Former President Bill Clinton has seen his share of controversies of late, but while his moral compass might not always point due north, one thing can be said of the man – he’s long demonstrated what it means to be a good father, an effort evident in the woman his daughter, Chelsea Clinton, has grown to become.
To commemorate Father’s Day, the 42nd president reflected on immigrant children torn from the arms of their loving parents on Trump’s hateful new policy in a morning tweet:
On this Father’s Day I’m thinking of the thousands of children separated from their parents at the border. These children should not be a negotiating tool. And reuniting them with their families would reaffirm America’s belief in & support for all parents who love their children.
— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) June 17, 2018
“These children should not be a negotiating tool,” he writes, specifically calling out Trump’s obvious leveraging of these children’s livelihoods to get the funding for his border wall. “And reuniting them with their families would reaffirm America’s belief in & support for all parents who love their children.”
His wife echoed the sentiment, retweeting her husband’s message with the caption, “YES!”
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 17, 2018
The pair’s daughter, Chelsea Clinton, chimed in with a similar sentiment written in her own words:
On #FathersDay & every day, I could not imagine a better dad for Charlotte & Aidan than Marc. I also could not imagine being forcibly separated from my children as I sought sanctuary. No parent, no person should support this: https://t.co/uUNs6yFklD
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) June 17, 2018
“I also could not imagine being forcibly separated from my children as I sought sanctuary,” she lamented. “No parent, no person should support this.”
She also linked an article to her tweet showing pictures of a tent city housing some of the immigrant children in the glaring heat of the American southwest.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration imposed a “zero tolerance” policy at the border, mandating that every adult apprehended illegally entering the U.S. be prosecuted.
During that prosecution, their children are to be held separately from their parents primarily in extremely inhumane conditions.
The Trump administration, of course, is using this as a tool to smear the Democrats, in spite of Trump’s party holding majorities in all three branches of government. Trump and his allies like Sarah Huckabee Sanders insist that the administration is just “following the law,” even though there was no such “law” on the books until Attorney General Jeff Sessions put one in place.
Father’s Day might just be a Hallmark-concocted holiday to give more celebration to the patriarchy system which binds modern civilization, but the message of love and family it hides behind is still worth celebrating.
On this day, when you hug your father, think of the children in cages and tents who don’t know where theirs are and may never see them again. Then, ask yourself, “What can I do so that next year, immigrants can celebrate this holiday, too?”
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