Trump’s child separation policy
2018 is turning into the Year of the Children. Unfortunately, however, Republicans keep ending up on the wrong side of heartrending, visceral issues regarding child safety. First and foremost this week is the barbaric Trump administration policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border, and then detaining the children in “cages.” This follows the school shooting tragedy in Parkland, Florida last Valentine’s Day, and the subsequent protest movement in favor of greater safety from gun violence in our schools and elsewhere.
Let’s focus on Donald Trump‘s child separation policy, because currently it is taking up almost all of the attention in the media and among activists. Here are a few measures of how badly Trump’s child separation policy is faring:
–In a CNN/SSRS poll released two days ago, two-thirds of respondents disapprove of Trump’s family separation actions. While a narrow majority (58 percent) of Republicans approve, that number is way below the 90 percent approval rating that Trump gets from Republicans, and thus should be a danger sign to Trump and the GOP. Indeed, the CNN poll also indicated that Trump’s overall approval rating is down to 39 percent, possibly due in part to Trump’s cruel child separation policy.
–On Twitter, which often presents a good snapshot of public opinion, #KeepFamiliesTogether and #TrumpConcentrationCamps are both trending highly.
–Republican former Florida Governor Jeb Bush joined his sister in law Laura Bush (and a growing number of Republicans) in condemning Trump’s policy:
Children shouldn’t be used as a negotiating tool. @realDonaldTrump should end this heartless policy and Congress should get an immigration deal done that provides for asylum reform, border security and a path to citizenship for Dreamers. https://t.co/OOjv0vNeVg
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) June 18, 2018
–Yesterday, even the Republican-oriented U.S. Chamber of Commerce (at least its President/CEO, presumably speaking for his organization), called for:
ending the separation of minor children from their parents, permanent protection for Dreamers, and permanent relief for long-term beneficiaries of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program.
–Also yesterday, Steve Schmidt, a lifelong Republican, popular political strategist and former chief operative for John McCain‘s 2008 presidential campaign, announced that he has left the Republican Party. Schmidt specifically cited Trump’s child separation policy as a catalyst for his exit from the party.
If a presidential policy is uniting people on both sides of the aisle, it’s either amazingly good or amazingly bad. In this case, it’s clearly the latter. The widespread opposition to imprisoning babies is a hopeful sign that most Americans are good and decent people. While there is no evidence that Donald Trump will change this inhumane policy because it’s the right thing to do, the time is rapidly approaching where enough Republicans will tell Trump that the policy is killing the GOP politically that Trump will be forced to change it.
Photo by Mike Licht, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/tElBKg
