Ken reports on his latest trip to the border in Brownsville TX & Matamoros MX. He witnessed thousands of people whom the US has denied the right even to *file a claim for asylum.* Many people described similar experiences: they’d fled their home countries after being victimized by unspeakable violence and intimidation. They are now being forced (illegally) to wait just *outside of the United States,* waiting for our flawed immigration system to determine whether they’ll receive protection in the form of asylum.
Meanwhile, in the tent camps where folks are waiting, neither the US nor the Mexican governments are providing any food, services or *security* to enable asylum-seekers to survive. Every predator for miles knows that 2,500 defenseless people are sitting ducks, potential targets ripe to be preyed upon.
Another travesty now awaits the asylum-seekers: sudden deportation. Ken and others heard about this and went to the airport in the pre-dawn hours. In a hidden location within the airport, they witnessed 3 busloads of migrants driving down the tarmac to a private plane. ICE officers put shackles on each migrant’s legs and arms, and marched them up the walkway onto the plane. Apparently these shackled familes had been swept up during the night from the tent camps but never told where they were going or what was happening. They knew not whether they would be dumped back in their home countries where the gangs and predators awaited them, or whether they would be dropped into some new third country which was equally dangerous. (Guatemala seems to be the dumping ground of choice for the Trump administration.) Soon the planes took off with their shackled cargo, reminiscent of the cattle cars in Europe during the Holocaust/World War II.
We “rethink the week” with Valerie Endress, Professor of Political Communication at Rhode Island College;; Dean Spiliotis, Civic Scholar and Presidential Scholar at Southern New Hampshire University; and Ron Abramson, immigration attorney in Concord, NH.
We discuss the terrible plague of the coronavirus — in China and now throughout the world. The panic is growing: among the public and medical providers, businesses and economists in one country after another, and now the stock markets and political leaders.
Even the American election is affected by the potential pandemic panic. All of a sudden, Pres. Trump is faced with questions about whether his admini-stration is competent to protect the public. If Americans feel too insecure about their health, perhaps Trump’s political support could fade away.
And how will coronavirus affect the Democratic presidential race? Does any one candidate stand out as sufficiently clear-headed and competent that the public will trust him/her enough to vote for such a person? Similarly, since this is a threat to human health — and with the Supreme Court now poised to hear a lawsuit (joined by Trump) challenging Obamacare — will the public think more seriously about the debate about health care/Medicare for All/Obamacare?
Finally, we wade into our expertise in predicting the future: which candidate is going to end up in the best position after Super Tuesday? Which strengths (and weaknesses) will matter to the American voters, in light of the issues that we’ll be facing in the coming months (stock market crash? health pandemic? one among many possible foreign policy disasters?)? Wow!
