The latest moral outrage directed at the U.S. and its president Donald Trump stems from children caged after being separated from their parents, who are trying to enter the U.S. from Mexico.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration brought in a new immigration policy in an effort to crack down on those who cross illegally. And while it doesn’t call for families to be separated, a zero-tolerance approach was going to lead to the separations.
According to the legislation, with the adult detained and facing prosecution, any accompanying minors were to be taken away. If you cross the U.S. illegally, you have broken the law.
And so the U.S. found itself in a mess. If the president and his entourage didn’t see this happening, then they’re clueless. If they didn’t expect widespread outrage, then they’re clueless.
The only people who seemed to back Trump on this one were the ones who believe the president can do no wrong.
Trump, of course, did what Trump does in situations like this: he lied and blamed the Democrats, saying the Democrats introduced the legislation. Maybe he has a short memory.
Trump has announced changes to the system, but significant damage has been done. It’s another blight for the U.S. and its president.
Some might say it makes the U.S. into a global laughing stock, but there’s nothing funny about caged, crying children.
Now it should be noted Canada has three detention centres of its own for migrant children. Last year 151 minors were detained with their parents in Canadian immigration holding centres. Eleven more were held while unaccompanied by an adult.
That’s not something the federal government wants you to know.
But there’s a big difference between 162 for a full year, and more than 2,000 in the last few weeks.
There’s a right way to go about things, and a wrong way to do things. We’ve seen the Trump administration go about things the wrong way time after time, thanks to the combination of inexperience, narcissism and instability.
They’ve identified what they believe is an issue with people crossing the Mexico-U.S. border illegally. But their solution results in a problem that makes Trump look like the villain, and people trying to cross the border illegally the sympathetic figures.
And it’s all happening right before U.S. mid-term elections. People have short memories when it comes to politics, but it’s unlikely they’ll forget this a few months before returning to the polls.
The Trump administration received a nice boost from its meeting with North Korea over nuclear weapons. It appears he’s going to accomplish more on that front than his predecessors. But any goodwill with voters has been quickly dashed by the images of thousands of children held in cages, calling out for their parents.
