IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY FOR TERRORIZING CHILDREN
ACTION ONE: PROTEST TODAY TO #CLOSETHECAMPS
TODAY, JULY 2, JOIN US AND THOUSANDS OF OTHERS IN A NATIONWIDE PROTEST TO “CLOSE THE CAMPS.” IN PORTLAND, OREGON, THE RALLY WILL START AT 11:30 A.M. OUTSIDE THE OFFICES OF SEN. WYDEN AND REP BLUMENAUER IN THE COURTYARD OF THE FEDERAL BUILDING AT 911 NE 11TH AVE. THIS EVENT IS ORGANIZED BY INDIVISIBLE OREGON, NASTY WOMEN GET SHIT DONE, AND MOVE ON.
WE WILL ASK SENATOR WYDEN AND REPRESENTATIVE BLUMENAUER TO:
- INSPECT AT LEAST ONE OF THESE CAMPS DURING RECESS AND ASSESS THE CONDITIONS FOR YOURSELF.
- DEMAND THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION #CLOSETHECAMPS AND INVESTIGATE CONDITIONS AT THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS
- CALL FOR AN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY TO HOLD TRUMP ACCOUNTABLE FOR HIS CRIMES INCLUDING THESE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AT THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS.
ACTION TWO: CALL YOUR SENATORS
SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR WYDEN AND MERKLEY:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
I am shocked at how migrant children crossing the southern border are being abused and dying. The Trump administration has torn thousands of kids from their families and thrown them into facilities that are rightly called concentration camps. Unless Trump is made to follow the law and the rights of children, their treatment will certainly get worse. We need bold leaders, right now, who will stand up in Congress and stand with me in the streets. I ask that you:
- Inspect at least one of these camps during recess and assess the conditions for yourself.
- Demand the camps be closed.
- And I ask that you speak out, at long last, for an impeachment inquiry to hold Trump accountable for his crimes including his human rights violations. Your delay emboldens him. Trump has cruelly and casually inflicted serious harm on thousands and violated the rights of children and others.
CALL SENATOR MERKLEY
CALL SENATOR WYDEN
ACTION THREE: CALL YOUR HOUSE REPS
Not sure who your U.S. Representative is? Find out here.
SAMPLE SCRIPTS FOR REPRESENTATIVES:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
FOR BLUMENAUER AND BONAMICI: I am shocked at how migrant children crossing the southern border are being abused and terrorized. The Trump administration has torn thousands of kids from their families and thrown them into facilities that are rightly called concentration camps. Unless Trump is made to follow the law and the rights of children, their treatment will certainly get worse. We need bold leaders, right now, who will stand up in Congress and stand with me in the streets. Thank you for your leadership, especially calling for an impeachment inquiry. I urge you to:
- Call for an investigation into conditions in the camps.
- Demand the Trump administration #CloseTheCamps
- Continue to insist on an impeachment inquiry to hold Trump accountable for his violations of human rights.
FOR DEFAZIO, KURT SCHRADER AND GREG WALDEN: I am shocked at how migrant children crossing the southern border are being abused and terrorized. The Trump administration has torn thousands of kids from their families and thrown them into facilities that are rightly called concentration camps. I urge you to
- Call for an investigation into conditions in the camps.
- Demand the Trump administration #CloseTheCamps
- Insist on an impeachment inquiry to hold Trump accountable for his violations of human rights.
CALL SUZANNE BONAMICI (OR-01)
CALL GREG WALDEN (OR-02)
CALL BLUMENAUER (OR-03)
CALL PETER DEFAZIO (OR-04)
CALL KURT SCHRADER (OR-05)
BACKGROUND:
“In all actions concerning children . . . the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.” So declares the UN’s Convention on the Rights of a Child, the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history.
This may be news to Trump. He has taken thousands of kids from their families and thrown them into cages that have been hidden from the public, until now.
A pediatrician, one of the first allowed inside, said the child prisons were “torture facilities.” They found cages for eight that held forty. These conditions enable rapid spread of lice and flu. Without adult assistance, children are left to care for infants. Some kids were malnourished. Many had signs of trauma. Some slept on concrete floors with overhead lights always on. They had no soap. Children wore clothes stained with excretions.
Physicians and human rights experts agree these are America’s “concentration camps” and are an act of “mass atrocity.”
These horrible conditions will continue, or get worse, under America’s racist president.
And as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez found yesterday while inspecting adult facilities with other Members of Congress: “It’s not just the kids. It’s everyone,” she said. “We’re talking systemic cruelty w/ a dehumanizing culture that treats them like animals.”
In two days, we will celebrate the 4th of July. This is the time to remember that all of us, especially children, are created equal. And everyone has the unalienable right to pursue a better life.
The migrant children who died in the desert, in the Rio Grande, and in these prisons testify how important was the dream that once was America. We need to fight for a better America.
Close the camps. Reunite families. Hold Trump accountable.
SOURCES:
SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, EDITORIAL, JUNE 22, 2019: “YES, WE DO HAVE CONCENTRATION CAMPS” HTTPS://WWW.SLTRIB.COM/OPINION/EDITORIAL/2019/06/22/TRIBUNE-EDITORIAL-YES-WE/
PBS NEWSHOUR, JUNE 21: “A FIRSTHAND REPORT OF ‘INHUMANE CONDITIONS’ AT A MIGRANT CHILDREN’S DETENTION FACILITY”HTTPS://WWW.PBS.ORG/NEWSHOUR/SHOW/A-FIRSTHAND-REPORT-OF-INHUMANE-CONDITIONS-AT-A-MIGRANT-CHILDRENS-DETENTION-FACILITY
MOTHER JONES, JUNE 25, 2019: “WHAT WE DO ALL DAY IS SIT IN THE CELL”: A LAWYER DESCRIBES ABYSMAL CONDITIONS FOR KIDS AT THE BORDER
CNN, JUNE 24, 2019: “WE WENT TO A US BORDER DETENTION CENTER FOR CHILDREN. WHAT WE SAW WAS AWFUL” HTTPS://WWW.HRW.ORG/NEWS/2019/06/24/WE-WENT-US-BORDER-DETENTION-CENTER-CHILDREN-WHAT-WE-SAW-WAS-AWFUL
