America’s Soul On the Line as Trump Moves to Set Up 4 Prison Camps for Babies and Toddlers

UPDATE: Under pressure from the entire country, Trump signed an executive order today, Wednesday, that is meant to keep families together at the border, halting a policy he instituted earlier this year.

NBC reports.

13 Governors Pull Back their National Guard Units from Border in Protest of Trump Child Separation Policy

Rachel Maddow wept openly on TV as she struggled to read the last report of her nightly broadcast on MSNBC last night, June 19. It was an AP story about how the Trump administration was moving to set up a 4th prison camp for hundreds of babies and toddlers in south Texas, euphemistically called “Tender Age Centers”.

Maddow’s empathy matched that of most of the country, as America reeled under the horrifying images and audio recordings of small children wailing for their parents -torn from their arms in the most despicable policy yet from the Trump administration.

In polls, two-thirds of Americans opposed the policy. All living First Ladies have also come out against it.

And in a dramatic turn that demonstrates just how quickly this abominable policy of “zero tolerance” has turned the nation against Trump, by last count, 13 governors – both Democrats and Republicans – have rescinded orders to send their state National Guard units or any resources used by them to the border region, all in protest of this authoritarian policy.

San Diegans will have our chance to show our outrage this weekend, as there are at least 2 protests being planned for downtown – one on Friday afternoon and one on Saturday (see below). National protests are also being planned for the end of the month around the country.

Photos are screen captures from MSNBC.

So, yes, the soul of America is on the line right now – in one of the most darkest periods of American history.

On Tuesday, Trump doubled down on the policy – a policy he could immediately end with a phone call – and once again claimed that babies and children had to be taken away from parents being arrested at the border. He said immigrants want to “infest” this country. His Secretary for Homeland Security Department, Kristjen Nielsen – when asked by reporters during a press conference ‘where are the girls and babies?’ – she claimed she didn’t know. Calls for her resignation flowed out of Congress. (Nielsen was actually chased out of a Mexican restaurant in DC by protesters later in the evening.)

Rachel Maddow reported by her count, our government is taking 70 kids away from their parents every day. Up to 2600 kids have been placed in child internment cages or camps since April; 500 just in the last 2 weeks.

Not only that, but the government is keeping the locations of these centers secret and only allowed photos and videos approved by the government to be released to news reporters. No photos or videos or girls or babies have been released.

On top of all this, it has become apparent that there is NO plan or procedure to re-unite kids and parents. Some parents have been deported back to their countries but without their children, and parents are being forced to locate their kids themselves.

Children in cages and prison camps are now the reality. With this, Americans of every strip need to stand up to this dictator-like procedure of securing the border by ripping kids away. And it is happening. Clergy, politicians, civic groups have come out against it. Even evangelicals are opposed, one of the key elements of Trump’s base. On Tuesday, there were protests in Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, DC, and in El Paso.

As mentioned, more than a dozen governors have weighed in by ordering their National Guard not to participate – moves that will not have much effect at the border, but at least these governors want to go on the official public record opposed to Trump’s policy. For example, the Republican governor of Massachusetts cancelled his state’s deployment of Guard units. The Democratic governor of Colorado followed suit by issuing an executive order that no state resources be used in furtherance of this policy.

The states’ pushback included the governor of New Jersey doing the same. The governors of Maryland, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina did similar moves yesterday.

Meanwhile, bills in Congress surfaced to bring a halt to a policy that is reflected in history by tyrants, and a couple may be voted upon by Thursday this week. A dozen GOP senators, led by Orrin Hatch, wrote Trump a letter expressing their desire to end the policy until Congress acts. Three moms did a sit-in in their Ohio Senator Portman’s office in protest – they were all arrested. And as Trump walked down the halls of Congress, he was heckled by members of Congress – an unprecedented event in the Capitol (including Rep. Juan Vargas – who is now sporting a beard).

IT is also universally understood that Trump created this crisis, with Sessions’ announcement in April about the new policy; he’s hoping this will energize his (shrinking) base looking at the mid-terms. White House advisors, like Steve Miller – a rightwing nationalist and key aide – is reportedly happily reveling in the mess, having stirred up the liberals.

Child psychologists have weighed in, speaking about the trauma that the children are suffering, with some calling it “government-sponsored child abuse”.  There is likely long-term damage from these traumatic separations.

So many questions remain: who is handling the babies and toddlers, feeding them, changing their diapers, cuddling them?

America has imprisoned babies and small children – placed them in cages where the lights are constantly on, sleeping on thin mats on concrete, and without their parents.

This must stop – not by November, not by next month – but right now; it will take Americans with conscience to do it.

Here in San Diego:

Friday, June 22 – Keep Families Together Nurse-In, 3-4:30pm, Edward J Schwartz Federal Courthouse. We condemn the brutal separation of a mother from her 4-month-old infant as she nursed. We stand in solidarity with migrant parents who have risked everything to flee violence and give their children the hope of a brighter future.

Saturday, June 23 – Families Belong Together March San Diego, 10am, Civic Center (200 C Street, Downtown) Families Belong Together opposes the cruel, inhumane and unjustified separation of children from their parents along the U.S. border with Mexico and at other ports of entry into the U.S. We protest the conditions in which these children are kept. We protest the irreversible trauma that has already been perpetrated on these children and their parents for the crime of seeking a better life.

Saturday, June 23,  10am Families Belong Together Rally North County at Westfield North County Mall, 272 E Via Rancho Parkway, Escondido 92025 (intersection Westfield Way).

National Action:  June 30. A nationwide response in Washington DC and other cities. Here’s San Diego details – with more coming soon.

See ya there.

(Hat tip to Anna Daniels for her info)