Immigrant vs. Ignorant

Triple Crown season is over and current events have caused me to shift my focus away from the fun and pageantry of the Sport of Kings and toward a more serious and deeply concerning matter.

I have read and heard some astonishing things on social media regarding the internment of children along our southern border. The slack-jawed, knuckle-dragging Neanderthal who wrote, “shoot um all” tops my list of moral degenerates.

I will stipulate that I completely understand that these children or their parents / guardians did break the law by entering the country illegally. They committed a misdemeanor. With that understanding, is there anyone who can explain why these children do not deserve our compassion? Is it necessary to house the children in cages while separating them from their parents?

We should understand the extraordinary circumstances faced by families willing to leave their homeland for an uncertain future in the USA. Consider that they make long journeys through the desert, risking arrest upon arriving in the United States because even that is a potentially better fate than staying in their home country.

While our immigration policy has long been a subject of debate, one thing we should all be able to agree on is that a family that arrives here together should stay together. Separating the family only exacerbates a tenuous situation. It provides immeasurable grief for a parent and traumatizes the children.

So, back to my previous question. Why don’t they deserve compassion?

Is it because they have brown skin?

Is it due to the fact they speak a different language?

Does the fact they were born in a different country exclude them from deserving kindness and understanding?

Would it make a difference if the immigrants were from Europe? Would we feel differently then?

Or, is it simply because they “crossed an imaginary line, on a giant rock floating in infinite space”? Credit goes to Twitter handle @funkaliciouzz for that one.

I think I know the answers. I also believe those without compassion for these children and their families should perhaps devote significant time to self-reflection. If they identify as Christians, they might benefit by studying the teachings of Jesus.

You will notice that this post does not speculate on the administration’s reasons for family separation, nor does it propose specific immigration policies. My only purpose is to shine a light on what I believe to be a heinous act – one unbecoming of a nation of immigrants that proudly points to a symbol of liberty engraved with these words from Emma Lazarus:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”