Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
History and Religion
Trump & Children in Cages, Separated from Parents

Trump & Children in Cages, Separated from Parents

Last updated on: August 15, 2020 at 10:00 am by Dave Armstrong

Trump & Children in Cages, Separated from Parents 2020-08-15T10:00:08-04:00 Dave Armstrong

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

with Paul Hoffer

[compiled from three lengthy Facebook threads, dated 19, 20, and 21 June 2018; see the fuller discussions: one / two / three. Here I will mostly collect my own thoughts and links to articles about it.]

*****

The discussion started with my link to this article:

“Ted Cruz Introduces Emergency Legislation to End Family Separation – It Looks Solid” (David French, National Review, 6-18-18)

And of course the Democrats (being the very exemplars of Christian compassion, unlike us evil, wicked, racist conservatives) will immediately agree with this and legislation will be passed, right? Well, sadly, it’s very unlikely, but I hope I’m wrong and that the Democrats do the right thing.

I linked many more articles, from the conservative perspective:

“The Truth about Separating Kids” (Rich Lowry, National Review, 5-28-18)

“Lost Children? Detention Cages? Baby Prison Bus? Trump’s Critics Will Believe Anything” (Investor’s Business Daily, 5-29-18)

“Associated Press Uses ‘Cages’ to Describe Chain-Link Partitions in Border Patrol Center” (Joel B. Pollak, Breitbart, 6-17-18)

“Fact Check: ‘Caged’ Child Photo Is Not What Immigration Advocates Claim” (Katherine Rodriguez, Breitbart, 6-18-18)

“PHOTOS: Obama Used Same So-Called ‘Cages’ to Detain Child Border Crossers” (John Binder, Breitbart, 6-18-18)

“Unpacking the Manufactured Migrant Children Crisis” (Rush Limbaugh, 6-18-18)

“Democrats Say Trump and Republicans Hate Children” (Rush Limbaugh, 6-18-18)

“How the Drive-Bys Peddle Fake Outrage” (Rush Limbaugh, 6-18-18)

“We Punish Ourselves by Listening to Hillary” (Rush Limbaugh, 6-18-18)

“DHS Secretary: Children Are Being Taken Care Of — ‘Don’t Believe The Press’” (Pam Key, Breitbart, 6-18-18)

“Debunking Lies On Trump’s Child/Border Policy” (Ben Shapiro, Daily Wire, 6-18-18)

“CBP Official: Illegal Kids ‘Have PlayStations, Pool Tables’ in Shelters Run by HHS” (Craig Bannister, CNSNews, 6-18-18)

“Separating Families At The Border: The Hysteria Overlooks Some Key Facts” (Investor’s Business Daily, 6-18-18)

“On Separating Children From Parents and Incarcerating Orphans for Life Without Parole” (Dov Fischer, The American Spectator, 6-18-18)

“Cable News: 22 Comparisons of Immigration Policy to the Holocaust, Slavery” (Bill D’Agostino, NewsBusters, 6-18-18)

“Laura Ingraham Slams ‘Faux Liberal Outrage’ Over Border Child Detention Centers, Likens Them to ‘Summer Camps’” (Jeff Poor, Breitbart, 6-19-18)

“Child Border Crossers Enjoy Nearly 3X Higher Standard of Living than Average Middle Class American Children” (John Binder, Breitbart, 6-19-18)

“Cotton: Democrats Want to Make Kids at Border ‘Get Out of Jail Free Card’ – We’ll Offer Amendment to Solve Separation” (Ian Hanchett, Breitbart, 6-19-18)

“13 Facts the Media ‘Pros’ Don’t Want You to Know About ‘Family Border Separation’” (John Nolte, Breitbart, 6-19-18)

“Sarah Sanders to Laura Bush: Trump Trying to Fix Law that Your Husband Signed” (Charlie Spiering, Breitbart, 6-19-18)

“The Drive-By Media on Me and Immigration Policy” (Rush Limbaugh, 6-19-18)

“The Separation of Criminals From Their Children” (Rush Limbaugh, 6-19-18)

“Bill Clinton and Janet Reno Separated Families” (Rush Limbaugh, 6-19-18)

“Your Host’s Take on the Audio of Kids Crying” (Rush Limbaugh, 6-19-18)

“Here Are The Photos Of Obama’s Illegal Immigrant Detention Facilities The Media Won’t Show You” (Benny Johnson, Daily Caller, 6-19-18)

Funny that the Democrats are very unconcerned about separating 1 million preborn children every year from not only their mothers, but their right to life as well. Hillary Clinton is actually talking about stopping the suffering of children with a straight face, after having defended partial-birth infanticide during one of her debates with President Trump? This woman is utterly shameless and witless.

We live in an insane world, folks.

Big Media won’t report accurately, so I go to those who do (conservatives). Rush Limbaugh is one of the sharpest political analysts I’ve ever heard. The Catholic Church has said families ought not be separated. I agree. Trump and the GOP agree. They want to pass a law that will fix the problem. Next question?

Ben Shapiro has been a huge critic of Trump. He left Breitbart because of it. I don’t know if he’s changed in that respect, but I know what he used to believe. So this is no Trump clone or sycophant. Rich Lowry and National Review are (or were in 2016) huge critics of Trump. But Shapiro and Lowry are now simply dealing with the facts; i.e., doing what (even Big Liberal Media) journalists used to do.

I used to love David Brinkley, Ted Koppel, MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour, and above all, Tim Russert. I also liked Jeff Greenfield a lot. That’s how even liberal journalists used to be: calling it straight: not being deliberate agents of propaganda for the Democrat Party and far left ideology. They could be respected and listened to. I loved all these guys. Before Fox News or the CNN show Crossfire it was all we could watch. So I chose the best journalists among the liberals and it was the people listed above. Those days are gone now. Now Big Media is a relentless assault against the intelligence of anyone even remotely conservative.

Big Media journalism died almost exactly ten years ago. It was on June 13, 2008, when Tim Russert died.

There were 25,000 illegal children being detained separately under Obama in 2013; now there are 10,852. Where’d I get that? From Fox News? Well, Rush Limbaugh did mention it today, but the sources are Newsweek (5-30-18) and Mother Jones (July 2014).

My good friend Paul Hoffer chimed in (his words will be in blue below):

When a parent commits a felony in this country and that parent goes to jail pending trial, Children Services remove the children to care for the child or place that child with other family members until the parent receives their due process. That was not considered abuse at any point of my 35 years as an attorney who represents children. Do you think that there is no trauma in parent removing the child from their home, trekking thousand miles through jungle and desert subjecting them to violence and harm from vs vs and sex traffickers, etc? We take children away from their parents for dependency, neglect and abuse for far less dangerous circumstances hundreds of times a day.

Under current law, anyone who seeks to be declared an asylee or refugee they are entitled to the benefits of our law and to present their claim. The problem is that they are supposed to present their claim at a port of entry. If they cross illegally, there is no way for the field agents to get them and verify their parentage, etc. If people want to claim the benefits off the law, they should show respect of that law by following the procedures to claim legal status. I have no problem with people coming to my door of my home seeking help I just believe that the person knock before entering my home. The border is the front door to our country. People should knock before coming in. By sneaking in time burglar, they can’t expect our government to treat them the same as someone who follows the rules. These folks are fleeing persecution, gang violence, etc. We have the right to take steps to make sure they are who they claim to be and meet the criteria the law requires.

If you have a front door on your home with a lock, you are a hypocrite if you complain about our government border while we take steps to protect our personal borders.

The preferential option for the poor calls us to have special concern for the marginalized. Trump ha s made numerous suggestions to fix immigration issues and Congress who represents interests that want to exploit the immigrants, etc (Establishment Republicans who want cheap labor and Democrats to replace millions of their base who were aborted) refuse to fix it. Trump rightly or wrongly is enforcing the law as written to force Congress to act. Fixing bad law rather than ignoring the problem for next president is showing regard for the poor.

The bishops have spoken out against this but I have seen little done but complaining. If they were truly serious, they would meet with him to discuss their concerns instead of watching CNN. Solutions, as opposed to complaining, is what needs to be done.

When some of these news outlets start making comparisons between abortion clinics and Nazi death camps, I might take them seriously. In the meantime, bombastic rhetoric does nothing but harden hearts.

There are no easy answers to these problems. The issue of separating kids is a complex one. It is illegal for someone to cross the border at a place other than at a point of entry. I remember a friend of mine, a citizen of the United States, got arrested taking a boat across Lake Erie and getting out on Pt. Pelee. The Canadian authorities didn’t catch him but the coast guard did when he tried to come back into US waters. That is a federal crime separate from the immigration issue.

What the real problem is that where Obama ignored the law, Trump doesn’t. If the law is not just, we have a process to change it. We do not ignore it or violate it. What is the worst part about it is that if the folks are seeking asylum or refugee status just went to a port of entry and made their claim, they are entitled by the law to come in pending a hearing. It is not unjust for someone to knock on the door before entering someone else’s home, so it is not unjust to ask people who seek the protection of our laws to follow them. It is a matter dignity and respect.

Now I certainly agree with Sen. Cruz to add more judges and to streamline the process. The ports of entry are swamped and there are long delays as a result. I could envision a process where families seeking that status be sponsored and paroled to the care of the bishops and other concerned folks to make sure these people receive adequate housing, food and medical care and show up for court. I saw a statistic that over 80% do not appear for court once they are preliminarily allowed in (I have not had the chance to verify this fact). If the bishops want us to help overcome this crisis, then they need to volunteer to be part of the solution. Folks should not place burdens on others they are not willing to shoulder themselves.

But Paul, you’re being too sensible; thinking too much. You need to learn to regurgitate whatever Big Media is spoon-feeding us. The last thing we must ever do is think about complex ethical issues of this sort, or to (GASP!) actually try to solve them! Then they couldn’t be a talking point and political football any longer.

Trump and conservatives don’t want this situation to continue any more than the Dems do. But many people will keep believing the lies, no matter what. If Trump solves it, then Big Media will immediately come up with another Big Lie of the Week (after all, even preventing nuclear war was mocked), or his wife can be called a piece of %$#@, and his daughter even worse, or he can be subjected to Punchy DeNiro’s juvenile theatrics once again.

Peter Fonda is calling for scaring to death the children of border agents. How ironic, huh? But I’m sure he missed the irony. That’s the level of our political discourse (and behavior towards each other) these days. Journalism is Dead. Pravda is alive and well in America. Reason is just about dead. It’s on life support.

“Trump signs executive order to stop family separations at border” (John Roberts, Andrew O’Reilly, Fox News, 6-20-18)

“Democrats Have Zero Tolerance For Illegal Immigration Solutions” (David Harsanyi, The Federalist, 6-20-18)

“Trump Moves to Obama’s Position on Family Detention, Democrats Outraged” (David French, National Review, 6-21-18)

So fast! That’s Trump the pragmatist: stop all the BS and party politics, talking points, and polemics and solve the problem, for heaven’s sake.

Now we will get to be entertained by what the liberals lie about next. I predict they will say,”he had to do it because of all the pressure. He didn’t really believe in it.” Mark my words! We’ll probably see that before this day is done. Whatever Trump does, in their eyes, has to be because of some nefarious, sinister motive.

Note once again, too, that Bush II and Obama never signed such an order (and this separation was going on then, too, as has been shown in many articles). So does that make them evil and wicked now? Trump is the one who did it, just like Trump made fantastic progress with North Korea while Clinton, Bush II, and Obama didn’t do one blasted thing to resolve it (which inaction amounted to making it worse). Yet Trump gets no credit from his critics! I keep saying it: we truly live in an insane world now.

Antifa just published the names and addresses of 1500 ICE agents so people can commit acts of violence against them and their children. [link]

Gotta love the oh-so-compassionate left.

What’s amazing is how many folks (otherwise sensible and rational and charitable) believe all this nonsense.

Of course I have never advocated such separation (one person somehow thought that I did and called for me to be fired as a regular columnist for the National Catholic Register; he withdrew it by the end of that day). I made that very clear in my recent writings on the topic. That’s why I was very happy when President Trump signed an executive order yesterday to stop it. And I’ll be even happier if Congress passes a similar bill.

I replied to my temporary critic:

The Catholic Church was against separation, so was I, so was Trump, which is why he signed an order and did more than his two predecessors (not hard to do more than nothing) to solve the problem.

He counter-replied: “During that entire sub-thread he never once said that he agreed with Catholic leadership . . .”

This is false. In fact, I wrote in the thread [which can be seen above]: “The Catholic Church has said families ought not be separated. I agree. Trump and the GOP agree. They want to pass a law that will fix the problem. Next question?”

He did take the post down, to his credit, but no apology was ever offered. So it often goes with us human beings . . . At least he did that much. It’s good for his sake. I’m happy about that. Lying is no good for anyone.

***

(edited on 8-14-20, utilizing material from 19-21 June 2018)

Photo credit: Photo provided by Custom and Border Protection to reporter on tour of detention facility in McAllen, Texas (6-17-18) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]

***

Political & Ethical & Moral Issues

caged children

children separated from parents

detention centers

illegal immigration

illegal immigration policy

Immigration

President Trump

Trump

Trump & caged children

Previous Post

August 14, 2020

Did Trump Call Neo-Nazis & KKK "Very Fine People"?

Next Post

August 15, 2020 Mary's Assumption: Patristic Analogy to Protestant Distinctives

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category & Last Things About Me Anti-Catholicism Atheism & Agnosticism Baptism and Sacramentalism Bible and Tradition Blessed Virgin Mary Books by Dave Armstrong C. S. Lewis Calvinism & General Protestantism Catholic Apologetics Catholic Apologists Catholic conversion Catholic converts Christmas Church (Ecclesiology) Church History Conversion and Converts Development of Doctrine Eastern Orthodoxy Ecumenism & Christian Unity Eucharist & Liturgy Fathers of the Church French Translations G. K. Chesterton Hell Hell & Satan Hell & Satan & Last Things Heresies & Comparative Religion Holistic Health Inquisition & Crusades & Scandals James White Jews & Judaism & Old Testament John Calvin John Henry Newman Liberal / Modernist Theology Life Issues Literary Resume Lutheranism Mariology Martin Luther Music Orthodoxy Papacy & Infallibility Personal Page Philosophy & Science Political & Ethical & Moral Issues Protestant Persecution & Intolerance Protestantism Purgatory Purgatory & Penance Romantic & Imaginative Theology Saints & Purgatory & Penance Salvation Salvation & Justification Satan & Last Things Sexuality and Gender Issues Spanish Translations Traditionalism vs. Radical Catholic Reactionaries Traducciones al español / tradução para português Trinitarianism & Christology Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 April 2010 March 2010 December 2009 October 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 March 2009 February 2009 October 2008 September 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 October 2005 June 2005 April 2005 February 2005 July 2004 May 2004 April 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz