Hey, Hey, Donald J! How many kids have you killed today?
I dunno, said Department of Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to the House Judiciary Committee yesterday when asked how many people have died in DHS custody:
Rep. Cicilline: You do not know how many people have died in DHS custody?
DHS Sec. Nielsen: “I don’t have an exact figure”
…
Cicilline: “I’m talking about people who have died in your custody. You don’t have the number?”Nielsen: “I will get back to you with the number.” pic.twitter.com/SxEmRe4CM2
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 20, 2018
The number of people who died in Customs and Border Patrol custody appeared to be 13… back in 2015:
Deaths in CBP custody are rare, according to the agency’s last report to Congress, as mandated by law, which included data for fiscal 2015. That year, the report said 10 people died as a result of use of force by CBP officials. Additionally, one person who died while in custody had a pre-existing medical condition, another committed suicide in a CBP holding facility, and a third died from heatstroke after being apprehended by CBP agents.
VOA requested updated information from DHS and CBP about the number of deaths in CBP custody for the past three years.
DHS assistant press secretary Katie Waldman responded with the number of rescues Border Protection officials have performed in the last year, but did not include the number of deaths in custody.
A follow-up email regarding the questions about deaths in CBP custody went unanswered [Victoria Macchi, “Questions Surround Death of Guatemalan Girl in US Custody,” VOA, 2018.12.14].
I’d call my Congresswoman and ask her to look into this, but, well, she’s not in Washington right now.
While watching this exchange yesterday, to say I was sick to my stomach, would be an understatement. This is appalling and no one (GOP-wise) pounding the table and asking for accountability sure speaks volumes.
The pro-life party continues to display that they are only pro-fetus. The pro-life label has always been a fraud.
DHS Sec Nielson probably doesn’t have an “exact number” of how many children have been sexually assaulted while in “our” custody, either.
https://www.propublica.org/article/boystown-immigrant-childrens-shelter-sexual-assault?utm_content=buffer183ee&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=buffer
Pretty much says it all.You have to be white in order to be counted as a human being.Non-whites are disposable and a mere distraction that use resources that the superior race may need someday.
Dana P wraps up my feelings in his stomach as well. How do people like Nielsen and Trump even exist? We are watching the birthing of a fascist state. Congress is useless. The courts are the only thing between us and tyranny, and the Republicans are doing all they can to undermine them. In states, Republicans are undermining election results. They are throwing people off voting lists. There’s not much difference between Nielsen’s uncaring attitude about presumed accidental deaths and active killing of refuges, and there’s not much difference between Putin’s rule and Republican rule.
It is absolutely sickening and real Christians are actively working to help these people who echo the travels of the biblical Mary and Joseph. Sojourners has this:
“Twelve days before Christmas, 7-year-old Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin died from dehydration eight hours after she was apprehended by border patrol. While this is a horrible tragedy, the harrowing truth is that that her death (and the deaths of many other migrants) is the logical outcome of our nation’s immigration policy decisions. According to an unclassified government report obtained by ABC News, Maquin’s death appears to have been one of four people who died crossing the border this month, and one of more than 260 this year.”
https://goo.gl/oSFDN8
This policy of inflicting suffering and even death is intentional by the Monster in the WH and his Pootiepublican Congress.
It’s an excellent and well researched article, but not pleasant to read. 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
Today in the RC Journal’s “2 cents worth” column there were two comments labeling people “illegals.” Such labels have been propagated by folks to gain support for cruel policies designed to hurt men, women and children, all under the facade of “law and order.” Such language can get good people worked up even when they typically could care less about most non-violent misdemeanors repeatedly committed by their friends, family and elected officials, such as speeding and running stop signs, or not paying use taxes, or most other less serious offenses than crossing the border without papers to seek asylum or overstaying a visa.
Other anti-immigrant talking points designed to dehumanize human beings include “aliens,” “invaders,” “animals,” and similar slurs. Getting people to think this way about people erodes natural human empathy. It increases tolerance for our government to treat the labeled people as worthless. It can lead to a lack of compassion for dying children.
Indeed, consider the current administration’s I.C.E. policy that directs border patrol agents to intentionally destroy or empty water jugs placed to help people in desolate areas.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/17/us-border-patrol-sabotage-aid-migrants-mexico-arizona
Our administration does this despite, or perhaps because of, knowledge that people may die of thirst. Dehumanizing language helps otherwise compassionate agents rationalize horrible and cruel behavior.
I was really disappointed in the Journal for publishing such comments. I tried to call them out and I hope others follow suit. And this is especially irritating in a community about to celebrate the birth of Jesus, perhaps the most famous individual who would today be labeled an “illegal” by our current administration and those who have been persuaded to use such language to describe people. Moses would be another who might qualify as a current target of such hate speech.
Moar border news- apparently our slightly dense CIC believes four legged coyotes and criminals are smuggling children into the US. Hence the need for the wall.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/21/18151835/trump-coyotes-border-wall-government-shutdown
Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.
Valid point, BCB. It’s well documented that social media sites have been responsible for spreading hate speech towards ethnic groups in Myanmar and other places, worldwide. This has led to numerous deaths of innocent victims. The Rapid City paper is in fact doing the same thing by fomenting hate towards peaceful new Americans guilty only of minor misdemeanors.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2018/11/23/should-social-media-be-held-responsible-for-the-atrocities-and-deaths-it-facilitates/#5a7f153538ec
This is how real Christians do their best to be Christ to one another:
“We cannot remain silent as our asylum laws are unilaterally changed and our nation’s door is shut to people fleeing dire humanitarian situations.”
Elizabeth Eaton, ELCA Presiding Bishop
The ELCA recognizes that silence on this matter would better preserve its membership numbers, but Jesus did not tell his followers to avoid risks and keep membership numbers up. He told them, above all else, to love one another.
Given how many people are getting prosecuted for lying to Congress or the FBI it seems the safest answer to any question is now “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember.”
This applies to questions like “how old are you?” And “what did you eat for breakfast this morning?”
Every question is now a potential perjury trap.
They aren’t going to get any information out of anybody anymore. Even the former director of the FBI testified he didn’t know what was going on and couldn’t remember anything. It was funny to think there are people earning six-figure salaries who haven’t a clue what their staff was up to, but the epidemic of ignorance and amnesia which is running rampant through Washington is alarming.
Who dares to tell the truth and risk being labeled a “rat” by the titular head of a crime syndicate that has managed to seize excessive governmental power.
Rich world, poor world, fewer places every day to hide
Rich world, poor world, I like it better on the Western side
A growing epidemic of ignorance been keeping me on the run
With a jaded ear and a whole lot of fear
We’re gonna wither up one by one
Rich World/ Poor World Guess Who
This really oughta help people pay strict attention to what is being done in their name-
https://www.the-immoral-minority.com/5-month-old-immigrant-hospitalized-with-pneumonia-after-spending-5-days-in-freezing-border-control-holding-cell/
Notice to Trolls- I did not once blame Drumpf although these are his policies in place.
The uproar over the separation of families has been interesting to me. A dear friend of mine told me how her parents were Mexican migrants and she was born in the US. When they were deported, she and her siblings went into the foster care system. This was in the 50s, during the Eisenhower administration.
I had friends from India, a physician and his wife. They struggled to get permanent residency. The immigration judge told them they could leave their infant here and go back to India. This was during the Carter Administration.
During the Clinton Administration I met a refugee from east Africa who had left 4 of her 6 children behind in a refugee camp. She had only been able to bring two with her.
And during the Obama Administration a coworker of mine, a US citizen who had married a French physician, returned to France with him because he couldn’t get a green card, and the only way she had to decide to either stay alone or go with him, and whether to leave their kids here or not.
US immigration policies have been separating families for decades. It’s interesting that nobody cared about any of this until Trump was elected.
Mrs. Beal once again tries to defend her hero, President Trump by using false equivalencies. Here use of the word “nobody” as in “nobody cared” is obviously false. In the age of the internet people who care are now broadcast, recognized and realized to a level thousands of times more frequently then the anecdotes she cites. Your conclusion may be interesting, Mrs. Beal but it’s also untrue.
Anne Beal has no friends. She talks to herself in the confines of her bathroom thinking of trump. What rhymes with trump?
Want to stop smuggling, legalize marijuana. Simple and cost effective.
“A new report shows how legalizing marijuana nationally would likely be much more effective at curbing drug smuggling than building a border wall.
STEPHEN JOHNSON
20 December, 2018
The report uses recent government data to examine the effects that marijuana legalization has had on drug and human smuggling by Mexican cartels.
Overall, it appears that marijuana legalization has led to decreases in not only marijuana smuggling, but also smuggling of all drugs across the border.
The report suggests that the benefits of marijuana legalization might also serve as a model for how legalizing more immigration for workers might curb illegal border crossings.” https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/legal-marijuana-mexican-cartels-u-s-border
So there ya go. We would be healthier, wealthier and wiser.
One person returned from each administration, huh? Sounds like a regular pandemic.
Cory wrote
Hey, Hey, Donald J! How many kids have you killed today?
You have hit rock bottom Cory.
Anne Beal’s oblivious assertion that “nobody cared” about immigrant children until Trump and his current republican syncophants took power appears to be classic projection of her own feelings toward immigrants. She tells us that “nobody cared” then, which would necessarily include her. Her view of such attitudes apparently has not changed, which indicates she still doesn’t care, and simply cannot fathom that other people might actually care about the shameful treatment these kids and their families.
Thus, her individual lack of care has clouded her knowledge of people and nations who have long cared about the well being and safety of not only children, but all immigrants.
https://www.amnestyusa.org/campaigns/refugee-and-migrant-rights/
See also the history of one private group that has fought to protect immigrants for three decades, e.g.:,
https://www.nnirr.org/drupal/about-us/history
Anne may never have cared, despite her personal relationships with immigrants hurt by obscene actions in the U.S. over the years. But she is factually wrong when she projects her attitudes to all other people, who she thinks suddenly changed their minds simply because of the cruelty revealed by Trump’s more recent policies of hatred and fear (and often unlawful policies, given the various court decisions granting injunctions against implementation of the Trump administration’s efforts to harm immigrants as a deterrent).
BCB,
Have any laws been broken?
You’re being ignored, Jason. Take some time off and think about why?
Jason, laws broken? – by Trump – apparently a multitude.
But it is not yet against the law not to care about the death of children or the infliction of harm upon them and their families. Anyone can even laugh at and celebrate such cruelties with impunity, such as the slaughters at Sandy Hook or the school shooting in Florida, as long as you don’t directly participate or assist in the murders or take steps to cover up the crimes to protect the killers. So feel free to enjoy your legal rights this holiday season by celebrating the things that others do to kids that you “don’t care” about, as Anne says, if that happens to be your thing!
Sorry Porter. You are right.
So the answer is no.
End of thread.
Oh my, Bear. I’m no leader. You are. And a highly accomplished one, at that. Los mejores deseos para la familia.
Muchas gracias Porter, lo mismo para ti and los tuyos!
If the Troll was a right wing phony kristian who believed the bible supersedes the constitution then yes, laws were broken. All 10 commandments and mostly by Drumpf the infidel phony kristian charlatan.
For you phony kristians out there, what was Mary and Joseph running to or from?
The United Nations wants to know. Hey, wasn’t the Baby Jesus an immigrant with now papers?
“The United Nations monitor who acts as global watchdog on the treatment of migrants is calling for an in-depth independent investigation into what happened to Jakelin Caal Maquin, a seven-year-old Guatemalan girl who died in the custody of the US government.
Felipe González Morales, the UN’s special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, has sent a formal complaint to US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, via officials in Geneva, in which he sounds the international alarm about the death. Jakelin died on 8 December, less than 48 hours after she was detained by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) at a remote border crossing in New Mexico.”
So there ya go, just like that and we are right up there with all the rest of the despots, kind of makes a feller proud these days. I hope they send them all to the Hague starting with Individual number 1.
Sorry, here is the link https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/24/jakelin-caal-un-special-rapporteur-demands-inquiry-death