A few weeks after he voted against the For the People Act, a policy that would drastically improve our country’s discriminatory election policies, and a few months after he fanned the flames of Asian American hate by recklessly blaming the COVID-19 pandemic on “communist China,” Congressman Bob Latta is now somehow positioning himself as a champion of the migrant children living in detention centers at the U.S. border. However, I find it difficult to believe that Congressman Latta is concerned about the living conditions of migrant children after he spent years supporting President Trump’s xenophobic immigration policies, which included mass deportations of law abiding undocumented immigrant tax payers, banning Muslims from entering the country, employing and supporting white nationalists, and of course, the appalling child separations that literally ripped young children from their parents’ arms, many of whom have yet to be reunited with them.
Taken at face value, it is laudable that Congressman Latta expressed his concerns about the conditions under which migrant children at the border are living. I agree that it is a very concerning human rights issue, and it is true that President Biden has made the decision to allow these children to remain in our country for a longer period of time before being sent home, a change to President Trump’s policy of immediately sending them on a dangerous journey back to the countries from which they fled. However, Congressman Latta conveniently overlooked the facts of this situation. These children fled their homes due to violence, poverty, and environmental changes, and any efforts to “secure our border” should also involve working with Central American countries on addressing these root causes of migration, something President Biden has stated, but Congressman Latta made no mention of in his piece. It would also have been great if Congressman Latta mentioned that much of the instability occurring in Central America over the past century has been in part caused by U.S. militarism, which involved the frequent use of military force to overtake their governments and economies in order to advance our corporate and business interests. My sense, however, is that Congressman Latta’s recommendations to improve our immigration policies would not take into consideration the countless number of children whose lives have been upended as a result of that militarism.
If Congressman Latta is concerned about migrant children, perhaps he could also provide assistance to Latin/x immigrant children living in this region. With the power of the federal government at his disposal, Congressman Latta could do so much to improve their lives since some are likely living in poverty with undocumented parents who are doing invaluable work, often in food production, for little pay and no access to government benefits, despite paying taxes. I think it would be a very noble and enlightening endeavor for Congressman Latta to do this, certainly a better one than playing partisan politics with the lives of migrant children.
Jordan Wilfong
Bowling Green
