One_liners
_ICYMI: more than 2,500 scientists published a report that leaves no doubt about the environmental harms that Trump’s wall would cause.
_In another blatant abdication of its responsibility in creating a crisis, the Trump administration said in federal court that they are not responsible for reuniting children who had been torn away from their now deported parents and suggested ACLU should be responsible for taking care of this.
_SBCC steering committee member Joanna Williams of Kino Border Initiative describes how Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy has resulted in a manufactured crisis at our border ports of entry.
_SBCC steering committee member Christina Patiño Houle of Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network comments on the government’s shameful failure to reunite torn-away children with their parents, as well as their lack of commitment to meet court-ordered deadlines.
Must_reads
_Grannies of the world unite! After watching the disheartening news about the emotional trauma inflicted on children who were torn away from their parents as a result of Trump’s “zero-decency” program, it’s heartening to see how people are standing up for the universal values of compassion and care_including grandmothers. About two dozen grandmothers have started a caravan departing from New York City and traveling throughout the country and along the southern border to protest family separations. Learn more about the Abuelas Responden/Grannies Respond_including watching their video diaries_here.
_Mother doozies. There were some real doozies that came out of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing, “Oversight of Immigration Enforcement and Family Reunification Efforts,” including the admission that concerns about the potential trauma that could be inflicted on children by family separations had been expressed_and ignored_prior to the implementation of Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy. Trump’s administration should be taken to task over knowingly inflicting harm on children. Other doozies include not one government witness raising their hand when asked if they thought the program was effective and refusing to answer the question of whether or not they would send their own children to family detention “summer camps” (which is how one witness described family detention facilities). This will go down as a shameful chapter of U.S. history.
_Mother lode. This is a great summary of studies suggesting the ineffectiveness as a deterrence policy of tearing children away from their families, including this research that shows the difference between rhetoric and practice of Trump’s “zero tolerance” prosecutions of people who are only trying to make a living for their families or seeking refuge in the United States. Will this trove of knowledge sink in?
_Flip-flopper-in-Chief. After the House Appropriations Committee passed a homeland security spending bill that would waste $5 billion on 200 new miles of Trump’s vanity wall, Republican congressional leadership seemed to talk Trump into waiting until after the midterm elections to push for his wall. Trump, however, also seems to be listening to more conservative views that are telling him he must fulfill his misguided campaign promise prior to the midterm elections to rally his base. So now Trump is again threatening a government shutdown if he doesn’t get his wall, clearly illustrating that politics seems more important to this administration than the reality of an unnecessary and harmful wall. Flippity, flippity, flop.
_Camping for a cause. Help push back against the next harmful installment of Trump’s vanity wall by joining advocacy groups on Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 11-12, to Reclaim the River at the National Butterfly Center with a campout and a day of recreation and resistance along the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo. More information available here. #NoWallsNoAgentsNoBeds #DefundHate #RevitalizeNotMilitarize
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border_lines is published every Friday for your reading pleasure. If you’d like to submit an item for inclusion, please email Vicki B. Gaubeca at [email protected], by Wednesday COB.