Most people can agree that you don’t torture children to punish adults. You don’t rip children from their parents to serve as a deterrent or warning to others. Yet Trump followers aren’t normal. Last year, government officials and random followers told Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo to just shut up and follow orders:
Chief Acevedo told them off:
Now the Trump administration has ordered deportation against an 11-year-old girl from El Salvador who sought asylum with her family due to death threats from MS-13. The gang has reportedly been systematically killing her family members over a relative witnessing a murder and testifying against them in court.
The little girl has made all 10 of her appointments with ICE, yet a clerical error that occurred during Trump’s government shutdown didn’t have her scheduled for an appointment that she showed up for. She was told to go home but then was given a letter saying she never showed up—and would be deported back to El Salvador alone. You would think this would be an easy fix for the Executive Office for Immigration Review—but no. As of today, she’s still due for deportation.
The fear? That MS-13 is waiting for her.
I haven’t heard a peep of protest from Texas mega-church pastors of the “religious right.” Senator Ted Cruz sure doesn’t seem to care, even though the Chief reminded him that his family fled communist Cuba. Most importantly, Trump doesn’t care.
Chief Acevedo had a few choice words for those who keep lecturing him about the importance of “following orders.”
Once again, he told the Trump administration where to go:
Memorial to executed members of the German resistance. It reads, in part, “You did not bear the shame. You resisted.”
To resist the worst atrocities of our dark era, we need more people willing to stand up against blatant cruelty and tyranny.
When this sad, sick chapter of our nation’s story ends, history will remember those who enabled and those who made excuses. But it will also remember those who spoke out and those who resisted.
History will look kindly on good men like Chief Art Acevedo.
