As an immigrant, I want to be very clear that I am in favour of controlled legal immigration. At the same time, it is hard to look at detention centres and separation of families and not feel the ugly side of the debate. I have so far not seen a single person across the board in any country who has said, we need open borders but somehow that accusation remains. I want to write about immigration in two parts, one on the exploitation of misery of the family separation saga in the US and second on immigration itself. I will write about the former on this blog.
Sometime last week my daughter watched a supposed comedy movie clip which ended with a teenage daughter and her father being arrested and jailed. In the middle of the night, she came to my bed crying. She said that the father and daughter being jailed is bad and she is unable to sleep thinking of them. If my daughter is unable to sleep in the comfort of her bed, having watched the plight of someone being jailed in a movie, I can only imagine the impact of young kids being separated from their parents or guardians.
There is no point blaming Donald Trump alone for this. He did promise a lot of atrocious policies and he is implementing the same. This is also a result of years of propaganda. As bad as the move was, the resulting exploitation was awkward to see. There were four types of reactions, I want to highlight.
- Frenzy Media
- Partisan supporters
- Opportunists
- Partisan opponents
Frenzy Media
As depressing as the news is, it is important for the media to report on facts rather than make it into a reality show. To show crying babies is one but for the media personnel to behave like babies doesn’t inspire confidence in the news. Some of the adequately documented reports are ones where the reports understood the emotions but reported on facts. Opinions are good but that cannot reflect adrenalin rush. Further, when the reporters are trying to make a point, they need to check what they are doing. This below video tweeted by NYT is a perfect example. You don’t show late teen boys if you are trying to make a point on the unaccompanied migrant issue.
Partisan Supporters
I did not expect anything factual or reasonable or remotely nice from a person like Ann Coulter, especially on the subject of immigration. However, what was really appalling to see was the comparison of the immigrants to child rapists and gangsters. This is exactly the kind of rhetoric that intends to instil fear in the minds of people. Also to say we have to treat people seeking refuge humanely has nothing to do with not treating your own people badly. Treating everyone humanely cannot be considered as a ill-treatment of a few. Also, when one generalises immigrants from certain countries as criminals and rapists and criminals from other countries as individuals, it lacks any credibility. Further, no one I saw in the media actually wants open borders and uncontrolled immigration. To keep harping on that point and giving it credibility in the media is the very embodiment of fakery. It is also quite hypocritical when Tucker Carlson does this and complaints about the lack of decency in the left.
Opportunists
As bad as they are, the above two responses are in the expected lines. To me personally, the lines of decency are crossed when one starts to utilise such a situation for their personal agenda. For example, Dave Rubin tweeted the below. It not only delegitimised the opposition for this order, it also the wrong problem to highlight your libertarian agenda.
Firstly, he calls out Senator Chuck Schumer for not wanting to discuss this in the Senate and handle it through the executive branch. He highlights this as some kind of laziness on part of the senator. He also is hinting at this driving some kind of authoritarian streak. This argument doesn’t stand for two reasons.
- This situation was caused by an executive decision. So, it makes sense for the executive decision to reverse it. A bill through house and senate takes more time. It is not easy at the time of an emergency. 2000+ kids are already affected and one can’t wait for bills to be passed.
- The existing immigration bills in the House are bait instruments more than bills. It combines DACA renewal with building Trump’s border wall. It is not a bill that will ever get passed.
Secondly, he sarcastically points out at Trump repealing the separation order by making fun of people who compare Donald Trump with Adolf Hitler. I do not agree with the comparison of President Donald Trump with Adolf Hitler. We are pattern seeking mammals and want to compare one thing we don’t like to the other thing we don’t. That said, Donald Trump should not get credit for reversing an order that will stop the damage which he triggered in the first place. This is called fishing for credit where credit is not due.
Partisan opponents
This piece will not be complete without talking about Maxine Waters. Maxine is a democratic congresswoman from the state of California. Dignity and civility should not be optional traits in a civilised world. It is not an excuse to be uncivilised if you believe your opponent is wrong or even undignified. Maxine called for supporters to confront people in the Trump administration. This is a blatant call for harassment and will incite violence. You cannot become the monster you hate. If you oppose Trump’s lack of civility, you cannot retaliate with uncivil behaviour. Maxine’s behaviour definitely was uncalled for and diluted the entire opposition to this policy. The unruly opposition, in general, will only result in de-legitimising valid, civil opposition. No amount of blame transfer from Maxine can defend her call to confront and harass Trump administration officials who show up in public places.
Demystifying a skeptic's world 