On June 30, 2018 I joined one of several protests around the country against the immigration policies of one Donald J. Trump. I joined the closest one to me in Edmonds, WA. Hundreds lined four corners on Edmond’s busiest intersection (the corridor that connects the main road to with Hwy 99 and I-5). When I arrived an hour late, there were still hundreds filling all four corners and each corner ran a block long. Car after car honked their support as they drove past.
Edmonds is a sleepy little community, a ferry port, nestled along the shores of Puget Sound. It is predominantly white and fairly affluent. None of these protesters had any personal stake in the horrific treatment of refugees at the border, but there they were lining the streets, many bringing their children and holding signs that said things like, Make America Moral Again, or The Only Place for Ice Is In My Drink. A local Starbucks donated free coffee to the protesters and even sent a worker out with a large garbage bag to collect empty coffee cups.
There were countless protests across the nation protesting this most inhumane sociopathic president. Holocaust survivors have claimed his behavior mimics that of Hitler. Historians have made the same comparison. There are reports (from the ACLU) that children held in these cages have been beaten, raped, had food withheld and threatened with such. There are claims that some children have been sold into the sex trade. No records were kept when these children were taken from their parents so it is going to be a very difficult task trying to find the right children to reunite with the right parents. Further, many of the children have been sent to states as far away as NY and Virginia. How will those children be reunited? Pediatricians and psychologists claim that these children are being traumatized to such an extent they may never recover.
Then we have the First Lady going down for photo ops at the detention centers holding children as young as a year old. The first time she wore a coat with a message emblazoned on the back telling the world she didn’t care and we shouldn’t either. The second time she had the unmitigated gall to ask some of the children if they’d made friends yet. She was all smiles as if she were simply visiting a school or child care center. Until these incidents I was giving her the benefit of the doubt, feeling sorry for her married to someone who cheats regularly on her, who treats her worse than a dog, but it turns out she’s as callous as the monster she married.
I am looking on with horror as I see my country being taken over by fascism. Hate crimes have increased exponentially since this sociopath was elected. We can only hope enough people get out to vote in every election, that more and more people take to the streets. Anyone with a shred of humanity should have joined a protest and should keep doing so. I have worked with emotionally traumatized children and it’s not for the faint of heart. Most people wouldn’t last an hour with such children, but I spent a school year with them. How anyone can still support a monster like Donald Trump who cages children like stray dogs, is beyond me. I was glad to join my local protest and will join all future ones too.
