Friday, June 22, 2018

Honduran Girl Crying -Tragic or #WompWomp?

A 2-year-old cries as her mother is searched near the U.S. border on June 12, 2018

The picture of a Honduran girl crying as she and her mother are detained in Texas has grabbed worldwide attention and come to symbolize the intense debate about separating children from their parents. 



Time magazine put the young girl on next week's cover, but the Border Patrol agent involved in the dramatic scene says the photo might be a little misleading. That agent said the mother and daughter were never separated and are still together. 
"We were patrolling the border. It was after 10 o'clock at night," Border Patrol agent Carlos Ruiz told CBS News' David Begnaud.
He was the first to encounter Sandra Sanchez and her daughter after they allegedly crossed the Rio Grande River into Texas illegally.
"We asked her to set the kid down in front of her, not away from her, she was right in front of her...So we can properly search the mother," Ruiz said. "So the kid immediately started crying as she set her down. I personally went up to the mother and asked her 'Are you doing OK? Is the kid OK?' and she said, 'Yes. She's tired and thirsty. It's 11 o'clock at night.'"

"They're using it to symbolize a policy and that was not the case in this picture," Ruiz said. "It took less than two minutes. As soon as the search was finished, she immediately picked the girl up, and the girl immediately stopped crying." 
Moore says Ruiz and other agents acted professionally that night. But he is happy with the cover and the response to the image.
"Oftentimes, immigration is talked about in terms of statistics, and when you put a human face and humanize an issue, you make people feel. And when you make people feel, they have compassion. And if I've done just a little bit of that, then that's OK," Moore said.
Ruiz said he and his fellow agents represent more than just the Border Patrol logo. 
"We are also fathers, we are also sons, we are also have families, and we do care, and we do our jobs, and we treat these people as humanely and as best as we possibly can," Ruiz said.
Sandra Sanchez and her daughter were arrested on June 10 and are still detained, so Sanchez has not been able to respond to any of this. According to U.S. Border Patrol, they were only in their custody for 72 hours and were then turned over to Health and Human Services. It's unclear where Sanchez and her daughter are now. 
The photo has reached the young girl's father in Honduras. He told Univision it broke his heart and that he hoped his wife and daughter's rights were respected. 
Finally the girl's went on the explain that the mother took it upon herself to travel to the United States to seek a better job and life. She paid a coyote $6,000.00 to take her across the border. She there are also numerous that she had previously been deported. 
Cedar's Take: Heart breaking or #WompWomp the story got a lot of mileage because it at least for the 24 hour news cycle fit the Democratic narrative that Trump and Republicans are heartless bastards.
The girl and her mother are from Honduras, which is an amazing country. Beautiful beaches fabulous resorts and stunning mountains. However there is, at least in the back country, massive corruption and crime. "Banditos" with "Pistolas" are everywhere once you stray of the tourist routes. I have traveled to Honduras several times and while it has a wonderful coastline its not without shocking poverty. It is after all a 3rd world country.
And it is the birthplace and former home to my sister-in-law, who now resides in Atlanta as an US Citizen. She came here 15 years ago speaking only Spanish on a work visa, in other words she's a legal immigrant.
It took Sanchez a month and $6,000.00 to travel to the Rio Grande River and cross the dangerous desert countryside and finally a river to step into the United States illegally.  . 
It took my sister-in-law a month's worth of paperwork and a $500 plane ticket.
So why do they do it? Why not go south to Brazil or Argentina countries with thriving economies? Why not enter the US legally? 
I don't have a clue do you?
Did you know that of the 2000 plus children being held because their parents tried to unsuccessfully enter the US that only 24 are from Mexico? The rest are from Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. 
Of course these are only those who got caught. 
Yesterday the cable contractor shows up at my house he's from Mexico via, California and his co-worker from Honduras in fact he knows the city where my sister-in-law is from. And he tells me he came here in January via Texas with six other men all from Honduras. They crossed the border at night waiting til just before first light to move then hiding just on the other side for another day before moving north. 
Crossing during the winter months gives a little more darkness, the long night tires the CBP Officers and they work in teams spaced a few minutes apart but taking different routes to predetermined points. 
The have what is basically slavery's underground railroad with passwords and safe houses. 
They do it for the money. Six months work here is 3 maybe 4 years of work at home. Because they travel on their own they are at great risk of capture from gangs and Mexican Police who will use them as decoys and bait for the US CBP. 
So why does Mexico allow them to travel across their country to break US laws? Because the migrant worker travel business is very lucrative.  






2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll say it right now! That was not Kirk Bynoe getting a blowjob in that video! That was Cecil Brisbon, but they are covering it up. This place is so corrupt.

Anonymous said...

Post the video maybe Cedar can start a poll?