Echo call for compassion toward innocent immigrants - editorial: Donald Trump's disdain for diversity

An editorial echo published in the Connecticut newspaper The Middletown Press

The common thread that weaves together multiple outrages in America today — mistreatment of migrants at the border, children separated from their families and kept in cages, longtime residents far from the border facing threats of deportation — stems from the White House and Donald Trump’s apparently overwhelming disdain for the nation’s growing diversity.

From the beginning of his candidacy for president, Trump has made immigration his signature issue, and he has used it to inflame his supporters. Since taking office, he has missed no opportunity to scapegoat, vilify or otherwise demean people who come to this country in search of a better life for themselves and their families.

This manifests itself in a variety of ways, all of which have salience in New England, thousands of miles from the Southern border. 

On Friday, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont encouraged families  that are worried about promised raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to utilize a state-prepared toolkit designed “for parents who seek to have a plan in place for the safe care of their children in the event that they are detained or deported.”

Although there are people who are unauthorized to be in the country, and perhaps they have committed crimes. They should face consequences. No one is calling for a blanket amnesty on every undocumented immigrant.

But we also need priorities. The powers and resources of the federal government are limited, and dedicating those resources to the forced removal of people quietly living their lives decades after entering the country, many of whom have jobs, families and an otherwise secure place in the community, is so far down the list of priorities as to be nonexistent. ICE raids, in threat or in reality, are cruel and counterproductive.

Meanwhile, closer to the border, a humanitarian crisis is only growing worse. Observers, including lawmakers, have reported desperate conditions as migrants seeking asylum are held in unsanitary, unsafe facilities that defy their rights and deny them their dignity. Those who would fulminate about so-called “illegal immigrants” need to remember that seeking asylum at the border is not illegal, and that only our broken immigration system has created a situation where people wait months or years for their status to be settled.

Rosa DeLauro, the longtime Connecticut congresswoman, planned a trip Monday to see for herself the conditions at a Florida facility that houses migrant children who have traveled to the United States on their own. Previous visitors have said it is overcrowded and lacks the capacity to properly care for children being forced to stay there.

No part of this is necessary. Immigration has been a part of America since its founding, and is essential to our continued vibrancy. Even if the president doesn’t understand that, the rest of us must stand for people who are most threatened by the tides of anger washing over our nation. And all of us must work toward a better, more humane future for everyone in America, no matter their immigration status.

Donald Trump listen up! "No fake news in Mueller Report!"

Editorial echo from The Middletown Press, a Connecticut newspaper: Mueller report shows who gave ‘fake news’

Most Americans were in agreement about whether Trump lied to the public about the matters under investigation by Mueller — 58 percent believe he did so, reports Vox by By Gabriela Resto-Montero

Dateline:  DONALD TRUMP- more lies.

Redacted pages.....and redacted pages in the Mueller Report, censured by #fakeBarr, but the narrative exposes Trump lies.

This shining truth is evident in the much-anticipated Mueller report released Thursday — there was no so-called “fake news.”

Read all about it. No Fake News in the Mueller Report!

As Special Counsel Robert Mueller began his investigation into areas of conduct by Donald Trump nearly two years ago, the news media pursued its own in-depth reporting on the administration. For every revealing story reported and published in some of the most respected media outlets in the country — The New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN — the president would cry “Fake News.”

But he was wrong, and that diversionary tactic is exposed now for what it is — another lie.

The 400-plus pages of the report released by Attorney General William Barr, with redactions of classified material and referrals to criminal courts for further investigation, merit close scrutiny. The American people, for whom Mueller worked, need for him to appear before Congress and explain his reasoning.

The investigation centered on two overarching areas — did the president or his campaign collude with the Russians to influence the 2016 election, and did the president obstruct justice in the investigation? On the face of it, the answer appears to be no on both counts.

Whether Mueller determined there was insufficient evidence of obstruction of justice because others in the White House tried to thwart the president’s attempts should be explored.

But for now we are focusing on the integrity — and necessity — of journalism in contrast to the lies and manipulation by the president and his circle.

It was not “fake news” that a foreign country tried to influence the American election, and succeeded. This should scare everyone. It was not “fake news” that Donald Trump Jr. and others met with Russian operatives in Trump Tower during the campaign season. It was not “fake news” that Trump ordered his attorney, Michael Cohen, to pay off a porn star and keep his extramarital affair secret.

Democracy can teeter on the edge of autocracy when the ruler tries to discredit the truth and baldly attempts to turn the American people against the institution working on their behalf — the press. Remember President Trump calling the media “the enemy of the people?” That is chilling, and couldn’t be further from the truth.

Instead, the Mueller report shows, “fake news” — lies — came from the White House. Under oath, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders admitted that she made up the assertion that many rank-and-file Justice Department personnel had lost faith in their leader at the time, James Comey. This was fabricated as an excuse for President Trump to fire him.

That is one example. We do not have enough space to get into all the lies put forth by the (MaineWriter #fakePresident Donald Trump. (The website PolitiFact does a good job of that.)

Whether you describe yourself as conservative, liberal, progressive, whatever — journalism is for the people. Be informed.

A free and unfettered press, one that does not shirk from reporting on those in power, is essential to democracy.