GateHouse Media
July 7, 2018
Eighty years ago Winston Churchill was a lonely figure on
the British home front, sounding the alarm about a growing menace in Europe —
the Nazis. In October 1938 he gave a speech simulcast in England and the United
States. The Defense of Freedom and Peace, also known as The Lights are Going
Out speech, was an oratorical gem and made the case for standing up to Nazism.
One passage condemns the German authorities for promoting a
culture “where children denounce their parents to the police, where a business
man or small shopkeeper ruins his competitor by telling tales about his private
opinions — such a state of society cannot long endure.”
Does it matter what religion or ethnic group is the target?
President Donald Trump continues to aggressively enforced
immigration laws and has instituted a zero tolerance policy for immigrants
entering the U.S. without authorization. According to the Washington Post, more
than 2,500 children were separated from their parents in a crackdown that has
since been stopped by executive order.
Last month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions had to take time
to distinguish the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant
children from their parents at the border from the ignominious conduct of the
Nazis. When asked by Fox News host Laura Ingraham about comparisons between the
immigrant detention facilities and Nazi concentration camps all Sessions could
muster was, “Well, it’s a real exaggeration, of course. In Nazi Germany, they
were keeping the Jews from leaving the country,”
According to the Chicago Tribune, the Trump administration has,
capped the number of refugees the United States accepts at 45,000 — the lowest
number since the refugee program was created in 1980; rescinded the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals program; barred entry from certain
Muslim-majority countries; and ended temporary protected status for immigrants
from Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Nepal, Sudan and Nicaragua.
“No administration in modern U.S. history has placed such a
high priority on immigration policy or had an almost exclusive focus on
restricting flows, legal and unauthorized alike, and further maximizing
enforcement,” concluded the Migration Policy Institute.
The Trump administration’s laser focus on immigration has
rekindled concerns trumpeted by Churchill three-quarters of a century ago.
In a nondescript brick office building in Williston,
Vermont, a town of about 7,500 on the New York state border, the Homeland
Security Investigations Tip Line does its thing. According to the VTDigger, a
statewide news website that publishes government, politics and public policy
reports, the tip line began in 2003 as an initiative designed to crack down on
child predators. It has since expanded into a tip line for undocumented
immigrants and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Data obtained by VTDigger shows that the number of ICE tips
increased by 27 percent between 2016 and 2017. Tips received from across the
country reviewed by Elisabeth Hewitt of VTDigger, revealed the following:
— A worker at a school called the tip line to report parents
of children at the school. She reported them after she learned their
undocumented status because she felt it was wrong for them to use public
schools.
— An employee at a medical facility called to report a
patient who did not have legal status. The patient had been receiving treatment
for more than a year at the facility’s expense, according to the caller.
— A worker in a restaurant called to report his employer
after he learned some of his coworkers did not have authorization to work in
the country. He called in because he was forced to share some earnings with
people he said were working illegally.
— A woman who was separated from her husband called to
report him. She had known about his status for years. They were in a dispute
over property.
A tip line that lets a competitor use the authority of the
United States of America to eliminate a rival — harkens back to a tragic time
in world history. America can, and must, do better.
Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett,
Kelly & George P.C. His book The Executioner’s Toll, 2010 was released by
McFarland Publishing. You can reach him at www.mattmangino.comand follow him on
Twitter @MatthewTMangino.
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