Responding to the report that the US Department of Homeland Security will begin rounding up hundreds of families from Central and South America and deporting them, Democratic presidential frontrunner Bernie Sanders blasted the plan along with colleague, Martin O’Malley.
The Washington Post reported the alleged plan and Sanders was quick to attack it. He stated his concerns over the innocent families and children’s safety and the dangers of the countries they’ve fled from.
The plan reportedly will focus only on families that bumrushed into the US at the end of last year. These families were instructed to leave but have resorted not to do so nor respond in kind to government procedure. With no other alternative, the DHS is now under severe pressure to physically remove these people as well as thousands held in detention centers throughout the US.
This plan coincides with the agenda of Republican front runner, Donald Trump who has been nothing short of vitriolic in regards to immigration from Central and South America and also Muslims who want to find refuge in the US. The White House is now in a tough corner as the issue of illegal immigration hasn’t been addressed since the mid 1950s when somewhere near 250,000 to 1,000,000 Mexicans and others were rounded up and deported under a program called “Operation Wet Back”. It is unthinkable today to name such a federal program, but 60 years ago this was acceptible and the pressure from the people of the US to rid themselves of the overwhelming numbers of illegal migrants led to this excursion. In the 1940s tens of thousands of Japanese Americans were rounded up and sent to detention camps for no other reason than being Japanese. So the US has a history of corralling large numbers of people it deems undesirable.
The pressure to fight terrorism is another factor here. The Republicans are stating that the Obama Administration is too lax on protecting the American people from foreign terrorists and the public is responding to the Republican’s cry, especially that of Donald Trump who has minced no words regarding his dislike for Latinos and Muslims.
At stake is the White House in 2016. Just one more terrorist attack from Muslims or Latino drug lords and gangs, and the mood of the public will swing fully toward the Republicans and they’re just waiting to pounce on the opportunity.
Obama is wary of this. He knows he can’t afford to make one mistake or the game is all over for the Democrats. The Republicans will gain the White House and Congress and initiate full scale warfare in the Middle East and Central and South America.
Ironically, critics point out that the US for decades has spent trillions of dollars and lost lives to settle issues in the Middle East, while ignoring the problems at their own doorstep such as the criminal politicians and drug lords that plague Central and South America.
Sanders and O’Malley know they have to walk a tight line or end up being attached to the next terrorist attack. Reality and compassion have to set in or the Republicans will win the election lock, stock, and barrel.
