A Kafkaesque Immigration Story

Most actions by the Trump administration are infuriating. Many are grotesque. Add heartbreaking to many of the immigration stories, like the detention of Roberto Avalos Magallon and Dolores Mendoza Cerda. Al.com columnist John Archibald tells their story so poignantly.

It’s been a while since I wrote Senator Britt. What’s the point, as she stands in the president’s shadow, her smiles conveying allegiance? Yet, perhaps Archibald’s column can touch her heart, stirring her identity as a mother more than a slave to Donald Trump.

Senator Britt,

I am heartbroken and angry after reading John Archibald’s column about the detention of Roberto Avalos Magallon and Dolores Mendoza Cerda. I hope you know the story. They came to care for their grandchildren (Marvin, Orlando, and Acxel) after the boys’ mother died of cancer. Were they hardened criminals? Rapists? Murderers? No, they overstayed their visas and were seeking green cards. For this they should be imprisoned in a concentration camp, leaving their grandsons to fend for themselves? Are these 60-year-old grandparents a risk to the security of the nation?

This is another sad example of the administration’s Kafkaesque immigration policy, where the point is cruelty. No grace for the brown-skinned. I am confident this disgraceful chapter of American history will be viewed like the internment of the Japanese during World War II.

Even more frustrating, you and your Republican colleagues in Congress are willing to abdicate your Constitutional role to let the president — who seeks to be emperor — violate laws and norms and destroy America’s standing in the world:

Consider the undeclared war with Iran; claiming he alone is smart enough to navigate AI; abusive trade sanctions against Canada; a colonial theft of Venezuela’s oil and natural resources; rampant personal corruption, the latest Don Jr.’s Russian oligarch-funded wedding party; and remaking Washington in his image.

I am weary listing the abuses that justify impeachment. I pray the coming election — despite Republican attempts to prevent a fair vote and convert America to an autocratic nation — will start the long process of restoring our democracy.

What will you tell your grandchildren about your role during the Trump presidency?