Separating Kids from Parents is NOT Normal

I have no idea how anyone can justify the things we are seeing in the news. Beyond political pettiness, jingoism, and sheer blindness to amorality, I just can’t wrap my head around separating kids from their parents.

That we see this and still have people justifying, normalizing, rationalizing taking kids from their parents in the manner in which we’re seeing is worrying. It’s past baffling, frustrating, and confusing. I’m worried at the state of madness we’re entering where anything is justified because, well they’re immigrants.

What?

Have we reached such a new low that anything can be justified for the supposed greater good? What does it say of someone who is supposedly Christian who not only turns a blind eye but nods in approval at what we’re seeing?

Do not get me wrong, I’m not naïve enough to think that the media coverage does not have a role in how we're talking about this. But even if it’s skewed towards one political side, that does not change what’s happening. If even one of these cases were real, that would be bad enough, but it’s not an isolated case. It’s a new norm. It’s the new US.

There are a LOT of topics to be talked about with the current state of affairs, but when it comes to immigration, the level of ignorance in general is part of the problem and I am still very ignorant because being from Puerto Rico, I had no idea how hard it is to get US citizenship. People say, why not get a Green Card? Why not apply for citizenship? In these fast-food times, how long do you think it takes to become a US citizen? By the way, I don’t mean people who enter illegally as so many people are quick to mention, as if it’s a cardinal sin against the US. No, I mean professionals with degrees who pay their taxes, are law abiding citizens, and actually contribute to the country. Do you think it only takes days or months? I’ve worked with people from countless countries and the immigration process varies from case to case, meaning that if you're from one country, it's probably easier to get citizenship than another. The process can last a year, or two, or five, or eight, or ten, or more. It can cost thousands upon thousands of dollars and even so, there’s no guarantee. I know people who have either HAD to leave or given up on the immigration process because even with all of what they have to go through, even all the hoops they jump through, they still have to deal with the fact that a LOT of people don't want them in the country.

Regardless of your opinion of immigration and immigrants, the case of immigrant children being separated from their parents and how politicians, officials, lawmakers, and fellow citizens want to normalize this is a new low and by all means, you can stop calling yourself Christian if you are for this. That’s a bold blanket statement but I can’t see any way in which a compassionate God would not only allow, but condone and encourage what we’re seeing as if it’s a good thing. To me, there is honestly no moral gray area on how this is all being carried out. There is no justification where I see this and say, OK I see your point. Calling this a bargaining tactic is even more disgusting and it’s been used in the media and by politicians. And you know what? The only other instances where I’ve heard something similar is from dictators and terrorists.

If you do a search on the topic, it becomes more worrying because people are intensely defending this. "If they entered illegally, it's their fault. The blame is on them. Get out of our country." OK. So you want to deport people because of your beliefs and because someone entered illegally. Why do it in the manner in which they are doing it? I'm not saying you have to give a free pass to everyone and I'm not even talking about the immigration process in general, which has its countless areas of opportunity. I'm talking about how these separations are being carried out and people saying it's not only allowed but correct. That this is just like when someone commits a crime and either the state takes the children or they are sent to their relatives as if it were even remotely close to as organized as they say.

It may be a matter of opinion, but I honestly feel we need to be better than this. And not just a little but A LOT. Alas, people insist on supporting their party no matter what and conveniently turning a blind eye to things they would easily condemn if the same happened to them. It’s all about rooting for your team unconditionally and with this topic and during these times, it’s becoming harder to just accept someone else’s opinion in matters like this.

This isn’t about taxes. This isn’t about guns. This isn't about Social Security or taxing the healthcare system. This isn’t even about immigration. This is about infant children being taken from their parents. Don’t add adjectives. Don’t add categories. Don’t add nationalities. Don’t add immigration status. Take it for what it is. Kids taken from parents. Want to deport them all? That's a different topic and one I disagree with as well, but that's a matter of opinion. Taking a three-year-old from their parents' arms and putting them in a cage is not. That's just messed up and please don't describe it like a summer camp, as some media outlets are. Auschwitz was not a summer camp. Japanese internment camps were not summer camps. Cuban concentration camps in Miami during the 60's were not summer camps and what we're seeing is riding on similar lines. 

Please, don't look at this from a conservative point of view. Don't tell me how liberal logic is flawed because they support abortions but are against deportation or how this is being carried about. Don't tell me that it's the parents' fault. Don't view this from a political or ideological point of view. View this as a human and tell me how you feel about it. I have and I'm telling you right now, this is a far cry from whatever "great" is supposed to mean.