutely correct, "There’s No Excuse for Mistreating Children at the Border." Why? Because they should not illegally be in the US in the first place and that goes for adult illegal aliens, too. There is a crisis at the border and frankly enough is enough. An end needs to be put to this. Mexico is currently assisting by securing their southern borders thanks to Trump reading them the riot act which they've should have done previously, but this is only a partial solution. If you want to come to the US that's fine, but immigrate legally.
22
So, the New York Times version of "Here's What to Do About it" boils down to doing everything possible to throw open the borders to as many of the 140 million illegal economic immigrants who want to escape their squalid material circumstances by coming to the United States.
That'll make sure people illegally in the country continue to overwhelm our health care systems, sign up for SNAP and WIC, and assure that in many places our schools continue to spend more money providing rudimentary English classes for non-English speakers than anything else.
Thanks, but advice like that I don't need. I loathe Donald Trump and did not vote for him. But if the Democratic party has no better solutions for protecting our borders, and upholding the rule of law than the New York Times, he'll win again. And maybe he should if the opposition party is going to capitulate on border integrity.
It is time to get serious. This is a real crisis and urging people to work against our overwhelmed immigration officials to defeat all attempts to curtail illegal immigration is a puerile response to it.
98
@Philboyd, personally in a crisis I first respond with what is needed, on a human level. For policy, use your voice. Contact your representatives, continually. The article presented ways to move forward on many levels. I appreciated that.
13
@BCasero I didn't miss the point. You allowed yourself to be distracted by a throw-away sentence. Show me one concrete proposal for stopping illegal immigration and turning back millions of people with no better claim to be here than, "life stinks in Guatemala. American taxpayers can support me better than this place." I'll wait.
50
@Philboyd
I think the NYT's was pointing out that children are being put in danger. Children. And this is due to mismanagement of the border situation by the Trump gov't, who is failing at everything they do.
When children are abused most humans understand that this is unacceptable. Children being used as chess pieces? Really? This is an abusive relationship, no longer a functioning government.
33
No matter what spin the administration puts on it, holding children against their will is imprisonment, not distinguishable from any other type of imprisonment. How that does not violate the ethics of humane treatment of people is incomprehensible. Watching Mike Pence dodge direct questions about mistreating children by lying about the threat posed by people seeking safety from their hellish existence in their countries is no less reprehensible than watching Goebbels spin the absurdity that Jews were a threat to Germany. The vexing question is when will McConnell and his hypocritical Republican brethren pull their heads out of the sand and call it like it is: abominable treatment of people trying to survive.
7
@nzierler
Children belong with their parents.
These parents belong outside the USA.
They can leave any time they want,
together --
straight back to the other side of the border.
7
None of these suggested actions will result in the immediate rescue and care of those being tortured, abused and traumatized.
The citizenry largely has been made impotent, and there is no effective representation across government right now.
The International Red Cross, the UN, and international NGOs must be allowed immediate access to all Trump concentration camps.
This must be fully exposed to the full gaze of the world.
Nancy Pelosi had better take immediate action to start impeachment proceedings, or she and her elderly compatriots in the House Democratic leadership will wear this guilt around their necks, as well.
Unless all agents of government: elected and appointed, contracted or directly employed, are taking action to rescue every interned victim, each and every one is guilty of perpetuating this atrocity.
5
This opinion piece reflects how out of touch the NYT is with middle America. There is no illegal immigration crisis? Seriously? We wouldn't be talking about detention conditions if there weren't a crisis. And oppose ICE raids? They are only conducting the raids to deport individuals who have a final deportation order entered against them. Why should they be allowed to stay when a court has ruled they should be deported? Mainstream America is upset by the conditions but they are self imposed by those who try to enter the country illegally. We have a process for immigrating and it needs to be followed until Congress changes it.
30
I encourage all of you to write your congressional representative, Senator, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader McConnel and the White House to demand they treat these children with the compassion they would want their own to be treated. These are helpless children!
7
And now you see the outcome of two generations of leftists stressing the differences and refusing to support assimilation.
I grew up in a neighborhood of Sicilian immigrants. Their kids were raised to be Americans, through and through. English on the street, English in the house as much as possible. Baseball, US flags, all of it. And my Sicilian buddies were as American as anybody else.
Same for the family I married into. Different ethnicity, same assimilation.
But not the same for the modern crop of “woke” activists. Oh no. They’ve been adamantly opposed to assimilation since at least the Clinton years. I called it Balkanization when I was at state school, because that’s what it was. Everybody demanding their own insulated place. Heck, I was waiting for someone to demand their own water fountains. No whites need drink here.
Well, that’s not such a good idea, because you’ve trained generations of conservatives to be more insular rather than less. Instead of teaching people how we’re the same, and sharing spaces, you taught them to stress the differences. Even worse, you’ve taught them to cling to the differences and to oppose assimilation.
And now you’ve got a poisoned environment. This long predates Trump and it’s not uni-directional. With both sides dug in deep to their own isolationism and vilifying the other, did you really expect anything good to come of it?
21
If you believe children should be with their parents and not in cages, vote for Democrats. Vote for reasonable Republicans.
Don't vote for Trump. Trump supports children in cages, that much is now clear.
7
@Mr. Adams
When has it not been clear? I think it's taken Americans a long time to recognize the cancerous hate growing up in their midst.
2
The Democrats have lost my vote over the issue of illegal aliens*, and they won’t win it back until they stop the histrionics, obstructionism, aiding and abetting, and subversive offers of sanctuary and subsidized healthcare to the brazen millions who have no right to be here.
For a change, how about lending your support to the defense of our taxpaying citizenry, our sovereign borders, and our rule of law.
*(And no, these people are NOT “undocumented”. They’re very much documented....as the citizens of other countries).
31
@Michaela
How can you support Trump and even utter the phrase "rule of law"? Seriously!
And it's not particularly American, in any of the noble senses of that adjective, to say that those people only have a right to be where they or their children are likely to be murdered. You won a genetic crapshoot being born here. Why than makes your life more precious than a Honduran, or you more willing to extend compassion to one human than another, is beyond me. I suppose the key word may be "taxpaying": it's all money all the time in this country.
For the umpteenth time to comments like this: it is legal to seek asylum in America.
It is illegal to obstruct justice in America.
You prefer the latter to the former and vote that way, and somehow do not drown in the irony. George Washington once toasted to the hope that America would always "be a refuge to the persecuted of the earth." He wasn't perfect, Washington, not by a long shot; but this was the best of him. But who needs Washington? We have Trump, that compassionate intellectual and statesmen, and all his willing dupes.
7
Thanks to the Editorial Board for publishing this useful article. This seems like it might actually represent a response to the outcries in the comments on Charles Blow's recent column on the phrase "concentration camps" for the NYT to offer concrete avenues for action and organization. Whether or not that was the catalyst, this piece serves a need.
Now it's up to us to do everything we can. If only dragging Trump from the White House and Senate Republicans out of the Capitol in chains were also on the menu. But we can start with targeted donations, nonstop demonstrations, and mass civic engagement in 2020.
2
I am horrified beyond belief at the separation and treatment of immigrant children coming into our southern border. The reports I am seeing are absolutely unbelievable - they are perverse in their cruelty. Why are these children being held in these conditions, seemingly with no real adult supervision or care, no sanitation, and inadequate food and bedding? Why are they being held longer than is permissible under the Flores Settlement? Most importantly - why are they being separated and held in detention at all?
In my mind, this constitutes a crime against humanity, a term I do NOT use lightly. These children (and their families) and permanently harmed by this treatment. How much longer must this go on?
Please Congress, make correcting this a priority of the highest order. These are children. What could they possibly have done to deserve this?
5
Exactly who is responsible for putting children in this situation in the first place? There's plenty of 'mistreatment' to go around.
16
@Teller
Trump. It's his adminsitration that (a) concocted and then (b) enacted these separation policies.
11
This is a clear example not only of Donald Trump's moral penury, but everyone that voted for him, supports him, attends his rallies, stays in his hotels and country clubs, buy his merchandise, or enriches him in anyway shape or form. His actions also stand as a monumental indictment of every member of the GOP that not only doesn't stand up to him, but abets him in the mental and physical torture of innocent children.
Then again, we are wringing our hands over the treatment of these children, when there are currently over 2,500,000 homeless children living on the street in this country right now. And the modern GOP has done everything in it's power to see that they remain that way. Cold, starving, impoverished. This is not an "oversight" or an "accident", it is done with malice and intent.
Now, what do you call a group of people like that? Calling them "monsters" hardly seem to capture the extent of their abject cruelty.
Every one of these tortured little souls stands as a clear indictment of who and what Donald Trump and the GOP really are.
16
Republican politicians – mostly all outwardly pious – should be offended and enraged at what is happening to these children, but they are not, at least not enough to be vocal and speak out against this outrage. It wasn’t that many years that they flaunted the saying “what would Jesus do?”, and some of them actually meant and lived by the saying.
But taking their cue from Trump and a significant white nationalist, anti-immigrant base, not to mention the Sean-Ann-Rush-Laura-Glenn and similar conservative talk show hosts, these GOP politicians uniformly remain mute to the most offensive policies of Trump, even those directed at children. Whatever happened to “Let the children come…”? Inconvenient, not politically feasible, and gone by the board of these hypocrites.
3
Yes, vote, vote, vote. Disgustingly, Trump and his Republican ilk/base are probably celebrating reports & comments about this situation as being free advertising to ward off any further attempt at migration. They'd probably also react with surprise that treatment should be otherwise. Frustratingly, the representative for my voting district is one of those Republicans who pander to the ignorant rural portion of the population and get elected. People have attempted to contact him, and he's brazenly denied ever being informed of it. Meanwhile, survey studies show that the majority of citizens have never wanted Republican Party domination and policies. The problem has been that this majority has not voted, while the Cult of Trump Personality (formerly registered Republicans) fanatically vote, thereby producing basically default "winners." Maybe the record turnout of voters in 2018 has shown a turnaround of this trend--I hope. Spot-on, with the NYT, Sanders has stated that his main campaign strategy is to get out the vote, especially when citizens are reminded of what they most want but still don't get from Republican lies or not voting.
1
Thank you for writing this piece. Trump's immigration policy decisions and rhetoric are nothing short of disgusting. Trump has sullied our history as a refuge for the persecuted, degraded our moral standing in the world. He has proven himself to be morally bankrupt.
The man shamelessly used 'chain migration' to slip his wife's parents in as citizens while yelling to his Twitter followers about the criminal hordes trying to enter. The man pretends to care about families yet holds those families in cages and denies them basics like soap, medicine and sufficient food.
Enough!
10
This is our moment to be on the correct, moral side, or to be complicit in atrocities carried out against children. There is no gray area here. Thank you to the New York Times for offering ways to effect change. It does little good to say you don't approve of this horrendous treatment of children if you have not backed up the sentiment with action.
4
Trump will always be known to have used and mistreated children at the border to punish them to for coming to our border. We do need to be sure who is coming to America but punishing children is not right, period.
4
As a retired teacher, I think caravans of teacher armed with book, soap, and toothpaste should go to the border, put on our teacher faces and use our teacher voices to say this will stand. We will not allow children in our country to not have access to nutritious food, decent living conditions, safe surroundings and education.
10
Some Border Patrol facilities are currently more than double their capacity (remember Democrats blocked funds for more detention beds, so they alone are causing this crises), as nearly 90,000 migrants families from Honduras and Guatemala — and 33,000 unaccompanied minors from those countries — have been apprehended in the first six months of this year. While the vast majority of the minors apprehended receive medical care, are fed, cleaned, and clothed, and are assigned a case worker, these overcrowded and often understaffed holding facilities are causing serious health concerns. Not every child can receive a hotel bed with room service. Get real.
20
As reported, the treatment of immigrant children at the border by the American government constitutes child cruelty. That is a felony in most or all states. That's a high crime. Trump is in charge of it. The Constitution tells Congress what to do next.
7
@Clark Landrum Remember Democrats blocked funds for more detention beds, so they alone are causing this crises, and they alone should be impeached.
10
The problem is an ignorant policy is being enforced with no effective aim. I was racially profiled by the police Friday night. I was by my apartment building when a police car stopped in front of me. The policeman on the passenger's side asked my name. I asked why he needed to know. He said someone was looking for a friend and they thought it was me. Hmmmm. A bit vague--what made them think I was the "friend" -- I am not white --so fair game I guess. Nice of police to take time from their crucial duties to locate "friends".
1
In this nation’s history chattel slavery and Native American genocide stand as this nation greatest dishonors. Japanese internment in the 20th century, and in the 21st century and the human tragedy on the southern border created by inhume incompetence will leave even more stains on America’s soul. Whether we can ever recover our humanity and earn a true sense of honor is what is at stake in the years, and elections, to come.
2
This is all the playing out of an old policy prevention by deterrence of Clinton 1994 which maximizes deaths by forcing migrants to route through the desert. It has already killed approximately 7000. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/29/opinion/migrant-crisis.html?searchResultPosition=2
Recently the government has taken to arresting those who provide aid. Scott Warren of no more deaths was released following a mistrial.
1
I have no problem following your prescriptions of education, activism, donation and voting. My problem continues to be with those who trade these democratic resolutions with ignorance, apathy, fear, hatred and resentment. Both parties get to vote, only one does so with compassion and solutions in mind.
3
@Rick Gage Just 10 days ago the Democrats in the House refused to vote on $3billion in humanitarian aid for the border.
13
All the actions suggested are necessary and valuable. But will they change anything? Here's an alternative: massive, nonviolent groups standing between the immigrants about to be arrested and separated from their children and willing to risk their lives and certainly their comforts in the process. Not carrying signs or shouting slogans...just, through their actions, saying: NO!
143
@Stephen Kurtz,
Extremely well said. I believe your proposed solution is the only one that will work. The Republicans will never stop this practice unless we are willing to risk our own safety and security to stop it.
8
It isn’t Congress standing in the way of fixing this, it’s Republicans in Congress. Big difference!
3
I would add, check Politifact often. In defense of monstrous policies, Fox News tells falsehoods, confuses everyone, and makes it impossible for us to agree on the facts.
For example, Trump and Fox News say Obama had a separation policy and Trump is bringing families together. In fact, "The Obama administration did not have a policy to separate families arriving illegally at the border. Family separations rarely happened under the Obama administration, which sought to keep families together in detention. Then, based on a court decision, it released families together out of detention. Separations under Trump happened systematically as a result of his administration’s policy to prosecute all adults crossing the border illegally. asylum seekers do not show up for their hearings."
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/jun/21/donald-trump/donald-trump-again-falsely-says-obama-had-family-s/
In addition, Fox News and Trump says asylum seekers do not show up for hearings. In fact, 60 to 75 percent of non-detained migrants have attended their immigration court proceedings, and under an Obama-era program in which asylum seekers were matched with case managers, they had a 100 percent attendance record. (Trump ended that program in June of 2018.)
https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2018/jun/26/wolf-blitzer/majority-undocumented-immigrants-show-court-data-s/
Trump is engaging in horrendous child abuse that cannot be blamed on anyone but Trump et al.
23
Yeah it’s hard to show up for your hearing when you aren’t told when and where to be. Funny how that works.
The President’s sweeping characterization of Latin American immigrants as drug smugglers, job stealers and violent criminals is self serving, fear mongering and abhorrent, not to mention inaccurate. However; the NYT’s relentless characterization of “the Republicans” and “the Whitehouse” as being the evil architects of this humanitarian crisis is irresponsible and also inaccurate. The policies that enabled these atrocities were enacted by a Democratic administration with the blessing of both Republican and Democratic congressional support. I agree that voters need to get involved to ensure that fair, secure and economically sustainable immigration policies are enacted, funded and enforced - without the frenzy of media induced vilification and self righteous politicization. It used to be that journalists could be counted on to spearhead the dialogue required for that. Not anymore and sadly, certainly not in the NYT.
7
The media can certainly help too by calling out this president on statements that he has made about immigration as ‘lies’ rather than ‘falsehoods’, ‘untruths’ and ‘fabrications’.
Yesterday on NBC’s Meet the Press, anchor Chuck Todd frequently interrupted Trump’s lies.
When this happens, print media should do more than to have fact checkers deem a statement ‘false’. call it what is is, a lie.
Perhaps Trump’s base doesn’t care if he lies but most Americans do care.
9
I've contacted my representatives and senators so many times now. What I get is form letters in return.
All of us have Trump supporters in our lives. Be it family, "friends," or colleagues, they need to be accountable. If you confront them, they follow a script they learned from Fox News. They will lie, label and gaslight you, and ask "why do you liberals hate Trump so much?" Arm yourself with information and truth.
Tell them exactly what you think of their lies and support of Trump's cruelty. Don't pull any punches, and don't back down. You are better off without them; the reverse is seldom true, because you are more thoughtful and genuine, and they need you more than you need them.
7
@Just Live Well
Look up the movie...
"The brainwashing of my dad"
Please put Trump and all those that signed the documents to okay this agenda to separate children from their parents or caregivers, and all those who come here and comment in favour of these medieval torture methods, inside those cages for at the very least 48 hours. Sometimes people can't understand things unless they experience it themselves. Other times they severely lack a conscience.
1
The death marches of Native Americans, the California governor's expressed wish to exterminate all "Indians," the lynchings, the slavery, the tens of thousands of civilian murders by firearm, the aggressive supremacist militias...this is not alien to American culture, it is a baked-in element of it, and we who cherish tolerance and equality have been fighting it even since before the Constitution was written. Sometimes it's against foreigners (Italians, Jews, Eastern Europeans, Japanese, Chinese), and sometimes against homegrown elements. We know how to defeat these hateful groups; we've done it before and often.
3
June 24, 2019
There's no excuse unless our Chief is a Draconian tyrant that seeks to impress his distorted understanding of his electorate as a welcoming dark and sinister tactics that are right for America's reputation domestically and internationally, but especially of neighbors - as invaders- So who is Trump's mind is being mistreated our nation of those that enter without the decency of requesting permission and the legal process.
1
Step by step, raid by raid, Trump is transforming ICE into his own Gestapo. We're at the point where federal employees need to choose whether a job is worth their soul. In a heavily armed nation, we're rapidly approaching the point of no return.
18
Thank you, thank you. There are too many of us wringing our hands with feelings of uselessness. For how long now have we been aghast at the cruelty and amorality of this administration, yet feel powerless? For those of us who go to church or synagogue or mosque, we must speak up and insist on action. After all, does it not start first with compassion and love? For those evangelicals who say they are “pro-life” and followers of Christ, make them aware that their stand against “illegal aliens” is complicit in Trump’s utter violation of universal human rights. Shame them. And above all, shame our politicians. Pressure Mr. McConnell and his sycophants from Susan Collins to Lindsey Graham. Make them aware that their president is nothing less than a dictator wanna-be ever closer to the ilk of his friends, Putin, Kim, and MBS. Let us never forget that but for the fortune of fate, those refugee children could be ours, their parents us. On second thought, those Central American children are ours. We are connected in our humanity, are we not?
12
@Kathy Lollock Well said, and thank you (to you and the editorial board) for laying out a course of action rather than (just) outrage. I am so worn down by rage and despair. Thank you for an antidote.
5
I called my Representative this morning but these children need to be put into a safe environment now, they can't wait. What I would like to know is what is happening right now while agreeing that support and action is needed. America, we are in a horrible and dangerous place right now. Anyone that supports this administration is as bad as them, no more excuses.
7
Trump's behavior embodies the actions of a sociopath. A sociopath has no sense, awareness of concern regarding the importance of moral consciousness or human empathy. No matter which political party, religion or cultural background an American citizen associates with, as human beings we understand and recognize people who are morally bankrupt. The current occupant of the Oval Office time and time again exhibits the voice and actions that are blatantly morally bankrupt. WE THE PEOPLE, must speak out, act and remove ANY and ALL government leaders who support these abhorrent policies. NOW!
16
@Leslie374. Actually, a review of the 20 factor clinical test for psychopathy reveals that Trump is a psychopath.
See. http://www.minddisorders.com/Flu-Inv/Hare-Psychopathy-Checklist.html
2
What enrages me the most is that this cruelty against CHILDREN has only one goal: to fulfill Trump's personal ambitions and greed.
10
I hope that D. Trump, and all of those who signed off on these decisions to separate children from their families, placing them in these dire, dangerous conditions, are charged with crimes against humanity.
I also hope that the Trump base wakes up today to see the hatred inside of them and what this negative energy has become. From farmers committing suicide, to the daily anxiety of non-white people, to the non-white people who have been killed by Trump supporters, could it possibly go lower? It has, children taking care of children in horrible conditions.
Wake up Trump supporters. He and his gang do not care about you. They feed (make money) off of your hatred.
28
I live in New York's Second Congressional District. Our Congressman is Peter King, America's Catholic Hypocrite in Chief. Peter King posts pictires of himself with his priests and monseignors, while he is leading the charge to incite fear and hate toward immigrants from the white contituents who prfess their adoration of him. So people ike myself in my congressional district can only wait to see what happens.
4
The majority of Christians and Pro Life activists turn a blind eye to the abuse of these children. Once again, these groups have demonstrated they don't act on 'values'. They're motivated by prejudice and seek justification for their actions in the remote corners of the Bible rather than the words of Jesus Christ.
18
@David
As a Christian, I take offense at your statement. How did you come to your conclusion about "a majority of Christians"? Please don't lump me in with people who don't care about this issue.
1
@David
As a Christian, I take offense at your statement. How did you come to your conclusion about "a majority of Christians"? Please don't lump me in with people who don't care about this issue.
1
@David
NOT a majority of Christians: a majority of Evangelical Protestant Christians. This single branch of Christianity, which did not exist until the faith as a whole had been flourishing for some 1500 years, insists that its adherents alone should be called Christians— and by some combination of ignorance and laziness, far too many in the American media comply.
It’s as though Californians insisted that they alone should be called Americans. Please do not indulge too many Evangelicals’ unhistorical and manifestly inaccurate self-presentation by making their mistake.
1
Thank you NYT to remind us about this unspeakable tragedy. I am outraged and feel shameful that I am not doing anything. Is there some planned demonstrations in Boston where I live? This is pure hatred (of immigrants in the current xenophobic climate of this administration), lie (Obama bears responsibility according to Trump???) and cruelty (sleep deprivation, no hygiene, squalid physical and psychological conditions). With this, the US is definitely loosing any right to defend democracy and human rights anywhere in the world. This is unfortunately approaching Nazi Germany behavior (concentration camps and an indifferent general population)
8
These centers holding undocumented children are concentration camps. This president and his Justice Department see nothing wrong with putting Hispanic infants and children in cages. Their own attorneys are shocked at the notion that these children might need soap.
Every single American should be sickened by this. But only half of us are. Trump voters absolutely love it. After all, their president told them that neo-Nazis and the KKK were very fine people. And setting up concentration camps for brown-skinned babies has earned him their undying devotion. This one act of this "president" explains the loyalty of his base. Trump voters have been waiting for a leader who would by his words and deeds show them that as whites they are the only "real" Americans, and that the rest of us should know our place.
The operation of these concentration camps will continue not because of Trump, but because of his voters. Every Republican in the Senate understands that Trump's base may not be crossed -- to do so would be political suicide.
And to show how far we've fallen, the NY Times is telling us to be sure to vote in the next election. So are we to understand that this is a proper subject to vote on, when selecting a candidate? That it is fine for Republicans to do so, as long as they get the majority of votes? Or that the Electoral College may select someone who has made the cornerstone of his presidency the targeting of brown-skinned people? Is this what we've become as a nation?
7
@Kyle Reese
The US can't afford umlimited illegal immigration.
The US allows 1,000,000 new immigrants every year.
These families are illegally entering the US.
They have no righ to ask for asylum.
They do not qualify. They are not being persecuted.
We don't have the funds to keep them comfy at the border.
Where are we going to get the money to send the children to scholl and pay for health care for all the illegal immigrants.
We need to refuse entry to all illegal immigrants and fake asylum seekers.
This is reality.
38
@Peter,
These children have broken no law. And the vast majority of their parents haven't, either. But somehow you believe that there is some justification for putting these children in cages. I am literally shocked that anyone would believe this ok.
5
@Peter Soap and a toothbrush would be "keeping them comfy?" Wow.......
3
There are only two things that will work to change things at this point:
General strikes that grind the economy to a halt.
Rebellion.
Both of these things are very painful. I see no sign Americans have the appetite to inflict such pain on themselves, so I expect the most we'll see are the ineffective actions recommended in this article. Those will do nothing. The only thing that will move the Republicans is pain.
8
@617to416
That’s absolutely correct. And there’s not a prayer Americans understand how to do that or how effective it would be. In fact, if anybody tried, they would be pilloried by the right for sedition and treason. The zombies among them would believe it and think the United States was under attack internally. Then the arrests would begin and the new Civil War would be in full fury. It would be wonderful if we had the courage. We don’t. Along with those abused children, we will pay the price too.
2
Just another chaotic presidential policy that hurts people regardless of age. Just another anxiety producing abusive awful day in America. Every single day we delay impeachment proceedings we risk more lives worldwide because this incompetent terrible man. I am ashamed of my country.
4
The thing that these children need most is the love and connection with their mother, father, or other family member that loves them unconditionally. Nothing we can do will ever replace what this president and his sick administration have done to these poor children and babies. It is disgusting, shameful, and abusive. It is not Christian; it is not American; and it is not decent. We as a people need to vote this psychopathic president and his psychopathic sycophants out of office in 2019, 2020 and every year thereafter. As a mother of three young adult children - it is absolutely unconscionable what this president and his administration have done to these innocent babies and children and no amount of good care can ever even come close to the care their mother or father or family was giving to them prior to being ripped away from them. They will be forever emotionally traumatized and scarred for life. Some will be able to someday move forward from this humanitarian crisis. Many will not.
20
Sorry, the cruelty and inhumanity of these concentration camps have nothing to do with "immigration reform" and everything to do with Trump's and the Republicans' racist and ignorant policies. Who is it who's blocked any kind of meaningful immigration reform, anyway? Even when George W. Bush tried to push immigration reform through Congress, the Republicans wouldn't pass it.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration/senate-kills-bush-immigration-reform-bill-idUSN2742643820070629
Please stop with the "both sides-ism" and start putting the blame squarely on the GOP where it belongs.
8
@LaylaS
Oh, I didn't realize Obama, who as the article correctly states, was the "deporter in chief" due to his legislation regarding immigration was an Republican!
Typical Dem - its them!, its them! Not us! (hey - let's not talk about our role in the immigration mess - let's people believe we are innocent! - we know it's not true but shhhhhh!)
Ridiculous
6
Or simply send them home.
15
@AutumnLeaf
the best idea yet
5
A thought or two.
https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Contact_Us/report_abuse.asp
https://dcs.az.gov/report-child-abuse
Yes of course I will and have donated, educated myself and will continue to speak up.
I am truly ashamed to be an American. This is being done by my/our government.
2
I just donated to Raices and the ACLU and volunteered to travel to a concentration camp to volunteer. Will participate in a vigil July 12. This treatment of children, families, and all human beings at the border is a crime against humanity.
2
Here's what YOU should do about, NYTimes. Get in there and get pictures. Better yet, get video.
The start calling for people to be put in jail for child abuse.
Or doesn't the story get enough clicks?
2
This is state terror, nothing less. Vocabulary is important. Using it to soften the truth may curry favor with certain demographics r the status quo — but it is a departure from the truth.
Children are not being "mistreated", they are being terrorized.
They are being subjected to this child abuse specifically to traumatize them and their parents.
Some have been sexually abused. Some have died without explanation, some are simply "missing". This means anything could have happened, we'll never know.
It is intentional and the goal of it is to spread the stories of abuse and trauma throughout the hispanic community.
The bigotry against americans of hispanic descent is in no way subtle. The racism has been overt for three years now — even if the constant lying about it continues.
It doesn't matter if some hispanic americans are still Republicans. There were Jews working for the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto — Japanese americans working with the government in the internment camps. Those two metaphors are not where we are going, they are were we have already arrived.
The crimes being committed now are being done in our name. They will take years to prosecute and justice for those wronged will never be achieved — even if we stop now.
Like the planned mass raid announced for the weekend, and then the sickening reprieve, physical and psychological abuse is designed to wear the victims down into a passive state.
This is not "Mistreatment" this is terror, a tactic of war.
9
"Concentration camps," immigrant children dying: this is the Trump immigration policy and it screams for moral outrage over what must be considered "crimes against humanity." And crimes committed upon the most innocent and helpless among us--children. We had torture under Bush and now have regressed again into barbarity not seen since the Second World War with little children dying because of the cruel xenophobia of a demagogue and his all too "willing accomplices" in the Republican Party. I'm speaking up. I'm screaming! I'm bearing witness once again as I did for my lost Holocaust family members under another atrocity. This is a "high crime." It should be an article of impeachment. How much shredding of our Constitution can we allow before our democracy is lost to authoritarian rule? Where's Nancy?
5
Conspicuously absent from the Times's coverage of the crisis at our southern border is the importance of helping impoverished people control the number of children they have.
8
Thank imaginary God for caring for these children and their parents. How lucky they are to have arrived at freedom's door, only to be incarcerated, and in the care of America's (in)humanity.
This sadistic malignant. stable genius, only locks up the BAD Latinos. We were a great nation because of who we were.
3
What is being done to these children’s bodies is horrific but what is being done to their MINDS is absolutely unthinkable. The Trump administration clearly knows nothing about the long lasting effects of cruelty, neglect, abandonment, and mistreatment. We are traumatizing these children.
How did we as a country get to a place where human beings are being treated worse than animals? This is not momentary suffering that is being created. The suffering will be lifelong. I do not recognize us anymore. We have truly lost our way.
Thank you NY Times for giving us names of worthy organizations for donations. This is a forever stain on the history of The United States. It is ineffably heartbreaking.
4
@Kathryn
You're wrong in that the administration is not ignorant — they know the cruelty is horrible that's exactly the point they want to make! Stay away from the border or we'll do horrible things to you and your children — that is the policy and it's purpose! There's no mask over this face.
4
Both parties have had the majority of Congress in the last 30 years or so, from the last immigration amnesty. There must be some incentive in allowing this problem to continue. They both use immigration and don’t do anything about it. Why? Put an end to it already. The Citizens of this country demand a resolution, immediately!
7
@MC Astoria
The last amnesty worked. It was the policy of Reagan and the Republican party. Immigrants were given green cards, social security numbers, driver's licensces, registered to vote. They then took out mortgages paid taxes and stabilized the local economies bringing greater growth and prosperity with them. Amnesty is the solution to all the problems here except one — racism. That's why they don't want a second amnesty, not because it didn't work but exactly the opposite, in their eyes it worked too well. They didn't stay marginalized, couldn't be victimized, stood up and had their voices heard, participated in our democracy! Republicans don't want democracy because they can't win an election fairly.
1
My bad. Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler is the Congressional ducking runner. Senator Cantwell is a star in my book.
This absurd editorial says nothing about trying to eliminate this catastrophe at its principal source -- Central America. If we take no action to alleviate the suffering there we could follow these Times suggestions & still end up with millions of tormented refugees at the border. Meanwhile, Trump has done exactly the opposite of what's needed by reducing or eliminating aid to the suffering populations of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Editorial writers, think again.
4
Why is the New York Times siding with illegal border crossers and phony asylum seekers against U.S. law enforcement? I find it unbelievable that you have actually joined in the resistance and are encouraging the blocking of enforcement of our immigration laws by publishing the names of these anti-enforcement organizations. It is because of these organizations, this publication and others in the media, the Democratic Party, cheap labor employers, and liberal judges, that entire towns in Central American countries are emptying out and making the journey here. Most Americans don’t realize that gang violence and poverty do not qualify someone for asylum.
It is unfortunate that migrants are being housed in less than desirable conditions, but our border officials and facilities have been overwhelmed.
Our border needs to mean something. Otherwise, there is no law, there is no government, there is no order. Every day people like you make our country less able to be governed, our laws less likely to be respected.
23
Mike Pence and the Trump administration's rabid anti-abortion stance and it's supposed care for children is entirely belied by the border policy. The policy is cruelty. Period.
5
The treatment of these children is nothing less than a Crime Against Humanity. In a perfect world Trump would be in front of the World Court at the Hague.
6
It is a national embarrassment on the United States. You all make yourselves ugly,
Treaties have been settled, and conventions adopted for handling refugees and undocumented entrants to a country. The originating causes can only be resolved in the countries of origin. Still there is a crucial obligation that has been overlooked. Crimes against humanity have been committed; especially the most vulnerable, women and children. There will come a time when these offenses will be addressed.
4
We are no longer a decent nation. And many sadly applaud that.
7
Sadly, the online template mentioned in this article addresses the threat of ICE raids and does not address the inhumane detention practices ICE is exercising on vulnerable children.
Also, my Congressional representative is refusing to accept email using this template form. Along with her pattern of refusing to debate, appear in town halls, or respond to citizens' concerns, Maria Cantrell is ducking and running. Again.
1
Thank you for your excellent article and suggestions. Please continue to keep this in the public eye and continue to give suggestions for taking actions. We will be following some of your suggestions!
3
If trump can propose reallocating Congressionally-approved funds for the Pentagon to build a ridiculous wall, he can do the same to relieve the child neglect that his policies are causing.
Just like the Pentagon funds, the money is out there, already approved by Congress, and trump's attempt to blame Democrats in Congress is deflection and distraction. He needs only order a transfer of funds from one or more agencies' budgets to those running the humanitarian catastrophe he created at the border.
7
I am no fan of Trump but this situation would exist with any administration. Migrants are aware of "catch and release," aware that they can remain in this country even after their asylum requests are rejected, and know that because of sheer numbers it is highly likely that DACA will reopen for their children. So of course they are arriving at the border in record numbers. The detention centers were never intended to deal with the numbers of people who are there and continue to arrive daily.
Surely the EB doesn't believe that everyone showing up at the border should be allowed into the country and the law says children cannot be "jailed" with their parents, so what does the EB propose the Administration do? Marching, vigils and complaints do not solve a lack of bathing facilities and cases of head lice.
43
@Lynn in DC right on! Finally someone writing something that makes sense.
And not a single recommendation here for how Congress should proceed to protect our borders. This editorial is a magnificent feat of cowardice.
Come out and say your position: Traveling with a child should be a “get into the USA free” card. That’s your position, have the courage to state it in black and white.
Catch and release does not work. Those who are caught do not show up for asylum hearings. The only way to stop the influx short term is an actual wall.
The only way to stop the influx long term is nation building. That includes the annihilation of the violent gangs that have these people on the run. Then the imposition of a functional governing structure and probably a generation of oversight until a functioning polity is restored.
Instead you dance around the fact that poverty and generalized violence have never been grounds for asylum, which is limited to ethnic, religious or political criteria. The applicant has to be on the run because someone is trying to kill them because of their background, political affiliation, church, those kinds of criteria. Getting away from the local mafia has never been specific enough. Widespread poverty also does not qualify.
Don’t argue with me. Argue with the law as it actually exists. The law is the law. Don’t like it? Change it.
And have the courage to openly state that you are advocating for a wide open border. This dancing around it is ridiculous.
51
@A Contributor
If you truly believe standing up for children is cowardice then something is wrong. Your point of view is topsy turvy to the world's view that protecting children is fundamental to civil behaviour, ALL children, regardless of where they come from.
16
I don't think it's cowardice to focus on the fact that the current system for dealing with undocumented immigrants is subjecting them to abuse far beyond what the bounds of human decency can tolerate, without necessarily proposing an alternative. America's immigrant detention centers are a house that someone lit on fire because they didn't like the color of the paint, reasonable people are suggesting "hey, we should put this fire out as soon as possible, by any means necessary," and you're yelling "coward! why won't you address the issues of ugly paint? Why won't you talk about how you actually want to keep the same paint color?"
Even if the only alternative to shutting up children in squalor and literally neglecting many of them death IS opening America's borders, are you actually telling me you think opening the borders is the worse option? Are you actually telling me that you think we should ignore profound suffering and death in order to make sure we legislate it all properly the way you'd like. Putting out the fire is far more urgent than deciding on paint color. Stopping these atrocities is far more urgent than legislating immigration policy. good god.
1
@WW What you are describing is a charity, not how a border is protected or how a govt is run. The US govt is not running a charity.
9
Shame.
End This is what the ICE/CPB officers must feel when they go home to their families. This must be stealing their humanity drop by drop. How else could they do this job? They will never wash off this stink.
5
I can't believe this is what the NYT editors suggest to 'fix the immigration problem'.
-Assist people here illegally by conspiring against ICE
-Donate to open border and/or sanctuary groups.
You are just making the problem worse by making even more likely people will live here illegally.
47
The border situation and handling is the same today as during the Obama Administration. The Democrats in the Congress refused to vote for $3billion in humanitarian aid for the border two weeks ago. But hey, if it fits the all Trump all the time NYT then run an editorial in absence of news.
19
Kudos to the NYT for not only calling on its readers to resist the steady slide of our country into the realm of barbarism but for using it's Editorial Page as an organ of active resistance.
9
The Editorial Board should redirect its anger over child separation to Judge Dolly Gee of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. In 2015, Judge Gee ruled accompanied children must be treated the same as unaccompanied children. They can no longer be held in custody with their parents as they were in previous decades. They must be sent to Health and Human Resources childcare. Judge Gee’s ruling is the reason migrant children are separated from their parents.
13
The facts are 100k are people a month showing up at the border demanding to be let in. Get let in because of loopholes in our laws, even though of 90% of their claims historically get rejected and yet virtually none will ever get removed. And the NYT doesn't think this is a crisis or even a problem, that IS the real problem. How a serious center-left paper has become a de facto open border supporter. Start blowing up the balloons for the Trump reelection campaign because as many picture of sad children in detection as you publish to try and sway opinion most Americans understand the need for borders and immigration rules.
30
@Todd You seem to have not read this opinion piece. It explicitly states that comprehensive immigration reform is urgently needed. Most Americans do not support the mistreatment of children; the conditions in these detention centers have widely been described as child abuse. You are in the minority of the population that mindlessly accepts child abuse as a political tool.
4
Even as you are writing these pieces the comments focus on illegal immigration and rightful deportation instead of the inhumane conditions of the retention camps. You might need to publish one piece a day to get enough people to finally read the actual article.
11
Story after story after story about the mistreatment of immigrants at our borders. Never a mention of the culpability of parents in opportunistically dragging children—often not their own and used as live bargaining capital—through this irresponsible and grueling ordeal; many of these parents, notably those who are not fleeing mortal danger, have made poor choices, and need to accept some responsibility for arriving at the border with sick children as well as for overwhelming detention facilities; they are breaking the law and cannot expect an open-arms welcome into the American Dream. Separating children from parents is inhumane and alternate solutions are available, but to aim endless editorial outrage on our country alone is to paint an incomplete, lopsided depiction of the facts and is counterintuitive to balanced journalism. One hundred years ago, just as today, families seeking refuge legally need not fear separation or inhumane conditions. To be even marginally fair, both sides are responsible for the plight and treatment of these children.
35
Thank you. Sometimes all we need are concrete facts about what we can do.
2
@Harvey Perr.
The US can't afford umlimited illegal immigration.
The US allows 1,000,000 new immigrants every year.
These families are illegally entering the US.
They have no righ to ask for asylum.
They do not qualify. They are not being persecuted.
We don't have the funds to keep them comfy at the border.
Where are we going to get the money to send the children to scholl and pay for health care for all the illegal immigrants.
We need to refuse entry to all illegal immigrants and fake asylum seekers.
This is reality.
14
Does anyone know how we can get cards or letters or even care packages to the kids? My children want to reach out to the interred children... I even know someone who could translate their letters into Spanish.
2
@Mama It is my understanding that care packages are not accepted at these detention centers. The inhumane conditions are not being caused by a lack of resources - they were intentionally designed to be punitive. We are spending $775 per night per child, and they are being forced to sleep on a concrete floor with no blanket, no toothpaste, no medical attention. The cruelty is the point.
10
This is a lovely thought, but our government will not even allow lawyers into these facilities unless ordered by a federal court. No cameras or reporters ever. These facilities have armed guards to prevent anyone except federal employees from entering. Not even state authorities are allowed in to see conditions. Your gifts would be thrown out.
These children are deliberately being abused for political purposes. Not because of lack of funding. The cruelty is the whole point.
7
"In fact, deporting immigrants who have exhausted their legal claims is not uncommon — President Obama, remember, was often referred to by immigration groups as “deporter in chief” — and the targets of these raids are not random."
According to the LA Times, the Obama statistics about "deportations" were highly misleading.
https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-deportations-20140402-story.html
A key sentence from this story:
"A closer examination shows that immigrants living illegally in most of the continental U.S. are less likely to be deported today than before Obama came to office, according to immigration data."
8
Would love to call my congressman AGAIN, but Chuck Fleischman, takes a note, sends a form letter and then checks with DJT to see what he should do then.
4
I will never help illegals to remain here, especially ones who have deportation orders in effect, this is just another excuse that the democrats us to never deport anyone at any time
19
Am I wrong, but do we simply have what are essentially prison guards overseeing very young children who are enclosed in what are essentially prison cells? With no one around who knows anything about the care of children--just men in uniforms with guns? This is mind boggling.
8
When do we simply take our feet to where these children are being abused and take them out? I hope people will continue to advocate for these children and their families, but I think the time has come for non-violent direction action to put an end to this abuse. I marched in D.C. a year ago and hoped it would bring change, and there was some movement, but our work is far from over and a year was more than enough time for politicians to get this right.
17
I read in Mr Blow’s piece (I think) that unrelated older girls were the only caregivers for a crying toddler in a detention facility.
This is an outrage beyond speech. This amoral cruelty is doing, has done, will do profound damage to America and Americans at home and abroad, not to mention to defenseless children whose only crime is dreaming that we might be better.
I am furious.
48
The late Canadian theologian Tom Harpur often talked about Biblical truth and commented the truth of the Bible is never about a moment in time or about a specific event. The Bible is allegorical truth and is true for all time.
The story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah has come come down through the ages as the most universally accepted interpretation of why Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.
There is little doubt that the cities defied the laws of Noah and well deserved destruction even as the cities were home to Abraham's relatives. The cities were condemned but every time He was to destroy the cities Abraham was able to get God to relent on his severe decree and the cities were spared.
Judaism teaches us the remedy to sin is sin no more and our salvation is the rejection of sin and living a righteous life. The Book of Jonah tells us of a God always willing to forgive us if we just turn away from wrong doing. Indeed there is nothing that pleases our God more than our turning away from wrong doing.
The question arose as to why the evil cities were destroyed when turning away from evil would bring joy to the world.
The sages tell us that the cities were destroyed not because they did evil but because they tried to justify doing evil.
The USA is not an evil country, most of its people try to bring justice and compassion into this world. Is trying to justify the unjustifiable reason enough to destroy a great nation and its people?
2
@Maria Ashot
When Reagan was President of the Screen Actors Guild he met regularly with G-Man Hoover to betray guild members. I had no way to see into his soul and still have no way of knowing if he was truly evil or as the expression goes the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
Reagan parlayed his new role of tv celebrity to a stint in the White House. We talk about the McCarthy era but McCarthy was just the tip of the iceberg and America lost many of its most creative and talented individuals in what was a real witch hunt.
Where is the outrage? I watched the outrage which came from men like Goldwater, Nixon, Bork, Thomas and Kavanaugh. The outrage was feigned and well rehearsed, leaving men and women of honour and courage incapable of defending themselves from a hate machine which knows how to distort and obfuscate.
I see and hear the outrage each and every day and your comment is a part of that outrage.
1
@Montreal Moe
The Good people of the USA have to do a whole lot more than they currently are to drive these fiends from power.
When the USA wrongly rounded up the Nisei and sent them to interment camps, families were held together and no ill child or non-verbal minor was bereft of the comfort of a loving touch from a devoted parent or relative. Nor were children kept in grubby clothes in kennel-like conditions, with no one even to clean them, and no basic amenities to clean themselves.
This is the USA, 2019! With the "King of US Hospitality" and Fake-Christian Pence in the White House! With a famous preacher's daughter, herself a mom, posing as WH "press secretary" for many months, having replaced "devout Catholic" Sean Spicer.
This is so profoundly Evil -- only possible name for it! -- I am surprised it is not on the agenda of the UN GA & SC yet. Seriously. The UN should just decamp for civilized Geneva & let NYC live without its business.
Someone should throw a black tarp over the Statue of Liberty. Ellis Island used to be a five-star resort & spa compared to what Trumps have done to Forcibly Orphaned children from neighboring countries!
Where's the outrage? Louder, please! Louder! Make Them Stop this disgrace!
3
Want no more ,stop them now ,close the border until we can control it. Petition the Democrats if you want to petition ,to stop the illegal invasion.The President is doing all he can against the in action in govenment.
15
@Alan Einstoss What exactly is he doing in this specific case? Young kids need care & love, not prison like camps!
3
@Maria Ashot Well , I've lived and worked in Laredo tx and Nogales Az. Ive had close friends for nearly twenty years who are undocumented with children.this recent mess was began by the Obama administration and Democrats in the last few years when they threw open the border and advertised asylum and the statistics only prove it. If you look at the pure complications we can't open the border completely and put everybody in the Ritz Carlton for the rest of their lives in legal limbo.It's either close it ,the best we can or get the Democrats ,who refuse to negotiate ,to make a comprehensive deal.anyway you cook it people who come here knowingly breaking the law have got to have consequences.Sad as it may seem.
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@Alan Einstoss
"Illegal invasion?"
He created this problem. Were there kids in cages without diapers or food or water or Kleenex or toothbrushes before? Nope.
This is a public health emergency, Alan Einstoss.
We did better for the Haiti internees at the time of the great AIDS scare. We did better for Nazi POWs in WW2!
How exactly do you imagine you "close" the Rio Grande? With duct tape? Or perhaps the same way you "turn Iran into a parking lot," as some of Bolton's friends imagine is actually possible?
Get out of your house and visit some borderlands. This is quite a big planet, when viewed from the size of a single human body. We can't "close" or "coerce" everything we disagree with.
Some people live in gated communities. Good for them. But they depend on everyone else who does not. Including me.
I don't often get my way in life. Why do you think you or Trump are going to always get yours?
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It is sooo easy to blame those in power... Those of us who have watched this country travel to emotional numbness with a calculated manipulation of daily tweets and drama shows performed almost weekly know that.
WE need to be ashamed of what we watch and dismiss or ignore. Yes, it is a cruel, sadistic and vicious treatment of young children.....Have you seen any massive marches to Congress or the White House? We claim to be appalled but our distaste is fairly measured and frankly, passive.
We have been successfully brainwashed into the impotence of exhaustion....We can all point fingers and listen to cable news do its daily dance of either anger or affirmation, depending on which channel you choose.......None of us are up and moving from our recliners to take our country back and make it whole and decent again
Until we let OUR anger grow, this will continue and we are creating yet anther generation of terrorists who will remember how we treated them and in our future, return the favor. We have only ourselves to blame.
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@Margot LeRoy Spot on!
We need to raise from our couches and armchairs!
Look what is happening in Hongkong and Prague!
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So the Times and democrats generally want open borders? Are opposed to deporting people who have exhausted all remedies and have legal deportation orders?
People come here, ask for asylum, are released into the country (the basic problem) and are rarely deported. And even if government tries, liberals are outraged. Then they have children and we have even more outrage about separating families.
Of course people are continuing to mass at the border. We do in fact have open borders.
I will never vote Republican but I am disgusted with Democrats.
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@Audaz Please separate the issue of a 'grand' immigration policy (which absolutely needs an overhaul) with how this administration is treating kids, some even being toddlers!
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I have asked the Dutch PM to invite the US Ambassador to the NEtherlands to come and explain the US government’s policy. I invite everybody in the Netherlands to do the same and urge everybody who feels this is a disgusting thing to be happening in the USA to be creative in their protest! Do not look for others to tell you what to do, think of something and protest!!
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@Pim
Great idea.
The world is watching the USA right now.
What an utter shame to see the country managed with such lack of compassion and respect for human rights.
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Have your children speak to your congressperson and senators.
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All of today's outrages were brought and paid for by a public and media that did not have the courage to stand up to power when....
Bush Jr lied us into war.
Building seven collapsed and no one knows about it.
The Clinton's expanded the prison population by a factor of eight.
The FDA made it illegal to sell whole milk to school children.
The repeal of Glass Steagall put thousands of families on the street.
33 countries are healthier than we are.
And much more. We are sheep and deserve what we get.
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Lots of left wing nonsense bluster here. My guess the story about the kids sleeping on cement is out of context and extremely uncommon, which reflects a standard technique of NYTimes editorials. Most/all of the pictures widely circulating showing that are from during Obama's administration. However, instead of donating to fake left winged politics and fraudulent legal support, donating directly to immigrants to enhance their living conditions when they are out of detention and waiting trail is a good idea. The large majority of the asylum claims are false, are rejected by the immigration courts and most will face deportation rulings. If they actually leave is another questions though. Most do not
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@sh
Just listen to the DoJ lawyer trying to argue the case when asked about sleeping on cement, and you will find it is not out of context.
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@sh
Please read before you spout poison. Inspectors and lawyers are reporting on this. It is far from nonsense. It is happening in your country and it is nothing to make fun of. Shame on you and the people who want to continue to live in denial. There must be a line drawn in the sand when it comes to the protection of children, all children, and if you do not understand this by now, you have lost your civility. Once that is gone in a country, everything goes downhill from there, as the entire world is observing in the USA.
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@Len
read the supporting article. trump's doj lawyer is defending obama's appeal and nowhere is there
a direct mention and quote for support of no toothpaste, soap or sleep on cement as a policy that should be commonly used. you are being fooled by the usual obfuscation.
Can we send coloring books, crayons, picture books, or ideally spanish-speaking books, toys to them. Certainly they don't have enough. Would it be unlawful?
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Migrants should not be heading to the US border to begin with to try their luck with "asylum" and "family separation" loopholes. None invited them, most will likely not qualify under asylum criteria. Congress need to act, it needs to work with Trump to close loopholes and ensure humane treatments for the genuine asylum seekers.
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@Observer
Asylum rejects are allowed to stay here as long as they report to ICE monthly and do not commit further crimes. This practice was reported in NYT a few months ago. This failure to deport people whose asylum claims are rejected coupled with the possibility of reopening DACA are the reasons why the migrants and their children keep coming.
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Why are the adults; the human traffickers and those who knowingly paid them to drag these children 1,000 miles through the desert through several countries not accountable for their reckless endangerment of these children?
The vast majority of these claims do not meet the standard for asylum and that is known before they reach the border.
Economic gain is not a reason for asylum and its certainly not a reason to endanger these children.
For no other violation of our laws do we just allow duly processed judgements to simply be ignored.
Why should people here in violation of immigration laws (along with other laws citizens are prosecuted for) be exempt from accountability and consequences?
People in these detention centers have chosen to come. They paid traffickers to bring them here and they can leave any time they want. And if they have endangered children, why are they blameless?
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Who said they were blameless? Why are we abusing children for the misdeeds of others???
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I am currently listening to radio station KPFA- Pacifica Radio (94.1-Berkeley, CA). Conditions described in detention camps are horrific:Meals of instant oatmeal served with a cookie and Koolaid,(the latter two served at every meal) head lice outbreaks and 7 year old children taking care of toddlers. Transporting toddlers on Texas highways in vehicles without mandated car seats. Also, revealed; there are over 2000 empty beds- and family members waiting to receive these children languishing at border control facilities.
When we come upon stray animals- we treat then better.
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Thank you NYTimes. So often I turn away from reading about yet one more atrocity that leaves me feeling powerless. Dedicating an editorial to concrete suggestions on how to respond in meaningful ways is brilliant. Please publish more features that give your readers guides on how to respond to events and situations that effect them.
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Where is Sen McConnell in this discussion? He has both responsibility and authority but is shirking both. Trump doesn’t mind taking the heat while McConnell makes sure the deeds get done - either by action or inaction. Right now it’s the latter.
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@AB It is true that Senator McConnell has the power to reign in Trump's war on Latin Americans, but he will not. Mitch McConnell is a rich, old, white, privileged and sanctimonious male--the very face of the obsolescing Republican Party. His presence in current American politics is dead weight, slowing down the progress of human rights. This impediment represents his only relevance, and the sooner his kind are pushed out of office, the better for all of us.
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