Republican congressman defends Trump policy of traumatizing children

Rep. Tony Gonzales, Republican of Texas, wants you to know that the U.S. has no real choice but to deport five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his family. It's just the right thing to do, he says.

"They're not gonna qualify for asylum," Gonzales said on Face the Nation. "So what do you do with all the people that go through the process and do not qualify for asylum? You deport them. I understand that 5-year-old and it breaks my heart. I have a five-year-old at home. I also think, what about that 5-year-old US citizen?"

I do not know the details of this family's asylum case, although I also know I wouldn't trust an immigration judge to decide that one fairly given that the Trump administration has been firing large numbers of immigration judges, with at least some evidence that judges who grant higher percentages of asylum applications are more likely to be fired.

The cruelty of the overall statement almost goes without saying. It's a Republican talking about deporting a five-year-old who the U.S. has already imprisoned with no reason as his family follows the rules to pursue asylum. 

But this: "I also think, what about that five-year-old U.S. citizen." What five-year-old is harmed by the existence in this country of another child seeking asylum? None. The answer is none. And there's a reason Gonzales didn't explain what he meant by that. He was just saying it to say it, to imply that there's some danger here posed by a five-year-old child. It was a gesture for the outright bigots in the audience, but also for anyone who doesn't want to believe they're hateful, but wants some shred of a reason to believe that the detention of Liam Conejo Ramos isn't as bad as it looked. 

We could also talk about the U.S. citizen children – including children with cancer! – who have been detained and deported by the Trump administration.

But in the end, whichever of these children we are talking about, we are talking about children. Children detained, imprisoned, denied medical treatment, deported. Children who matter as much as your children or the children of Republican elected officials. And the government – our government, even if we never supported this administration a moment in our lives – is not letting up.