3/20/20

By Josh Rubin

It is almost impossible to get a clear idea of what the announced changes to immigration policy will be. Listening to the president and his chorus of evil, at the Coronavirus press conference, they seemed to say or imply the following:

1. Apprehended migrants will not be held. They will be transferred to airports and flown to their own countries.
2. Mexico will not accept anyone from any third countries.
3. There will be no judicial review of this procedure.
4. No asylum seekers will be allowed to cross.

They did not address the question of what would be done with people already in custody. Whether they will be likewise transported...

It is, for me at least, impossible to wrap my mind around the magnitude of the consequences of political evil meeting the apocalyptic force of a plague. I, and Melissa, and our son, Greg, are in a sort of prison made by our own fear and our wish for all of us to survive. Most of the family worry is about me, and the vulnerabilities predicted for those like me, old and male, and somewhat the worse for wear.

But as I cough and sniffle a little, and wonder whether I am all right, from inside these walls, watching from our windows as the streets empty, my mind sees a tidal wave cresting in the distance, carrying with it the fate of those trapped inside those other walls, prisoners whose status will assure them of the least of care, as well as those in that prison without walls across the bridge in Matamoros, whose god has forsaken them.

The wave is coming, and I am tied to the mast. When it passes, we will see who is left aboard, to fight on, and to fight for.