Today in Trump's Vile Nativist Agenda

[Content Note: Nativism; child abuse.]

The Trump Regime is explicitly abusing children, and justifying it by claiming it's a strategy to try to deter migrants and refugees.

A former ICE official spoke to Hamed Aleaziz at Buzzfeed about an upcoming purge, saying: "They have begun utilizing every apparatus available to them to target, separate, and terrify small children in order to claim a 'win' on immigration."

The operation will "target and remove undocumented immigrant families who have received final orders of removal in an attempt to deter future families from making the trek across the border."

Mark Morgan, who was picked to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement just weeks ago, did not reveal when an operation would occur or the scope of such an action. He maintained that the agency was still targeting its previous priorities, like removing those with criminal convictions, and that there was not a significant shift in operations.

In talking with reporters, however, Morgan focused on a group of 2,000 family units who recently arrived, were part of an expedited court process, ordered removed from the country, and given a notice earlier this year to work with ICE to leave voluntarily. Morgan said no undocumented immigrant was exempt from enforcement, including families.

"It's going to send a strong message to those individuals contemplating coming here illegally not to do so," he said. "Not only will we be enforcing the law, maintaining the integrity of the system, but we're also going to send a powerful message to individuals in the northern triangle countries: Do not come, do not risk it."

This, despite the fact that we know that people are traveling to the U.S. because they are in danger of violence and/or starvation, and at the same time that a U.N. report has found that there are currently 71 million refugees who "have been displaced worldwide by war, persecution, and other violence."

71 million.

That is "an increase of more than 2 million from a year earlier — and an overall total that would amount to the world's 20th most populous country."

It is a risk to stay. It is a risk to leave. There can be no effective "deterrence" when there are no good choices.

This is indefensible child abuse. Nothing more.