02-05-2025
Our country has a new target: mothers of babies. It is truly evil genius
Ray Marcano, a longtime journalist, is the former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror, and a Fulbright fellow. He is a frequent Columbus Dispatch contributor.
Parents don't let their babies go.
Give them a choice, and it's no choice. My baby goes with me.
That primal instinct, that cocoon of protection, that deep-seated love, has been weaponized by a Trump administration that doesn't care about keeping families together.
Instead, the government is giving moms and dads here illegally a choice: Take your children born in the United States with you or leave them here, alone.
It's a genius move. And it's evil.
When Trump promised voters he would deport illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds, Americans cheered.
Cases like Rachel Morin, a mother of five killed by an illegal immigrant from El Salvador with gang ties, became seared in the American conscience. Alleged gang members have been arrested in the Columbus area.
But Trump, buoyed by early support, has taken a different approach.
Instead of keeping families together, Team Trump has decided to tear them apart, so long as the President can crow about deportation numbers.
What we know: ICE says it arrested Venezuelan gang member in Columbus
It's worth noting that a federal court vacated former President Joe Biden's 'Keeping Families Together program.' The program would have allowed certain spouses and stepchildren of US citizens to stay in the country pending the resolution of their cases.
The order, in place or not, likely wouldn't have stopped the administration from its latest tactic.
Weaponizing children.
This isn't an exaggeration.
Three American-born children, ages 2, 4 and 7, last week were deported to Honduras with their mothers, and a judge wondered whether the government sanctioned the removal of U.S. citizens to a foreign country.
A lawyer said in a court filing that ICE held the two-year-old girl to persuade her father to turn himself in. The four-year-old has Stage 4 cancer and no access to medication, according to the National Immigration Project.
There are other, equally painful and shameful cases. A Cuban woman was deported to Cuba, leaving her American husband and 1-year-old girl behind.
And in Ohio, an illegal immigrant seeking asylum has been arrested and threatened with deportation. He has a wife and two children — one born in the United States — and his family could face the same, terrible choice.
There's another common thread in most of these cases. The illegal immigrants willfully go to their check-ins, where they're arrested. Some have legal deportation orders from years ago, which begs the question: Why now?
That's an easy answer. Trump's reportedly been angry that deportations aren't happening fast enough.
So instead of going after the criminals, as he promised, he's going after the most vulnerable.
Moms with babies.
Using children as leverage shows a lack of humanity, made worse when trying to justify the action. Border Czar Tom Holman denied the government deported American children because the moms wanted to take their babies with them.
Of course they do.
That's the evil genius of the plan.
The government has an easy way to round up illegal immigrants, and that's when they for their check-ins, often with their children in tow.
Easy target. Arrest the mom and give her a choice. Take the baby with you or leave her here with … who knows?
It's genius. It's evil. It should stop.
Let the families stay together until their cases are resolved. It's the humane thing to do.
Ray Marcano, a longtime journalist, is the former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror, and a Fulbright fellow. He is a frequent Columbus Dispatch contributor.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: US weaponizing babies against their moms. It's a genius move | Opinion
