Please join us tomorrow morning at 9:30 as we march to Tornillo. We need everyone there. RT to spread the word. 18051 Island Guadalupe Rd Fabens, TX 79838 pic.twitter.com/KmOgXzlOVD
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) June 16, 2018
WATCH: A speech by VP Pence was interrupted by protesters against the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the border. pic.twitter.com/x5z0w2bdqm
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 16, 2018
I am the protester in the red dress. I swear if the police were not there, the Pence supporters would have beat us up. They tried. One of our protesters got hit by 2 people. They aren't wearing brown shirts yet but they definitely wanted to hurt us.
— Crookita (@crookita) June 16, 2018
New: @BetoORourke to lead a “March to Tornillo” on Sunday (Father’s Day), to protest separation of migrant kids from their parents. Starts at 9:30, ends at new HHS tent shelters in Tornillo.
Background: https://t.co/vHiIi3GoN6 @elpasotimes
— Madlin Mekelburg (@madlinbmek) June 16, 2018
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) June 16, 2018
Tonight in an interview w @chrislhayes, @BetoORourke calmly but passionately described what he saw in & around McAllen. He talked to people kidnapped by drug cartels in Reynosa. To a mother who traveled 2000 miles & did not know her daughter was about to be ripped away from her
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) June 16, 2018
Part of changing who represents us in Congress is helping Beto O’Roarke defeat Ted Cruz.
We’ve spent a lot of time in the Rio Grande Valley in the last four years. Our kids were born in Harlingen. We’ve spent weeks in McAllen. It’s easier for us to make it personal for ourselves
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) June 16, 2018
…for us—as an idea, an ideal, as a people created of pluralism & principle & promise—few things could send a louder & clearer signal that we DO NOT want to be a people who see some of Earth’s most vulnerable people & decide we should rip apart those parents & their children…
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) June 16, 2018
…than defeating the most craven & principle-free member of the US Senate—I know, the competition is fierce, but really, it’s Ted Cruz—& electing a Democrat in Texas, but most of all, electing someone who isn’t letting us delude ourselves. It’s who we are. We need to be better
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) June 16, 2018
when i was four, i was taken away from my father during an intense custody battle and placed in a group home for several years by an idiot judge. we went to parks and zoos, too, and then i’d cry myself to sleep most nights. the trauma left me bent for years. this is child abuse. https://t.co/3rsFfkIptX
— dell cameron (@dellcam) June 16, 2018
(If you click on the above tweet, Cameron has much more personal detail… but it’s really heartbreaking.)
I am sorry that the Trump Administration has created a vicious policy where parents are told their children are being taken to showers and never return.
Such inhumanity is un-American. You can quote me on that. https://t.co/tkRygCMRMK— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) June 16, 2018
Mike J
Cruz couldn’t be at the protest. He had to fly to Hollywood to play basketball.
Omnes Omnibus
Call your Congress Critters, good and bad. Tell the good ones that you have their backs and tell the bad ones that you are coming for them.
Baud
@Mike J: Don’t you mean “rings”?
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
You built that, Joe.
You and your corrupt, idiot show gave Drumpf hundres of millions of dollars in free advertising, while savaging Clinton every second over two-bit emails.
Josie
Bless you for posting this, AL. As Dana says, those of us who are from the Valley know better than anyone how stupid and evil this policy is. I grew up and lived fifteen miles or so from the border, where gringos were always in the minority and never had a moment’s trouble because of it. The Valley is a beautiful place precisely because of the mix of two cultures.
Ryan
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Joe selectively forgets the role of Atwater and the Southern Strategy in how the Republican Party has been able to maintain its power in American culture.
waysel
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: I question the sincerity of his Tweet. And of him. Ever.
lamh36
Thank you for this AL.
I’ve been asking myself, why ARE we only seeing the boys? The guy on Chris said that the brothers and sisters are allowed to talk to each other once a week or something via Skype or phone I believe…but so far, no one has any idea where the girls are located…
Maybe I’m being paranoid, but it’s just too damn suspcious
ETA: Also too, where are they keeping the babies/toddlers? So far we’ve only see the all boys facilities
lamh36
dexwood
I love labeling this as child abuse and hitting hard. Monsters, ghouls, and Nazis.
?BillinGlendaleCA
To Mr. Pollak: you know they had parties at Manzanar. You might want to visit there.
MomSense
@Omnes Omnibus:
Every day I either call, email, or fax. For those of us who are phone shy, texting Resist to 504-09 is an easy way to take action. Resistbot handles all the details.
Omnes Omnibus
@lamh36: Yea! Mark Pocan is my Rep. He replaced Tammy Baldwin when she went to the Senate. I always need to remind myself to call his office because he always does the right thing.
rikyrah
Well well well….
Here is Little Susie Collins justifying the evil ?
https://twitter.com/TopherSpiro/status/1008098162748395520
Omnes Omnibus
@MomSense: I go for once a week. I don’t want to come off as a crank. Different regions, different customs.
The big point is contact your Congress Critters. However you can. How often you feel effective. Just do it.*
*Go ahead Nike, sue me.
Catherine D.
@MomSense: Do the messages get through? I read that they’ve switched to electronic delivery.
Joyce H
@lamh36:
When the leader of the nation that’s seizing these children once owned a business whose business practice was to lure pretty teenagers from Eastern Europe to New York City for “modeling contracts”, no, I don’t think it’s at all paranoid to be asking – WHERE ARE THE GIRLS?
Cheryl Rofer
sukabi
@dexwood: it’s worse than child abuse, it’s prolonged terror and psychological abuse. In short they are torturing these kids and their parents.
Schlemazel
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
I tweeted Joe htat he helped build this. Doubt it will affect him but he needs to hear it
debbie
I think it’s time to call on the ICC. This is a war crime, even if there isn’t a war.
sukabi
@Cheryl Rofer: those are all older boys, no sign of younger children / girls.
EZSmirkzz
You may want to read these two posts at TPM by Josh Marshall https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/more-evidence-of-the-critical-failure-of-the-ig-report
JSYK
Mary G
Here is someone who deserves to live in one of the tents instead of the children (WaPo link):
I don’t believe in hell, but if it does exist, this guy will be #1 in line. CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS FIVE YEARS OLD. Atrocities are being committed in our names.
debbie
@lamh36:
I don’t have cable and so haven’t seen wall-to-wall coverage. The few photographs I have seen, I saw children, not boys or girls, but those tweets are absolutely horrifying. I hope the authorities address this as soon as possible.
sempronia
I haven’t read every comment on every thread, but I haven’t seen it suggested yet. It sounds like they’re not keeping track of which kids belong to which moms. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to tattoo matching numbers on the children’s and moms’ arms, so we can tell? You know – for historical continuity?
rikyrah
@lamh36:
You are not being too paranoid, lamh. Not at all
lamh36
I have BEEN thinking the fact that this reporters were given the go ahead from HHS to these particular facilities says to my suspicious mind that these were the ones that would put on the greatest show for the press, while aso have the ambiguity of having been used to hold minors during the PBO admin as well. The question again is why not other facilities.
What don’t they want you to see there?
rikyrah
Good links, AL. The thread from dell cameron???
rikyrah
@lamh36:
Uh huh
Uh huh ?
rikyrah
@dexwood:
Pure unadulterated evil.
Omnes Omnibus
@debbie: We aren’t a member state. Thank the GOP for that too.
debbie
New York Daily News cover says it all.
Omnes Omnibus
@EZSmirkzz: Nice deflection attempt.
chris
Click it to see the picture. You need to see the picture.
The general is pissed.
debbie
@Omnes Omnibus:
WTF?
Omnes Omnibus
@sempronia: Please be sarcasm. Please.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@debbie: We’re not part of the ICC.
Cheryl Rofer
@lamh36: We are also not seeing the camps for girls or for toddlers and babies.
debbie
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Is this something I can blame on McConnell for thwarting Obama’s attempts to join?
lamh36
@Cheryl Rofer: it’s forecast to be in the 100s in Texas next week!!!
Cheryl Rofer
@sukabi: I commented before I saw your comment. We have to keep asking this.
Omnes Omnibus
@debbie: We are not a part of the ICC. That is why Cheney is fine here, but, he should avoid France (for example).
Spanky
@chris: Guess I’m gonna have to stop using “Fucking” as the General’s middle name.
I apologize to the General and fervently hope this is a reflection of his true character.
Spanky
@Omnes Omnibus: Pretty clear to me that it is.
EZSmirkzz
@Omnes Omnibus: What are you talking about? It’s an open thread.
debbie
@Omnes Omnibus:
Thanks. Guess I wasn’t putting two and two together about this. Lousy optics not to have the leader of the free world on board.
Shalimar
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Mika claims they were giving Trump the opportunity to expose his horribleness, hoping people would pay attention. Mika is lying.
germy
HAL
Trump supporting Facebook friend currently has a link to a c-span interview featuring Senator Barack Obama giving a news conference on immigration in which he uses the term illegal immigrant and talks a lot about securing borders, jobs for people willing to patiently go through the legal process and open borders issues etc.
His point apparently is that both sides are hypocrites on the immigration issue. I can always tell when Trump’s actions are too hard to justify when these posts appear. Don’t ever call out your dear leader. Just pull a decade plus interview out of your ask to justify how horrible the person you voted for is, and ignore any evolution on the subject Obama has made since pre 2008.
lamh36
@Cheryl Rofer: Exactly…it’s even worse not seeing it. I don’t even know that I’ve seen any reporting or even a location of where the facilities are?
Even if reporters aren’t let in…where da hell are the locations?
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
@chris: Good tweet, but the comments….
JPL
@lamh36: They are not only ripping children away from parents, but they are also separating siblings. It’s unconscionable.
EZSmirkzz
@Cheryl Rofer: As noted by Matthew Dowd Trump could end the policy with the stroke of a pen.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Shalimar: You spelled Meeka wrong.
lamh36
@HAL: I have no Trump supporting FB “friends”…I run my FB like a dictatorship…I don’t have my TL bombarded with the bullshit if I don’t want to.
I may not be able to control much about not having to hear from MAGA idiots, but I can surealy control that.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
I swear there is sexual abuse/trafficking going on with the girls (quite probably some of the boys, too). The past year and a half has been testing, but this situation is beyond my most terrifying nightmares.
**********
Way, way O/T: Barack Obama reads well-written, policy-centric, occasionally wonky books. Donald Trump
readsrecommends books by people who like him, especially if his name is in the title.sukabi
@JPL: for those children it’s psychological torture.
Cheryl Rofer
@lamh36: I have seen no reports of locations for the camps for girls and for babies and toddlers.
I did retweet a request from a woman who does maps for information about camp locations.
sempronia
@Omnes Omnibus: of course.
JPL
@chris: He is upset, and rightly so. I see what is happening on the border and I think about the boats we turned away before WWII. It’s the same thing. Do you die there, or try to escape to a better life.
lamh36
@Cheryl Rofer: I mean…am I crazy on this Cheryl or what…because…they’ve already admitted to seperating siblings. They already told the reporters brothers and sisters are allowed to talk once a week or whatever…they even put out that ridiculous “they had a prom” bullshit…ok…then where are the “prom girls” coming from…
hervevillechaizelounge
Join me in Crazytown: it is possible this was all planned and Pizzagate was a false flag to ultimately allow the media to both-sides the inevitable sexual abuse which awaits these children?
Every republican accusation is really an admission in disguise.
Related: I can no longer discern which of my paranoid thoughts are socially
acceptable:(
JPL
@sukabi: In the 80’s when I lived in Dallas, a neighbor a few doors down from me adopted a 4 and 5 year old who lost their parents due to violence in Mexico. Their two sons were off to college, and they had plenty of room, but were told not to separate the girl and boy, because of the trauma they already occurred in their lives. They shared a room until they felt more comfortable. Oh the family also had 24 hour security outside their house, because the pro-fetus folks targeted the dad because he was the hospital administrator at a hospital that performed safe abortions.
The long term damage that Trump is doing cannot be fixed.
sukabi
@JPL: there’s a long, uphill road to redemption for this country, and we haven’t even started the climb.
Cheryl Rofer
@lamh36: No, you’re not crazy. I can’t imagine how people are willing to do this.
Well, actually, I can, but I would have preferred to believe that Americans wouldn’t.
Here’s a good article from a lawyer who has thought about this. She also had a good thread last night about how she thinks this came about. I’ll see if I can find it, in between cleaning the house, which is how I’ve been posting all day.
Omnes Omnibus
@sempronia: One gets nervous at times.
EZSmirkzz
Hope I didn’t kill your thread AL. Interesting observation at dKos,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/16/1772466/-View-from-the-Left-In-raw-struggle-between-good-and-evil-Republicans-side-with-pure-evil
Above my pay grade to call things pure evil, but as I noted, Matthew Dowd noted Trump could reverse this policy with a stroke of the pen. To quote the Apostle Paul, “I would hate to be condemned for the things of which I approve.” I’ll stick to my previous comment on the subject, https://balloon-juice.com/2018/06/14/america-is-not-a-theocracy-and-attorney-general-sessions-and-the-white-house-press-secretary-dont-know-anything-about-the-bible/#comment-6908739
Peace
Mr Stagger Lee
It is a shame that we are not part of the ICC, because the first bastard who should be put on the docks is Stephen Miller! And in Phoenix, at a rally against the policy we see some Pro Trump supporters who in a few years if things don’t improve, will be the ones operating the death camps.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
@EZSmirkzz: It’s a good scam if you can get away with it. And they probably will !
MomSense
@Catherine D.:
Mine have always gotten through. They will also submit your message as a letter to the editor or tweet if you give the ok.
Before 2017, I never had trouble getting through to a human being on the phone at any of Collins’ offices but now you either get voicemail or a full voicemail message.
JPL
I’m buying a pitch fork. To borrow EFG’s just fuckem
https://twitter.com/MattBors/status/1007667816370040832
Cheryl Rofer
Here’s the thread I mentioned above:
lamh36
Yes…a call to arms from Stephen Colbert… on his show last week.
Call your Cogressman!
Thank you Stephen Colbert…
Jeff Sessions Cites The Bible In Separating Children From Parents
debbie
I just faxed and emailed Rob Portman, that son of a bitch.
And now the countdown for the mealy-mouthed email response begins.
Mr Stagger Lee
@JPL: We are quickly going beyond Truth and reconciliation stage, if the Democratic Party comes back to power, I want public spectacles of a trial with these CO(CENSORED!!!!)ERS!!!!
WereBear
@MomSense: That was incredible! Iwas glad to donate, too. I used the website.
Resistbot
burnspbesq
@debbie:
Waste of time. No jurisdiction. The U.S. signed the treaty, but has never ratified it, and later notified the UN that it didn’t intend to become a party.
debbie
@burnspbesq:
Thanks. At least now I understand. Appalling that we wouldn’t be part of it. Some fucking shining beacon on the hill are we.
schrodingers_cat
This policy is Marine General Kelly’s brainchild. He came up with it when he headed the DHS. His protege Nielsen has put it in practice with blessings from the WH. I am just surprised that it took them this long. This was their plan all along.
Omnes Omnibus
@debbie: We can be.
JPL
Here’s a clip of Hurd after visiting the center in TX last night ..
https://twitter.com/AnaCabrera/status/1008142275258474496
I agree that it’s an American issue, but he should have blamed Trump. They are truly cowards.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: Yep, Kelly is a Nazi who was held in check by military rules.
WaterGirl
What’s happening is beyond horrible. On a different note, I am really liking what I am seeing from Beto O’Rourke.
B.B.A.
There was an argument that the ICC treaty would violate the Constitution by granting judicial power to something other than the Article III courts.
I see this as a flaw in the Constitution rather than the treaty.
Yutsano
@JPL: Here what I want to know Representative Hurd: what do you plan to DO about it? Are you actually going to go against your party’s actions here and stand up to the president and the attorney general? Or are you just going to shrug your shoulders and say “Oh well”? Don’t just fucking talk you coward: DO SOMETHING.
Omnes Omnibus
@B.B.A.: The Senate could have okayed it. Treaties count as law.
Platonailedit
Apparently McCaskill, Heitkamp, Manchin, Stabenow, Tester & Donnelly are the 6 holdouts. Call them.
Omnes Omnibus
@Platonailedit: Leave them alone. Most come from reddish states and probably got an okay from Schumer.
MomSense
@WereBear:
I love resistbot. I’ve been on an automatic payment every month since it started – not much but any little bit we can do to facilitate engagement and advocacy is worth it.
WaterGirl
I wonder how many of these Republicans sobbed when they watched the child in Kramer v. Kramer doing hysterically as she (I believe it was a girl) was being ripped away from one of her parents.
Of course, that girl was white and she looked like their kids.
On a different note, I couldn’t help but notice the reference to “showers” in Joe’s tweet – that made me wonder if he is Jewish. The parallels are obvious, hopefully that will help wake people up to this atrocity.
B.B.A.
@Omnes Omnibus: An unconstitutional treaty doesn’t become constitutional because the Senate ratifies it. We could make a treaty with the Vatican declaring Catholicism the state religion, but that doesn’t mean etc.
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: doing hysterically should be crying hysterically.
debbie
@Omnes Omnibus:
Well, we have been…
Omnes Omnibus
@B.B.A.: I don’t have the time nor the patience to explain why membership in the ICC is not unconstitutional.
Omnes Omnibus
@debbie: Your view, not mine.
efgoldman
@WaterGirl:
Arbeit macht frei!
Platonailedit
@Omnes Omnibus:
Weaselly copouts do not build a momentum. This is not some cheap political stunt.
J R in WV
This is copied from my comment in Immigration Endgame, because a new comment would be just really hard.
I can’t really comment on this whole child abuse thing very well. I just want to RAGE in all caps, and using vile language which applies to those from the top — Trump — all the way down to individual enforcement agents in the field, along the border.
Those agents should be informed that “I was just following policy, following orders…” was not acceptable for those guards in Europe in the middle of the last century, and it won’t excuse crimes being committed by government employees today either.
These border agents and private contractor employees are quite likely guilty of kidnapping and associated child abuse crimes. These people better wake up and realize they are committing crimes, not executing a job according to laws and policies. It is criminal conduct, and ignorance nor policy is no excuse.
I won’t be commenting much, because I can’t control myself very well right now.
Omnes Omnibus
@Platonailedit: Fifty state strategy, right? We want wins, right?
Tenar Arha
@Platonailedit: I did see a report on Twitter by Nina Kulkarni that Stabenow was on board…
Platonailedit
@Omnes Omnibus: Oh please, if you think fighting for these kids is a losing strategy for dems, it’s your problem. Done here.
Platonailedit
@Tenar Arha: Good. All dems need to be on board on this.
Omnes Omnibus
@Platonailedit: If you think I said anything like that, you are daft.
Mike G
@HAL:
These are the same people who bought Trump’s bullshit that Obama was inviting millions of the world’s worst to stroll across the wide-open border and sign up for secret-lucrative welfare that Americans couldn’t get.
I’m seeing a lot of defensive troll lies about Trump/Sessions’ policy too — “It’s the same as Obama’s policy”, “It’s the law now so that makes it right”, “American prisoners don’t get to have their kids stay with them”, etc.
scav
At this point, I’m not going to call them Trump supporters any more: I want something stronger to call them, to their faces. I was playing with enablers, but I’m thinking collaborators might have more resonance. Probably will keep both in my pocket. (Jam them in with all the swear-heavy words that really want to come rocketing out.)
John Fremont
@lamh36: Don’t forget during Operation Iraqi Freedom the DoD coordinating “narrative maintenance and development ” with embedded journalists. There was also plenty of retired officers providing commentary who were actually hired by contracted PR firms doing business with the Pentagon.
Gravie
My current Senator, Merkley, is leading the charge on this. Happy to see that my former Senator, Van Hollen, is joining in. We will need to have their backs now, and especially when they’re up for reelection. The rich, depraved, and relentless right-wing smear machine will be looking for payback against them.