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By Jon Sutz, Editor
No shortage of people have weighed in on the situation at America’s southern border, many either without knowing the most basic aspects of it, other than what was spoon-fed to the public by the “news” media. Some, however, were well aware of these inconvenient facts, but apparently assumed most people were not. A sampling of these facts:
- The spectacle of confining illegal aliens — those who broke into America — in cages, while their cases were reviewed and processed, has been going on since at least 2009.
- The allegation that these accommodations are inhumane did not begin in May 2018, or even during Trump’s presidency. In reality, it was under Obama that these conditions had grown so horrific that the ACLU, hardly a right-wing organization, filed a massive lawsuit against him in 2015, replete with pictures.
- The process of separating suspicious adult illegal aliens from the children with whom they were traveling, who may or may not be their children — or may be the booty of Mexican child sex-trafficking rings — began during Obama’s presidency.
Curiously, there have been no headlines in mainstream “news” organizations that explained all that to the American people.
Instead, this chasm of official lies, deception and omissions gave rise to an endless range of condemnations of America, our Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, and President Trump, from notable array of public figures. Some of these figures are in positions to know the reality, but are maliciously capitalizing on the misconceptions fed to the American people. Others, we assume, have been just as misled as the rest of us, and used their platforms to spread hateful messages, without having done even a minimal amount of fact-checking, to ensure that what they were about to say was accurate, contextual, and supported by evidence.
That said, here is a collection of 15 quotes by such public figures, ranging from the rulers of Iran’s theocratic totalitarian state, to Hollywood celebrities. Here is the entire list:
The public figures
Iran’s rulers:
[1] Ayatollah Khamenei, Iranian Supreme Leader
[2] Hassan Rouhani, Iranian President
[3] Javad Zarif, Iranian Foreign Minister
American celebrities & political figures:
[4] George Clooney and wife, Amal
[5] Common, singer
[6] Sen. Diane Feinstein
[7] Rob Reiner, actor, producer
[8] Tony Kushner, playwright
[8] Jim Carrey, actor
[9] Alyssa Milano, actress
[10] Congresswoman Maxine Waters
[11] Jimmy Kimmel, talk show host
[12] Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Texas state representative
[13] Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee
[14] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, candidate for Congress
[15] Nikki Minaj, singer
The quotes:
Most of the following are presented verbatim; some have been slightly edited for clarity and length.
[16] “This is the United States of America. It isn’t Nazi Germany.”
[11] “I condemn the Trump Administration’s cruel, heartless, and heinous practice on the southern border of separating immigrant children from their families.”
[6] “I can’t imagine the horror of being in a strange place & having my parents stripped away from me at the age of 5. This is so scary to me. Please stop this. Can you try to imagine the terror & panic these kids feel right now?”
[B] “Before us is a person who separates a mother from her child, is against Islam and Muslims, and boasts about a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border.”
[9] ““I’m terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart which is happening in my country. These people have deluded themselves so long that they really don’t think I’m human. And this means that they have become, in themselves, moral monsters.”
[A] “Seeing the images of the crime of separating thousands of children from their mothers in America makes a person exasperated. But the Americans separate the children from the immigrant parents with complete maliciousness. It’s terrorism. One cannot watch with a sound state of mind these children crying on TV. How can they commit such a crime of separating children from their mothers for the excuse of implementing some policy? This shows how evil they really are.”
[C] “The people of the United States are tired of the corruption, injustice, and incompetence of their leaders.”
[4] “I could never have imagined a moment when the federal government is involved in putting children in cages, separating them from their families, and really engaging in human rights violations of a criminal nature.”
[5] “At some point in the future our children will ask us: ‘Is it true, did our country really take babies from their parents and put them in detention centers?’ And when we answer yes, they’ll ask us what we did about it.”
[7] “We are disgusted and rocked to our core by the current administration’s shocking decision to separate asylum seeking immigrant families, the consequence of which is creating orphans with living parents.”
[8] “I am so sad and feel so helpless about the families being separated. This is beyond inhumane…I am just appalled. I am grateful for those sharing how to engage and help, thank God for you. The idea that there is anyone who believes this is justice is simply heartbreaking.”
[10] “Give us your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…and we will lock their children in cages with tin-foil blankets. And scar them for life! You know: The American Dream!”
[12] “It is inhumane. I’d like to say it’s un-American, but it’s happening right now in America.”
[13] “ICE has turned into a terrorist organization of its own, that is terrorizing people who are coming to [America].”
[14] “How dare you? How dare you take the babies from mothers’ arms? How dare you take the children and send them all across the country into so-called detention centers?”
[15] “The heartless actions of this abused agency do not represent the values of our nation and the U.S. must develop a more humane immigration system, one that treats every person with dignity and respect.”
[17] “Let’s cut to the chase — this is about racism. This is pure and simple racism — that’s all this is. He’s hoping that the people who support him will be ginned up and running to the polls to make sure that brown people don’t come into America.”
[18] “In [the movie] Sophie’s Choice, the Nazis only made Meryl Streep give up one of her kids.”
[19] “The family separation policy that Trump has weaponized is Un-American and inhumane.”
[20] “Give us your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…and we will lock their children in cages with tin-foil blankets. And scar them for life! You know: The American Dream!”
[1] Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, June 20, 2018.
[2] Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, June 26, 2018.
[3] Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, June 26, 2018.
[4] Playwright Tony Kushner, June 17, 2018.
[5] Actor George Clooney and wife, Amal, June 17, 2018.
[6] Singer Nikki Minaj, June 20, 2018.
[7] Anne Hathaway, June 17, 2018.
[8] Singer Sarah Bareilles, June 14, 2018.
[9] Singer Common, June 14, 2018.
[10] Actor Jim Carrey, June 7, 2018.
[11] Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, June 18, 2018.
[12] Texas State Representative Rep. Beto O’Rourke, June 17, 2018.
[13] Actress Cynthia Nixon, June 20, 2018.
[14] Congresswoman Maxine Waters, June 30, 2018.
[15] Congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, June 26, 2018.
[16] Sen. Diane Feinstein, June 19, 2018.
[17] Actor-Producer Rob Reiner, June 18, 2018.
[18] Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, June 17, 2018.
[19] Actress Alyssa Milano, June 10, 2018.
[20] Actor Jim Carrey, June 12, 2018.