On American Heartlessness

We start or suborn false wars. We seldom anticipate the near-term consequences and seem incapable of comprehending the long-term consequences with which we and the rest of the world may be dealing for decades to come. The goodness of our global salvation in World War II is now relegated to the history books in a distant past increasingly absent from any emotional understanding for over two generations.

A world filled with a younger population has no connectivity to that seemingly-irrelevant past. Instead they carry visions of Abu Ghraib humiliations, of failed military expeditions into Iraq and Afghanistan, with even our loss in Vietnam sliding past the range of recent memories. They see toppled dictators, surviving interminably on U.S. “aid.” They read headlines of U.S. serial killings while “crazies” scream that the right to own guns trumps the lives of their own children, blathering meaningless mantras that “people kill people.” And mostly they see an unrepentant bully whose financial institutions managed to send the world into a desperate financial tumble. We shrug it off, but travel almost anywhere, ask the right questions, and the responses are almost uniformly the same.

Politicians in foreign lands can now build political careers raging against American arrogance. Oppose American policies and surge ahead in the polls. The promise of a modern upscale life, the once-perceived reward for following the American way, has given way to economic contraction, climate change that in no small way was heavily supplemented by American industrial growth and the tatters of lives without hope, from a powerhouse that can no longer afford its own future generations with the education and lifestyle of their parents. Instead the U.S. offers a rising income inequality from which the impoverished world seeks to escape. Western-hating extremists, with bullets and bombs flying, are offering “hope” against the failed pledges of American policy-makers… Though we know that such efforts are doomed to failure, at this moment, there is little we can offer to counter the perception of the failed “American” path.

The horrors of Putin’s folly in supporting pro-Russian separatists with arms and “volunteers” have distracted the world in the morbid cacophony of the search for bodies and wreckage from Malaysia Air flight 17, downed in the civil war zone we call Ukraine. Putin’s Russia seems to offer less even than America’s now empty pledges have provided. It isn’t about America vs. Russian anymore… or even America faces the economic powerhouse and central planning of the new invigorated China, equally responsible for climate change nasties. The bigger conflict is the macro clash of cultures.

But to many, America still represents a level of freedom lacking in so much of the world. Despite the fact that we are a violent gun culture, our gangs have not managed to challenge the political system itself, our streets are not flowing with the blood of cartels asserting their turf even though there are “dangerous neighborhoods.” In most of America, children can walk to school in relative safety. Though truncated, we still do offer universal primary and secondary education and the prospect of rising through education. There still is hope. We still can offer a lot to people willing to learn, work and strive.

Wouldn’t be nice if we could show the rest of the world the gentle and caring largesse that once defined our values? If we could embrace terrified children, separated from parents willing to let go of the loves of their lives in order for their little ones to escape ultra-violence of cartel wars, dangers and societal dysfunction that threaten to suck up their kids into drug wars and potential exploitation without end?

Would it support their cause if their violent experiences actually were caused by American policies? A war on drugs that enlisted governments in Latin America with U.S. military and DEA advisors, ample military supplies to counter cartels who have used America’s virtually non-existent gun-sales restrictions to make sure they have sufficient weapons to challenge any local police action. A war generated by America’s failed internal efforts to stem its own illegal drug sales and usage.

So ask yourself a question. If you were a child raised in brutal streets, intimidated by corrupt local officials and steely-eyed cartel operatives looking for the next generation of recruits, how would you react, shortly after your arrival, to a “suit” or a uniformed officer asking you rather intense personal questions after your harrowing journey, most probably from somewhere in Central America? How about if you are held in a cage before the questioning begins? Would you be open and confident in your interrogation… or still reeling and untrusting from your experiences?

The compromises on Capitol Hill are focused on expediting a process to get rid of these children as quickly as possible. Gone are the sympathies from the Reagan administration’s amnesty program that cleared a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented aliens. Irrelevant are the policies of both the Clinton and Bush administrations to stay deportation pending a deeper inquiry as to amnesty requests. Get ‘em out say angry picketers to the kids! No room at the inn for those facing rape, sexual trafficking and massive drug wars in their homelands.

“Lawmakers are deadlocked on a plan to deal with the surge in migrant children who are filling detention centers along the Mexican border, with both Democrats and Republicans saying [July 22^nd] that it was increasingly unlikely they could reach an accord before Congress leaves town for a five-week recess at the end of the month.

“Senate Democrats’ plan, which they [formally introduced on July 23^rd], call[ed] for roughly $2.7 billion to stem the crisis — nearly $1 billion less than President Obama requested but enough, they said, to get through the end of the year. Republicans in the House and Senate rejected it out of hand, saying that it amounted to giving the president a blank check because it did not include any changes to immigration law to address the overall problem.” New York Times, July 23^rd. Social conservatives cannot seem to get their heads around the notion of humanity and Christian kindness.

Who cares about facts? “A 2014 study by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) found that 58 percent of these children are likely eligible for international protection. The study involved 400 in-depth interviews by teams of experienced researchers…” San Diego Union-Tribune, June 28^th. Question them quickly and ship ‘em, out!

“Minors questioned shortly after being caught in locations, like Border Patrol stations, where they may feel unsafe often do not disclose dangers at home or abuses suffered during their journey, lawyers who are counseling them say. They are disoriented, wary of strangers and sometimes traumatized, and they have little understanding of the legal process.

“‘Many children would be sent back to harm,’ said Jonathan Ryan, executive director of Raices, a legal-services organization in San Antonio that has conducted in-depth screenings of more than 1,000 unaccompanied minors in an emergency shelter at Lackland Air Force Base. ‘We would have their names here, and the morgue in Tegucigalpa will have the bodies down there,’ he said, referring to the capital of Honduras… Mr. Ryan and other advocates who have conducted deeper screenings of more than 3,000 Central American minors this year in shelters in Texas found that at least half could present viable claims for visas.” New York Times, July 19^th.

Conservative Texas has a different welcoming mat planned for the kids: “Gov. Rick Perry said on [July 21^st] he is deploying up to 1,000 National Guard troops over the next month to the Texas-Mexico border to combat criminals that Republican state leaders say are exploiting a surge of children and families entering the U.S. illegally… The deployment will cost Texas an estimated $12 million a month. Texas Adjutant General John Nichols said his troops would simply be ‘referring and deterring’ immigrants and not detaining people -- though Nichols said the National Guard could if asked… ‘We think they'll come to us and say, `Please take us to a Border Patrol station,’ ‘ Nichols said.” FoxNews.com, July 21^st.

That so much opposition comes from Bible Belt social conservatives makes we wonder whether they (a) have read the New Testament and understood its messages of tolerance, charity, forgiveness and brotherly love, or (b) went to church this past Sunday with Christianity in their hearts. Hey, tough on immigration folks, what would Jesus do? Fortunately, there actually are deeply religious folks who oppose this heartless GOP compromise: “[On July 22^nd], a coalition of evangelical organizations sent a letter to members of Congress, opposing proposals for expedited deportation of the migrants. A similar letter is being prepared by a wide range of mainline denominations, including the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ. Earlier this month, 20 national Jewish groups issued their own statement.

“The Catholic Church also opposes any effort to make it easier to deport children; last week, the archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Francis E. George, said he had offered facilities in his diocese to house some of the children, and on [July 21^st], bishops in Dallas and Fort Worth called for lawyers to volunteer to represent the children at immigration proceedings.” New York Times, July 24^th. We have a chance to take responsibility for the consequences of our own drug wars and make life better for the majority of these innocents who deserve what they came here for.

I’m Peter Dekom, and it’s time that Americans step up to the values they say they hold dear.