Marco Rubio fails children of asylum seekers every day that goes by since his June 22, 2018 speech. Although Florida’s junior Senator’s words that day were mostly logical and reasonable, near the end, he stepped off a cliff and plummeted into shame.
On the Senate floor, Rubio’s intent was to show support for the Republican Party’s plan to stop separating families at the border. But what he eventually did was to demonize those families who are fleeing terror in Central America. Demonize? When did seeking asylum in the United States become a crime? With Senator Rubio’s family history, he should know better.
So what did the Senator say that could cause so much damage? For starters, he compared the parents of child asylum seekers to
- People who lose their homes because of mortgage default and
- U.S. citizens who commit serious crimes, get incarcerated and lose their children
In essence, he validated separating kids even younger than 1-year old from their parents and negated the long-held U.S. policy of treating asylum seekers with respect and compassion. And then knowing his words must sound like that, he tried to say that’s not what he meant. Really? See his comments below, right after he compared asylum seekers to people who lose their homes through mortgage default:
“Every single day, even as I speak some adult in this country is going to be arrested and this adult is going to jail, perhaps for many years, and their children are not going to be able to see them now.
“Now, I’m not claiming that someone who commits a horrible crime in America is the same as someone who crosses our border. My point is to you is that happens every day so it doesn’t diminish it. But no one is suggesting that we should no longer arrest anyone or apply the law to people if it would divide them from their families – because the jails are full of people who have been divided from their families.
“I make these points not as comparison. I’m not saying being evicted from your home and crossing the border is the same thing. I’m not saying committing a serious crime that condemns you to years in jail and crossing the border is the same thing.”
As if that weren’t enough, Rubio actually excused the unforgivable Trump administration policy that made this horrendous family destruction and jailing of children possible. How did he do this? By telling the world how U.S. ways in these situations aren’t so bad because they don’t compare to the truly barbaric methods some other countries treat people. See below for his exact words:
“What I am saying is that off times the application of the law leads to results that trouble our hearts. But we recognize that if we didn’t apply the law, the alternative is as bad if not worse.
“Every sovereign country in the world has laws and a process and most of them enforce their laws in ways that are much more barbaric than anything that you’ll ever be accused of having done in the United States.”
Really? Have we sunk so low as a nation as to excuse one of the worst U.S. government actions in the nation’s history by what other nations do? Again, Rubio fails children of asylum seekers misserably.
Below, you will find the speech on video. See and hear for yourself how Rubio fails children of asylum seekers. The speech is 23 minutes long, but you can shorten it to just the areas of real concern by adjusting one of the two time settings to start at 19:51 minutes:
When Rubio fails children of asylum seeker so blatantly, it is time for Floridians, and others, to confront Senator Rubio with his words and intentions. To contact him by email, phone, and letter. Yes, all three, if possible. Here’s the link to his website where you will find each of his offices and contact information.
https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/
The link to a website of an excellent legal organization leading the fight immigration causes, is listed below. They can always use some support:
Americans for Immigration Justice
And if you would like further information on separating families at the border and related issues, see the links below:
Children separated from parents cry at U.S. detention center (Mercury News – Video)
Quotes About Children (DougDillon.com)
The facts about Trump’s policy of separating families at the border (Washington Post)
Trump’s influence on young people (DougDillon.com)
Why separating kids from parents is a form of torture (CNN)
100 Trump Words to Describe Him and His Presidency? (DougDillon.com)
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