Monday Morning Reading on Trump's Nativist Abuse

[Content Note: Nativism; white supremacy; child abuse; violence.]

He said that “In the immigration context, the government has never taken a stand against the protection of kids in this country. For the first time, it is now formally taking a position that explicitly goes against the best interests of kids.”

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 1, 2018

There is a whole lot of stuff I want to recommend today, so I'm going to link all of it here. Please feel welcome to share additional links in comments and use the thread for discussion of this subject broadly.

Miriam Jordan at the New York Times: 'I Can't Go Without My Son,' a Mother Pleaded as She Was Deported to Guatemala. "The Border Patrol was waiting as they made their way from the border on May 26, and soon mother and son were in a teeming detention center in southern Texas. The next part unfolded so swiftly that, even now, Ms. Ortiz cannot grasp it: Anthony was sent to a shelter for migrant children. And she was put on a plane back to Guatemala. 'I am completely devastated,' Ms. Ortiz, 25, said in one of a series of video interviews last week from her family home in Guatemala. Her eyes swollen from weeping and her voice subdued, she said she had no idea when or how she would see her son again."

Nomaan Merchant at the AP: Hundreds of Children Wait in Border Patrol Facility in Texas. "Inside an old warehouse in South Texas, hundreds of children wait in a series of cages created by metal fencing. One cage had 20 children inside. Scattered about are bottles of water, bags of chips, and large foil sheets intended to serve as blankets. One teenager told an advocate who visited that she was helping care for a young child she didn't know because the child's aunt was somewhere else in the facility. She said she had to show others in her cell how to change the girl's diaper."

I just went into the #Juarez Valley for the @TexasTribune to make photos, behind the border fence, of the #immigrant children who have been placed inside the new #tentcity at the CPB facility in #Tornillo. #BorderStories #OnAssignment pic.twitter.com/JmMevp4FUI

— Ivan Pierre Aguirre (@i_p_a_1) June 16, 2018

Nick Cumming-Bruce at the New York Times: U.N. Rights Chief Tells U.S. to Stop Taking Migrant Children from Parents. "United States immigration authorities have detained almost 2,000 children in the past six weeks, which may cause them irreparable harm with lifelong consequences, said Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights. He cited an observation by the president of the American Association of Pediatrics that locking the children up separately from their parents constituted 'government-sanctioned child abuse.' 'The thought that any state would seek to deter parents by inflicting such abuse on children is unconscionable,' Mr. al-Hussein said."

Nick Visser at the Huffington Post: DHS Secretary Says There's No Family Separation Policy 'Period'. "Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen defended her agency's role at the U.S. border with Mexico on Sunday, saying there was no family separation policy. 'This misreporting by members, press and advocacy groups must stop,' Nielsen wrote in a series of tweets Sunday evening. 'It is irresponsible and unproductive. As I have said many times before, if you are seeking asylum for your family, there is no reason to break the law and illegally cross between ports of entry. We do not have a policy of separating families at the border,' she continued. 'Period.'" That is just a rank lie.

Nicole Belle at Crooks & Liars: Where Are the Girls Being Detained by the Trump Administration? "ICE made detention centers available for the media to tour... MSNBC's Jacob Soboroff described it as de facto incarceration for minors who did nothing but come with their parents to escape violence and persecution in their home country. But here's the thing: I've poured over these reports. I've scoured the photos. I've looked at every publication and every news outlets reporting. Not. One. Covers. Girls. Being. Detained. Where are the girls?"

Molly Hennessy-Fiske at the L.A. Times: Texas Border Patrol Center Where Immigrant Families Are Separated Draws Lawmakers, Protest. "The 72,000-square-foot facility was clean and spare, with bare concrete floors. Uniformed agents, some wearing masks, observed from guard towers and escorted migrants down corridors. Lopez noted with pride that the 42 portable toilets did not smell, although they were open at the top, due to security concerns. The center's two massive rooms were separated into 22 chain link-fenced spaces, many labeled 'cells' with netting on top to prevent escapes. They're cleaned three times a day. Lopez said they used fencing because it was cheap and see-through."

Shane Harris, David Weigel, and Karoun Demirjian at the Washington Post: Democrats Intensify Fight for Immigrant Children. "Against a notable silence on the part of many Republicans who usually defend [Donald] Trump, Democratic lawmakers fanned out across the country, visiting a detention center outside New York City and heading to Texas to inspect facilities where children have been detained. ...Trump remained silent on the issue for most of the day Sunday before tweeting that Democrats should work with Republicans on an immigration solution before the election 'because you are going to lose!'"

Marlow Stern at the Daily Beast: John Oliver Exposes Trump's Lies About His Border Child Separation Policy.

"That's right: Thousands of children have been forcibly taken from their parents after a policy shift was put into action last month by U.S. attorney general — and least fun thing to find in a Kinder egg — Jeff Sessions," said Oliver. "Sessions basically started a policy of incarcerating people who crossed the border illegally knowing full well that that incarceration would mean they were separated from their children — many of whom are less than 10 years old with no clear plan as to when they might be reunited."

Despite Sessions, chief of staff John Kelly, and immigration "expert" Stephen Miller all defending the Trump administration's policy, with Miller recently telling The New York Times, "It was a simple decision by the administration to have a zero tolerance policy for illegal entry, period. The message is that no one is exempt from immigration law," [Donald] Trump has repeatedly attempted to blame the Democrats for his own policy.

"He's following laws, very simply, that were given to us and forced upon us by the Democrats. The Democrats gave us the laws," Trump told a press scrum Friday morning.

Cue Oliver: "Democrats did not give them these laws, because — and I cannot stress this enough — there is no law that suddenly required separating parents from their children. This is a result of a deliberate policy choice by Jeff Sessions."

Former First Lady Laura Bush at the Washington Post: Separating Children from Their Parents at the Border 'Breaks My Heart'. "I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart. Our government should not be in the business of warehousing children in converted box stores or making plans to place them in tent cities in the desert outside of El Paso. These images are eerily reminiscent of the Japanese American internment camps of World War II, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. history."

In response to Laura Bush's op-ed, I have seen some members of the press saying they can't recall a former First Lady criticizing a current administration (example), which is a stunning erasure of Hillary Clinton, and I have a thread on that starting here.

Charles M. Blow at the New York Times: Trump and the Baby Snatchers. "I can't imagine being forcibly separated from my children for any reason. And yet, this has become Trump's policy of persecution. Attorney General Jeff Sessions even had the gall to invoke one of the same Bible verses used to justify slavery to justify the current policy. Trump keeps lying about it, trying to distort reality and claim that the separations are a result of a 'law' made by the Democrats. ...Trump is lying, as he often does. This barbaric policy is an outgrowth of his own personal cruelty. It's absolutely reprehensible and an absolute reflection of him."

Staff at KABB/WOAI: 5 Dead After SUV Being Chased by Border Patrol Crashes. "Authorities said five undocumented immigrants are dead following a chase involving Border Patrol agents Sunday afternoon. Dimmit County Sheriff Marion Boyd said the crash happened off Highway 85 in Big Wells at about noon. Boyd said agents were chasing the SUV when it lost control and overturned. The vehicle was traveling at more than 100 miles per hour when it crashed. Fourteen people were inside, including the driver and passenger. Twelve immigrants were ejected and four died at the scene when the car crashed and rolled over, according to Boyd. A fifth person later died at the hospital. Boyd credited 'good police work' for the reason why deputies started pursuing the vehicle."

Gideon Resnick at the Daily Beast: Poll: Republicans Approve of Trump's Family Separation Policy. "The poll of roughly 1,000 adults aged 18 and over, and conducted June 14-15, asked respondents if they agreed with the following statement: 'It is appropriate to separate undocumented immigrant parents from their children when they cross the border in order to discourage others from crossing the border illegally.' Of those surveyed, 27 percent of the overall respondents agreed with it, while 56% disagreed with the statement. Yet, Republicans leaned slightly more in favor, with 46% agreeing with the statement and 32 percent disagreeing."

I am full of rage and grief.