Children Also Have Universal Human Rights!

I am an 80-year-old grandfather of 10 grandchildren. I need to say several things about what is happening to children of asylum-seekers and other immigrants (whether illegal or legal) at our southern borders. 

1)  Separating immigrant children from their parents, without legal justification, and subjecting them to detention (a form of imprisonment) is a clear denial of fundamental and universal human rights.

The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, signed and accepted almost 70 years ago by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 (including the United States of America), contains a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations, setting out fundamental human rights to be universally protected.  It declares the following:

In the Preamble:

“recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world
“disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind…
“it is essential… that human rights should be protected by the rule of law.”

Some Pertinent Articles:

I Article 1.  All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs,

Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.

Article 8.  Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10.  Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11.  (1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.

Article 12.  No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 14.  (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

Article 15.  (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16.  (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 25.  (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 28.  Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
The USA signed on to the Declaration on Human Rights in 1948, and to the Children’s Convention on Child Rights (CRC) in 1989.  To “undertake the obligations of the CRC (by ratifying or acceding to it), national governments have committed themselves to protecting and ensuring children's rights – and they have agreed to hold themselves accountable for this commitment before the international community. State parties to the Convention are obliged to develop and undertake all actions and policies in the light of the best interests of the child”.  Moreover, “the Convention sets out these rights in 54 articles and two Optional Protocols. It spells out the basic human rights that children everywhere have:

• the right to survival;
• to develop to the fullest;
• to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life (emphasis mine). 
• The four core principles of the Convention are non-discrimination; devotion to the best interests of the child; the right to life, survival and development; and respect for the views of the child.”

2)  There is no law requiring or instituting such actions against children of immigrants on our southern border (or anywhere else).  This egregious action is nothing other than a policy of this Trump regime, made under the guise of maintaining national security by setting a strong example that will somehow “discourage” illegal border-crossing.  And yet, our democratic and human rights principles call us as a nation to a quite different mission as outlined in the DHR and in our own Constitution:  equal justice, freedom, peace and protection; acting toward one another in a spirit of brother- and sister-hood. Humanitarian leadership and efforts used to define us as a nation.  Now we are seen by many around the world as brutish, dictatorial, narrowly nationalistic, violent and destructive of international cooperation.  No wonder we have been and continue to be under attack by forces bent on our destruction. 

3)  While the separation of children from their parents, and the detention in inadequate facilities, is clearly a violation of universal human rights and our own principles (like Japanese internment camps were during WWII) it is also clearly a violation of our rule of law.  We have enshrined within out Constitution, and our laws of justice, the fundamental principles of:

• Due process - legal requirement that the state must respect all legal rights that are owed to a person
• The right to be charged or to be freed from questioning by police authorities; plus the right to be silent
• Innocent until proven guilty
• Right to habeas corpus (a recourse in law challenging the reasons or conditions of a person's confinement) so that containment can be limited and justice un-delayed. It is an independent civil action and a form of collateral attack to determine not the guilt or innocence of the person held in custody, but whether the custody is unlawful under the U.S. Constitution.” (Merriam-Webster)
• The right to a speedy trial by a jury of one’s peers, or perhaps at least a hearing by a panel of jurists or a court-ordered arbitrator.
• The right to equal protection under law

So, it is incumbent upon us to ask: What laws have been broken by these children?  What are the charges?  Why has there been no legal defense offered on behalf of these children?  No action to get them released?  No writ of habeas corpus? Why can’t the public be admitted to the detention centers?  Is seeking asylum now a crime?  Is illegal immigration not a resolvable issue?  Why has the independent branch of Congress not acted? Have we abandoned our principles and our protection of human beings and their universal rights? 

The unfortunate answer must be a resounding YES, and every brain-washed Trump supporter should take note: this policy is not making America great; it will destroy us and our unique democracy because it ultimately will transform us into a nation based on individualized protections, discriminatory policies and laws that grant power, privilege and protection only to those deemed worthy – all ruled over by a despot and despotic cabal.

4)  Finally, it is time to stop equivocating about what these actions and behaviors constitute.  THIS IS CHILD ABUSE, pure and simple.  And, child abuse or neglect is punishable by legal means, at least in a normal civil society.  It is time for Donald J. Trump, and many members of Congress to receive the consequences for their actions, and mainly their non-action or neglect. Because they are ultimately “caretakers” or “protectors” of children, they bear a special responsibility to avoid doing harm to children, and even to avoid the possible threat of harm coming upon children. Moreover, they cannot avoid the charge of abusing children based on their neglect of the well-being, protections, rights, nourishment and overall development that children should have been provided by our elected caretakers who are uniquely responsible for their welfare.

Yes, I have written about this before in another context, and I refer you to that posting on 10/10/2017.  Let me just quote a few thoughts about which I spoke in that piece:

“if the definition of caregiver or caretaker is expanded to reflect the care given by others in the social network... then anyone paid to be responsible for domestic tranquility, the general welfare, and to secure the blessings of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, might well be considered a caretaker in a very broad sense, but also in a very real sense.”

““The Republican Radicals in Congress have decided …(to) cut funding for almost every program that benefits, encourages, nurtures and promotes children and their development:  research, universal pre-K education, housing for the homeless and the poor, adequate funding for all schools and the resources necessary to bring about a world-class education for all; they cut Head Start, Aid to children and families, food stamps, and housing subsidies, and ultimate repeal of the entire Affordable Care Act, having already gutted important parts of it.  They have neglected children with special needs; have cut Pell grants and neglected to cut back on interest rates for student loans.  They neglect entirely the special needs of homeless children, children with disabilities, children who will not go to college, and of those who drop out of school.  They have done nothing to reform the juvenile justice system or the over-incarceration of drug-abusers.  They have neglected the potential of minority children and have instead laid the groundwork for them to be labeled as perpetual felons with no vote, no rights and no jobs.  I call this abuse and neglect of children who are our most valuable resource.  The congressional naysayers are child abusers and for that they must be called to account.  Impeachment for them is too mild.”

“And let’s not forget, voters who continuously return abusive politicians to office are themselves abettors of abuse, neglecting their duty to protect their own children and grandchildren.  I speak directly to those many seniors who supported Donald Trump, and who, by so doing, have unleashed a child abuser upon their own grandchildren and on my grandchildren.  Shame on you!  You, and others, can perhaps redeem yourselves by never ever voting again for politicians who willfully or neglectfully support cutting back on programs that benefit our children and grandchildren. It’s time to stand up and challenge the child abusers in the White House and in the Congress.”

However, a majority of Republicans support the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from their parents when they are caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, an April 2018 Quinnipiac University poll found.  Republican voters support the policy 55 to 35 percent, according to the poll.  They are the only listed party, gender, education, age or racial group to support the policy, according to Quinnipiac.  Sixty-six percent of American voters oppose the policy, according to the poll.

We all need to push back against the Trumpian tactic of calling questionable behavior, hate speech, or factual detail by something other than what it is.  Lying, distraction, word manipulation, realignment of acceptable and reasonable definitions of words and behaviors, as well as the twisting of moral and ethical principles, serves to blind us to what is really happening to our basic and fundamental beliefs and values. Trump has disemboweled truth.  He has made us the victims of blurred reality and is embarked upon a path of creating a society and a form of government that cannot maintain a set of values or principles because those values and principles are seen as ‘fake’ or no one’s responsibility, or politically expedient.  Bad, even evil or illegal behavior that does harm, or has the potential to harm others, is made allowable because everybody does it, or because it can be attributed to someone else or because it is a necessary means to an end or outcome that is defined as a necessity by an elected official, a designated office-holder, a Fuhrer, or a would-be dictator.   

The plain truth is that these actions laid on the backs of small children are acts of violence, aggression, unmitigated abuse with virulent aspects of illegality attached to them. Trump, child abuser and prejudiced nationalist, is using the most precious resource available to make it rough on asylum-seekers and immigrants from cultures and countries that he despises.  Separation of families seeking asylum is an act of aggression against those children and families which serves to undermine the universal values of which the UN Declaration on Human Rights speaks.  This so-called 'policy' must not stand.  Determine now to do all you can to rid our White House, our Congress (and tangentially, our Judiciary) from these de-constructionists of democratic values and institutions, these violent fascists, these child abusers; these destroyers of democracy and universal human rights.  The child abusers and abettors, who support this policy, must be voted out-of-power everywhere in November 2018! 

UPDATE:  What a difference a day makes!  Donald Trump recognizes when bad publicity and bad policy are slamming him, personally and politically, and (according to news reports) his wife and daughter got on his case in deep background. But, here's the question: does his signing of an Executive Order that essentially calls for maintaining unity for immigrant children and their parents while they are detained really solve anything? 

Are we being BAMBOOZLED?  Of course we are.  First, an Executive Order is not necessarily a problem-solver; it can be more like a symbol, a publicity stunt, a politically-motivated promoter of good feelings, compassion and "heart."  They are sometimes so devoid of detail that issues and problems are exacerbated instead of being resolved.
That is the case here.  First, the E.O. will provoke Court cases, not only on behalf of the children and their families, but because there is a court order based on a Consent Decree between the Court and the Executive, that impinges upon this E.O. by asserting that detention of migrant children can be no longer than 20 days, and the E.O. does not address that issue. That will have to be resolved in court and it will take time to do so. 

Then, there are a few more matters it doesn't address, like:  where are the (estimated) 2,500 children who have already been separated from parents?  How will they be re-united with parents who may have been deported to their home countries? No one has an answer -- there is no defined process in the Order.

On top of that, even before he signed this order, Trump and his minions began a policy of transporting unattended children to other parts of the country (even to NY!).  And how will private and public agencies who care for children get ready for that onslaught if they have no guidance, no direction, no training and no monetary support for the inevitable  increase of services for these traumatized kids? 

He also wants to start placing families and children in tents or temporary fabricated shelters on military bases! WOW! a brilliant Plan.  I wonder just how excited those commanders and their troops are about doing social work instead of being on a military mission?  It says to me that Trump is still just trying to discourage illegal immigration; he still sees his mission as that of providing discouragement to other potential border-crossers about seeking asylum or immigrating to this country, if they have nothing to offer us, or are not the right "kind."

This mess isn't over by a long shot!  That Executive Order is the Trumpian response to something that got out-of-hand and smacked him right in the face.  His "compassionate, heartfelt" response was, of course, to fly off to Minnesota where he will address a rally and attempt to blame Obama and the Democrats for a policy that was discussed by leaders of the Trump administration early-on in his term.  They knew what they wanted to do -- promote zero-tolerance no matter what.  As usual, the Donald and his cow-towing under-lords just didn't see the public reaction being as troubled and as deeply felt as it was. 

So, don't stop reacting just because a 'fake' E.O. was signed.  Watch the process; watch for more abuse; watch for long delays in re-uniting families; watch for detention that is nothing more than imprisonment.  Watch for what a tyrant uses to get his way and to derive more power over his government and his people.  Watch for those Republican representatives and what they will settle for and trade off in order to lick the boots of their authoritarian leader.  And finally, you might want to peruse my postings on the points that characterize authoritarian leaders -- take a look at: 11/16 and 11/21/2015; 8/6 and 8/14/2017.

Trump is getting closer and closer to being a full-blown tyrant, and this debacle about zero tolerance on illegal immigration is a real clear demonstration of the path he is on.