In a moment of staged theater aimed no doubt to his intellectually and morally challenged supporters, Der Trumpenführer signed an executive order ending the current family separation policy implemented by his own regime. Up until now, Trump has lied - yes, lie is the correct term - that the policy was the fault of Democrats even though neither the George W. Bush or Barack Obama administrations , operating under the same congressional legislation had never ripped children, some as young as infants, from their parents. What likely pushed Trump to for the most part rescind his own policy was the growing outcry of Republicans facing reelection in less than five months and the storm of international condemnation raining down on Trump's regime that shows about as much empathy for others as Adolph Hitler's regime. A piece in the Washington Post looks at Trump's theatrical and false and fraudulent gesture to deflect responsibility from himself. Here are story excerpts:
Trump abruptly reversed course Wednesday, signing an executive order ending family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border after a public uproar over the impact of his administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy.
The plan would keep families together in federal custody while awaiting prosecution for illegal border crossings, potentially violating a 1997 court settlement limiting the duration of child detentions.
Trump had repeatedly defended his immigration crackdown, including forcibly separating migrant children from their parents after they crossed the border. But images of young children in tears, housed in metal cages, set off an international outcry.
The inaction sparked international outrage, including criticism from Pope Francis and opposition from world leaders.
Trump’s action came shortly after House Republican leaders vowed to bring broader immigration legislation up for votes Thursday to address the crisis, despite widespread skepticism that a bill could pass.
Separately, Attorney General Jeff Sessions [who is facing a move within his own church to charge him with child abuse] met with Senate Republicans privately amid GOP fears about the political fallout from the separation policy. Upon leaving that meeting, Sessions said he had been “working with the White House and others all morning” on the family separation issue.
Trump’s executive order instructs DHS to keep families in custody “to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations,” language that points to the government’s deficit of detention space for parents with children.
But placing children in those facilities would run afoul of the 1997 “Flores Settlement” agreement that limits the government’s ability to keep children in detention and orders them to be placed in least-restrictive setting possible.
An administration official with knowledge of the plan indicated that the Trump administration was anticipating lawsuits and preparing to litigate Flores [which places limits on child incarcerations] in court, particularly if lawmakers fail to approve a legislative fix.
Some Senate Republicans began publicly and privately pressuring the administration this week to change how the zero-tolerance policy was being enforced. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and a dozen other Senate Republicans urged Sessions in a letter to pause the family separations unilaterally.
Hatch’s staff also privately lobbied Ivanka Trump — the president’s daughter and senior adviser — and told her that they wanted to help Trump find a way out of the border crisis, according to a person familiar with those discussions. A handful of Senate Republicans, including Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), also reached out privately to various administration officials to halt the separations.
“I don’t like it,” Hatch said of the family separation crisis during an interview at the Capitol. “They can’t ignore what I’m saying because I’ve been the president’s strongest supporter, and they know that I’m the middle of everything.”
International condemnation of the Trump administration policy has also continued to build. Pope Francis is criticizing the separation of migrant families at the U.S.-Mexican Mexico border and saying that “populism” and “creating psychosis” are not the way to resolve migration problems, according to an interview published Wednesday. Speaking to Reuters news agency, the pope said, “It’s not easy, but populism is not the solution.”
Answering questions from Parliament, meanwhile, British Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday that “the pictures of children being held in what appear to be cages are deeply disturbing. This is wrong. This is not something we agree with.”
Large potential continues to exist for the abuse of immigrant children and there families. Time will tell if Trump's feigned concern has any reality in fact. Meanwhile, it is crucial to oppose Trump's efforts to blame his own policies on Democrats or Congress. Likewise, the ugliness of Trump and his policies must be kept in people's minds up through the 2018 midterm elections.
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