By now, we've all heard the horrible cries of despair from the migrating children torn from their families at the US-Mexico border. From the creation of concentration camps in former Walmarts to moving already-displaced children to places like Michigan, the Trump administration is fostering a heartless campaign that is traumatizing migrant children everyday. Many come to the United States from the south to escape the horrors of their native countries, and what the Trump administration is doing is add more trauma to these people.
In the spirit of tradition in today's politics, we can go on and on tweeting our outrage at these monstrosities. We can add the occasional post on our Snap stories denouncing ICE. We can say that we are better than this.
But the harsh reality is: we aren't better than this.
This odious immigration policy we are seeing unfold on the southern front continues a tradition as American as apple pie: racist exploitation. The United States, from its creation, has deprived virtually every marginalized group that has called it home. Whether it be with the continuing legacy of slavery and Jim Crow for African-Americans, the seizure of land and way of life from the indigenous, the immigration ban of the Chinese and the internment of the Japanese during World War II, the United States perhaps one of the grossest resumes when it comes to infringing on the basic humanity of so many throughout history.
Saying that "America is better than this" is a reflection of naivety when it comes to the other reality of America, quite frankly the non-white one. For people of color, the detainment and separation of migrant children is another unnecessary chapter in the ugliness of America.
What we're seeing Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen enable may be shocking to the naked eye, but it is also important to remember that they did not start this immigration crisis. Instead, they are continuing it. In fact, the Obama administration had deported more than 3 million people during its time in office. And before that, the Bush administration launched Operation Streamline in 2005, which implemented a similar "zero-tolerance" policy we've seen today with Trump.
With all of this being said, the main punchline here is this: know your history. We can argue about whether or not we should abolish ICE or DHS altogether, or we can have an old fashioned debate about immigration altogether. But what this article is meant to say is that there is nothing really proud to say about the history of the United States, and this sadistic policy we're seeing by Donald Trump is testament to this claim.
