Demonizing Children

That thousands of children are fleeing to this country to escape crime, violence and poverty in their Central American countries is a true human tragedy. While the Texas Freedom Network does not work on immigration issues, we — like most Americans — want our elected leaders to address this problem responsibly while also treating the children with compassion. After all, those children are innocent victims, having been sent on often perilous journeys to this country.

But extremists on the right appear to have decided to dehumanize those children as disease-ridden, violent criminals who pose a danger to American kids. Take, for example, Alice Linahan. Here’s what the head of Voices Empower, a Texas-based, political consulting firm, posted on Facebook today:

As a Mom who is a legal citizen of the US what are you doing to protect your children come Sept. when they may be exposed in our public school system to infectious disease, gang violence and individuals who have been victimized by sex trafficking? Is your local school district prepared?

Repulsive.

One might expect some of the thousands of children arriving here to be sick, especially considering their difficult journeys. But for the record, vaccination rates in Central American countries are often comparable or even better than those in the United States for conditions such as measles, whooping cough, polio, hepatitis and rotaviruses (which cause serious intestinal illnesses). But don’t bother telling Linahan. She’s too busy fear-mongering to listen.

4 thoughts on “Demonizing Children

  1. Times like this drive home that ‘compassionate conservatism” is an empty phrase.

  2. I guess we need to figure out what Jesus would have us do and then do it with these children from Central America.

    I very much doubt that Jesus would want us to treat them like vermin. It is in moments like this that conservatives show the true colors of their faith in Christ and let us know in spades that they really have none. Jesus told us that we would know them by the things that they do. Targeting helpless, frightened, and lonely children—and demonizing them—gives me all the information I need to know about Texas conservatives.

  3. What is the root of the problem? North American druggies. That’s what provides the Central American drug gangs w/ their power to intimidate & the coyotes/smugglers con parents of those poor children to believe our POTUS will grant amnesty. We are part of the problem.

  4. Suffer the little children to come to me.
    What you do to these the least of my brothers you do to me. Jesus said these things.