"But she is fading every minute she is there. Disappearing."

[demmiblue]

Link to tweet

My wife was a flight attendant and I was an Army officer in Atlanta in the late 90’s. I used to drop my kids off at a daycare that wasn’t bad and had cameras I could watch online. My daughter was maybe 3 or 4. I started noticing her spirit fading.

It was strange. She seemed listless at home and not her usual cheery sunny self. I didn’t get it. I looked at the cameras. The place was clean. The employees seemed nice but busy. I never saw her mistreated. But then I saw it. She was alone. I dropped her off and she sat alone.

They parked her on a bench at a table not unlike these while she ate a snack. She sat in a corner alone much of the time. She played a little but each day she grew more isolated and no one noticed. She was lonely.

So one day I dropped her off and watched from the lobby. My girl walked in and her face went blank. She sat listlessly. She simply disappeared before my eyes. The look haunts me still. I walked in and took her home. Called in sick and took leave to find a new place.

I can’t see this little girls face from this official White House photo of the VP’s visit to the Border Patrol yesterday. But I know what her expression is. She’s alone. Placed on a bench. Given snacks and a TV. But she is fading every minute she is there. Disappearing.

We can argue politics and policy of why she’s there. We can blame her parents or the Administration. But as a parent and veteran I’m horrified that our government is “disappearing” children right now and many think it’s nothing. It’s not. This is a scar on our nation.

This must end. Is there a surge of migrants? Yes. Are our policies causing them to become more desperate? Yes. Is our housing of them horrible? Yes. It’s not about “open borders” or not anymore. It’s about our humanity as a nation. Is this who we are? I’m not. We shouldn’t be.

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