Quote of the Day

[Content Note: Anti-immigrationism; abuse; racism.]

"I really don't care. I'm far more concerned about children being penned up and cooped up in conditions that look a lot more like kennels than they look like the way a humane country should be treating refu­gee kids."—Democratic Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, in response to a question about whether he was upset that a private conversation with the Obama administration, following his criticizing their immediate deportation policy, was made public.

O'Malley spoke at length to reporters last Friday about the need for compassion for [the influx of immigrant children who have crossed the border into this country unaccompanied]. And he said that the government should not "summarily send children to death" by forcing them to return home, a reference to the administration's effort to speed deportations, add immigration judges and beef up border security. Within hours, O'Malley said he received a phone call from a White House official.

..."Through all of the great world religions, we are told that hospitality to strangers is an essential human dignity, it is a belief that unites all of us,” O'Malley said [at a National Governors Association press conference in Nashville, according to a transcript of his remarks. "These children who have fled this violence are entitled to due process...they should have their ability to make their case for protection and asylum in the United States."

Hours later, White House Domestic Policy Director Cecilia Muñoz called O'Malley to discuss his remarks, which greatly frustrated her, according to O'Malley aides. The governor would not comment Wednesday on her tone.

...By Tuesday, details of that private conversation leaked to political reporters via a "Democratic source" — and not one in Annapolis, according to O'Malley aides. The comments painted O'Malley as a hypocrite: the governor didn't want these immigrant children returned to their home countries, the source said, but he refused to shelter them in his own state, opposing a proposed site in Carroll County...

But O'Malley's objection was not based on not wanting to shelter undocumented immigrant children in his own state. According to O'Malley, during the conversation, he raised concerns about the location of a disused military center which had been proposed for renovation into a shelter. The town, which is "a deeply conservative stronghold" in an otherwise mostly Democratic state, voted last year "to make English their official language, despite protests that such an action was unwelcoming to immigrants."

"I suggested to them that the location still under consideration in Westminster might not be the most inviting environment for the kids," O'Malley said.

O'Malley said that his concerns were confirmed over the weekend when graffiti appeared on the empty military center: "No illeagles here. No undocumented Democrats." The Maryland State Police are investigating the message as a hate crime.

Instead, O'Malley has proposed that the children should live with relatives already residing in the US, and, failing such available accommodation, should be placed in foster care or temporary housing. He called large facilities, like the one proposed, "a last resort."

I'm firmly with O'Malley on this one.