I felt physically ill when I first read about this. It's so cruel. Anyone who has spent any time around kids knows waking them up in the middle of the night is so disorienting for them. I'm curious if you can tell me, beyond secrecy, WHY the middle of the night? It just feels like they know what they're doing is wrong and hiding it. Is there any other reason?
Also - I'm not a legal expert, but is there some kind of volunteer system to at least accompany these kids to court? Like a guardian ad litem?
I'm sorry but every time I hear about the cruelty we impose on children, any children (citizens or not), I can't help but think of the hypocrisy of a large chunk of the country caring so deeply for unborn children in the womb but easily looking the other way when cruelty and harm befalls real, live, breathing children every single day. I will never understand.
Highly suggest the book Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay In Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli. It is the authors experience translating for immigrant children who have been detained and she goes through the 40 questions they are asked. It includes some children from Guatemala. So insightful.
Totally! I happened to read the book a couple weeks ago before seeing this in the news. It was like a gut-punch. The lack of humanity and empathy is appalling.
I am Guatemalan, I hope I can share a bit about my country’s history to provide some context to why things are the way they are right now. This is just a very brief overview. Back in the 1950s, Guatemala elected its second democratically elected president, after many years of having been under United States-backed dictatorships. During the time of those US-backed dictatorships, US doctors intentionally infected around 5,500 people with syphillis, gonorrhea, and chancroid, without informed consent, and only provided treatment to 83 individuals. Those infected were orphaned children, soldiers, mental patients, and sex workers. The US didn’t issue a formal apology until 2010, and provided no compensation to the victims.
Now, back to our second democratically elected president, Jacobo Arbenz. He championed reforms that included an expanded right to vote, the ability of workers to organize, legitimizing political parties, and allowing public debate. The centerpiece of his policy was an agrarian reform law under which uncultivated portions of large land-holdings were expropriated in return for compensation and redistributed to poverty-stricken agricultural laborers. Approximately 500,000 people benefited from the decree. The majority of them were indigenous. This directly conflicted with the interests of United Fruit Company who lobbied the US to get involved. The Eisenhower administration and the CIA, enacted operation PB Success and overthrew Arbenz. Military dictatorships were installed by the US government for nearly four decades and we were in civil war fighting these regimes till the late 90s. These regimes committed unimaginable atrocities and genocide against Maya peoples. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost. So many children were orphaned. This time period has been called the silent holocaust. Although the civil war ended and democracy was reinstated, governmental corruption still ruled and continues to this day.
When we were on the brink of flourishing and growing, our efforts were stamped out to favor US financial interests. We have never recovered. There is so much beauty in my homeland and it is rich in culture and history, but life is very unaffordable. Finding employment is extremely difficult, and unless you have generational wealth, life is challenging.
The very least the US owes these precious children, after decades of damage and generational harm, is refuge and opportunity to grow. I think there is this fear amongst US Americans that those of us who have suffered under the hands of the US government will become bitter or vengeful, but nothing could be further from the truth. We just want the freedom to live peacefully and joyfully. There isn’t hate in our hearts, just a desire to breathe free, and have the ability to work for opportunity.
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective and all of these thoughts. Reading "the freedom to live peacefully and joyfully" made my heart sink for these kids again.
We have become the shit hole country that trump loves to bash, because of his policies. We are a pariah country that nobody wants to visit or invest in.
Bless this judge. I would like to pay for representation for even one child, or can they be fostered out of state? (I live in Utah.) Is there anyway or anyone to contact that could facilitate that for me? It’s so sad and frustrating to feel so helpless when this is going on right under our noses.
There are a number of organizations who help unaccompanied immigrant minors. Global Refuge, Lutheran Community, Bethany Christian- just google it for your state. One of our local activists did this for a minor- the minor became an adult and was detained at an immigration hearing. He was put into a detention center. His guardian protested and was arrested and faces charges. It is a needed help and comes with risks, especially these days.
Can we please do more to protect vulnerable children throughout the world? My conscience dictates that it is a moral obligation to provide aid to those in need. We have so much. Why are we this way?
What’s amazing to me is that we are ALL immigrants unless you’re a Native American. None of us would be here if our ancestors hadn’t immigrated here. To treat innocent children like this is abhorrent. Immigrants are necessary for any country especially the US.
There have been many sad things that I've read over the last year. Cruelty that seemed unbelievable and unnecessary. I've been horrified by a lot of what I've read and heard, if I'm being honest. Very few things have broken my heart the way this did. And nothing has made me sob the way this has.
As a civilization, as a country, as humans, as adults, we're judged by the way we treat those with the least power, the least control, the least ability, the least resources. We often hear that every child is precious. We hear that we should protect children. What this article tells me is that it's not about protecting children, it's about one man's desire to be considered strong, and the lengths those around him will go to for him to feel that way.
In a different world, or life, or timeline, those children could be my children. They could be your children. When we lose sight of the fact that every child is ours to protect, to nurture, to love, we lose our humanity. Some of these children fled horrors we will never experience. Some were hurt by those who should have protected them, forcing them to escape for the smallest chance at survival, and some were let go by those trying to protect them in the hope that some other mother, some person far away from the violence and poverty and terror, would see their baby and help. We will never know every story or heartache these kids have suffered. We will never be able to right every wrong, but we can be better than this. We can be better than the abuse they fled.
I have said more than once that cruelty is a feature of this administration, not a bug. It's heartbreaking to know that millions of people cheer for this behavior. Millions of people voted for this because they wanted cheaper eggs, or maybe they liked that this administration hated the same people they did, I don't know. They chose not to believe the warnings for whatever reason, and now we're here. We're here with children who just wanted the smallest chance to be somewhere safe. It just all breaks my heart.
I don't know what the answer is. I don't know how to make people care about someone who doesn't look like them or speak their language. I don't know how to make someone find their humanity. All I know is that we, as a country, are failing the humanity test, and that is a bitter pill to swallow.
I felt physically ill when I first read about this. It's so cruel. Anyone who has spent any time around kids knows waking them up in the middle of the night is so disorienting for them. I'm curious if you can tell me, beyond secrecy, WHY the middle of the night? It just feels like they know what they're doing is wrong and hiding it. Is there any other reason?
Also - I'm not a legal expert, but is there some kind of volunteer system to at least accompany these kids to court? Like a guardian ad litem?
I agree… with everything you said, and I too wonder about volunteerism for this .
I'm sorry but every time I hear about the cruelty we impose on children, any children (citizens or not), I can't help but think of the hypocrisy of a large chunk of the country caring so deeply for unborn children in the womb but easily looking the other way when cruelty and harm befalls real, live, breathing children every single day. I will never understand.
Highly suggest the book Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay In Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli. It is the authors experience translating for immigrant children who have been detained and she goes through the 40 questions they are asked. It includes some children from Guatemala. So insightful.
Yes! I love this book! I assign it to one of my classes. Upvote this recommendation. It’s a brilliant piece of journalism.
Totally! I happened to read the book a couple weeks ago before seeing this in the news. It was like a gut-punch. The lack of humanity and empathy is appalling.
Yet another cruel atrocity committed by this administration.😔 I’m donating to ProBAR, the organization that is helping these children.
We no longer can pretend to take the high road where human rights are concerned
I am Guatemalan, I hope I can share a bit about my country’s history to provide some context to why things are the way they are right now. This is just a very brief overview. Back in the 1950s, Guatemala elected its second democratically elected president, after many years of having been under United States-backed dictatorships. During the time of those US-backed dictatorships, US doctors intentionally infected around 5,500 people with syphillis, gonorrhea, and chancroid, without informed consent, and only provided treatment to 83 individuals. Those infected were orphaned children, soldiers, mental patients, and sex workers. The US didn’t issue a formal apology until 2010, and provided no compensation to the victims.
Now, back to our second democratically elected president, Jacobo Arbenz. He championed reforms that included an expanded right to vote, the ability of workers to organize, legitimizing political parties, and allowing public debate. The centerpiece of his policy was an agrarian reform law under which uncultivated portions of large land-holdings were expropriated in return for compensation and redistributed to poverty-stricken agricultural laborers. Approximately 500,000 people benefited from the decree. The majority of them were indigenous. This directly conflicted with the interests of United Fruit Company who lobbied the US to get involved. The Eisenhower administration and the CIA, enacted operation PB Success and overthrew Arbenz. Military dictatorships were installed by the US government for nearly four decades and we were in civil war fighting these regimes till the late 90s. These regimes committed unimaginable atrocities and genocide against Maya peoples. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost. So many children were orphaned. This time period has been called the silent holocaust. Although the civil war ended and democracy was reinstated, governmental corruption still ruled and continues to this day.
When we were on the brink of flourishing and growing, our efforts were stamped out to favor US financial interests. We have never recovered. There is so much beauty in my homeland and it is rich in culture and history, but life is very unaffordable. Finding employment is extremely difficult, and unless you have generational wealth, life is challenging.
The very least the US owes these precious children, after decades of damage and generational harm, is refuge and opportunity to grow. I think there is this fear amongst US Americans that those of us who have suffered under the hands of the US government will become bitter or vengeful, but nothing could be further from the truth. We just want the freedom to live peacefully and joyfully. There isn’t hate in our hearts, just a desire to breathe free, and have the ability to work for opportunity.
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective and all of these thoughts. Reading "the freedom to live peacefully and joyfully" made my heart sink for these kids again.
We have become the shit hole country that trump loves to bash, because of his policies. We are a pariah country that nobody wants to visit or invest in.
Bless this judge. I would like to pay for representation for even one child, or can they be fostered out of state? (I live in Utah.) Is there anyway or anyone to contact that could facilitate that for me? It’s so sad and frustrating to feel so helpless when this is going on right under our noses.
There are a number of organizations who help unaccompanied immigrant minors. Global Refuge, Lutheran Community, Bethany Christian- just google it for your state. One of our local activists did this for a minor- the minor became an adult and was detained at an immigration hearing. He was put into a detention center. His guardian protested and was arrested and faces charges. It is a needed help and comes with risks, especially these days.
The cruelty of the Trump administration has no bounds.
Can we please do more to protect vulnerable children throughout the world? My conscience dictates that it is a moral obligation to provide aid to those in need. We have so much. Why are we this way?
What’s amazing to me is that we are ALL immigrants unless you’re a Native American. None of us would be here if our ancestors hadn’t immigrated here. To treat innocent children like this is abhorrent. Immigrants are necessary for any country especially the US.
There have been many sad things that I've read over the last year. Cruelty that seemed unbelievable and unnecessary. I've been horrified by a lot of what I've read and heard, if I'm being honest. Very few things have broken my heart the way this did. And nothing has made me sob the way this has.
As a civilization, as a country, as humans, as adults, we're judged by the way we treat those with the least power, the least control, the least ability, the least resources. We often hear that every child is precious. We hear that we should protect children. What this article tells me is that it's not about protecting children, it's about one man's desire to be considered strong, and the lengths those around him will go to for him to feel that way.
In a different world, or life, or timeline, those children could be my children. They could be your children. When we lose sight of the fact that every child is ours to protect, to nurture, to love, we lose our humanity. Some of these children fled horrors we will never experience. Some were hurt by those who should have protected them, forcing them to escape for the smallest chance at survival, and some were let go by those trying to protect them in the hope that some other mother, some person far away from the violence and poverty and terror, would see their baby and help. We will never know every story or heartache these kids have suffered. We will never be able to right every wrong, but we can be better than this. We can be better than the abuse they fled.
I have said more than once that cruelty is a feature of this administration, not a bug. It's heartbreaking to know that millions of people cheer for this behavior. Millions of people voted for this because they wanted cheaper eggs, or maybe they liked that this administration hated the same people they did, I don't know. They chose not to believe the warnings for whatever reason, and now we're here. We're here with children who just wanted the smallest chance to be somewhere safe. It just all breaks my heart.
I don't know what the answer is. I don't know how to make people care about someone who doesn't look like them or speak their language. I don't know how to make someone find their humanity. All I know is that we, as a country, are failing the humanity test, and that is a bitter pill to swallow.
I hate that some Americans believe people shouldn't be treated like people unless they were born here. It's so disheartening and infuriating.
ProBAR does amazing work!