4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| JUNE 27, 2018
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
C
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Copyright 2018 © Siuslaw News
Who benefi ts most from more prisons?
gration and Refugee Service
the Prison Fellowship, there
has been a 14-fold increase of (LIRS) and Women’s Refugee
Commission (WRC), between
women in prison since 1970,
October 2013 and September
and 80 percent of them are
2014, the U.S. government
single mothers.
Whether guilty or innocent, apprehanded 68,334 children
men and women often spend accompanied by a parent at
In a May interview on NPR, weeks, months and sometimes the southwest border — a 361
Homeland Security Secretary years in prison awaiting trial
percent increase since the
Kirstjen Nielsen compared
for non-violent crimes, losing previous year. Keep in mind
the Trump administration’s
that more than half of all the
their jobs, homes and cus-
“Zero Tolerance” policy to the
same policy experienced by
incarcerated Americans every
day in this country who are
Ned Hickson
separated from their children.
“If you break the law, you
will be prosecuted. It’s no
children who entered into
tody of their children before
different than what we do
family detention facilities in
they've even had a chance to
every day in every part of the plead their case.
that time were six years old or
United States when an adult
The fact is, the current “law younger.
commits a crime,” Nielsen
And that was before the
and order” approach isn’t
said. “We’re following that
“Zero Tolerance” posture
new either. It was echoed by
same policy at our borders.”
taken by Attorney Gener-
President Nixon in the late
And she’s absolutely correct. 1960s, as well as Presidents
al Jeff Sessions, which has
In fact, we have a long history Reagan and Clinton and
compounded the problem by
of state-sanctioned family
demanding enforcement with-
their attempts to combat the
separation that continues as
drug war by creating massive out the necessary resources to
a widespread practice today
prison expansions to keep up do so humanely.
— particularly in our justice
But this is not a problem
with the demands of higher
system, where approximately
that is unique to the Trump
incarceration rates.
2.7 million children have a
administration, although its
In addition to prisons, in
parent behind bars.
poor handling of it has made
2014 the U.S. government
And the fastest growing
it uniquely terrible.
massively expanded its de-
group of prisoners?
When the Obama admin-
tention centers for immigrant
Women.
families. According to reports istration began detaining
According to a report by
families in large facilities back
from the Lutheran Immi-
From the Editor’s Desk
in 2014, for-profit correction-
al corporation GEO Group
answered the call with the
Karnes Detention Center in
Texas, which recently broke
ground at that site in order to
double its capacity.
Another detention center
was opened by Correction
Corporation of America
(CCA) in 2015 that holds 819
mothers and 1,000 children in
a lock-down style facility.
Both GEO Group and CCA
have had facilities closed in
the past (Artesia Detention
Center and Hutto Detention
center, respectively) due to
allegations of abuse and poor
living conditions — only to
re-open somewhere else with
a government contract.
While I think we all agree
that our borders should
never be a revolving door,
particularly in an era with
the constant threats of global
terrorism and illegal drugs,
one must ask who stands to
benefit most from an ever-ex-
panding system of prisons and
detention centers.
And whether tax dollars
given to corporate prisons and
detention centers is money
well spent, or money spent to
pretend that all is well.
LETTERS
More affordable housing,
less senior housing
This is the first time I have heard of
the Cannery Station multi-use devel-
opment project. What the city does not
need is more 55+ housing and support
facilities.
What we do need are both low-income
and affordable housing; low income for
those who work in low-income jobs, and
affordable housing to attract and keep
young people in our community.
The idea of having retail stores and
places to eat is wonderful, but they
should not be targeted to the 55+.
Being a senior, I think we have suf-
ficient facilities in the city to address
those like me and we need to focus on
the future: those who are in need and the
young educated workers who would like
to live here.
—Win Jolley
Florence
Who benefits most from
incarcerating immigrants?
While I'm glad that President Trump
says he's ended the separation of immi-
grant families, questions remain.
What happens to the children who
have already been separated? What was
the president's plan with those children
to begin with? How will the trauma of
those separations affect their lives? How
will those families be reunited?
And just as importantly, who benefits
most from the prolonged incarceration
of these families?
While I commend American and
United Airlines for not wanting to be
involved in transporting separated im-
migrant familes, there are two major
private prison corporations — Core
Civic and GEO Group — who donated
hundreds of thousands of dollars to the
president's campaign.
They clearly stand to reap the rewards
of the "zero tolerance" policy being en-
acted as the prisons and detainment cen-
ters fill up.
Where's the humanity in that?
— Julie MacFarlane
Florence
No limit it seems to
liberal hypocracy
Many of the recent images of illegal
immigrant children in cages were taken
during the Obama administration, yet
the liberal media ignores that fact.
The child on the recent cover of TIME
magazine was not separated from her
mother — her mother is [reportedly] a
repeat offender deported in 2013 and
has deserted her husband and other
three children.
Both Clintons, as well as Chuck Shu-
mer, Nancy Pelosi and President Obama
et al., are on record multiple times stat-
ing “Illegal immigration must be con-
trolled,” or words to that effect.
Now that they are out of power, no
level seems too low to stoop in order to
dupe an ignorant populace.
If someone came to a home, child in
tow, and demanded free room and board
for as long as they desired, the most
probable first action would be to call the
authorities to have them removed. The
adult would be sent to an adult facility
and the child to protective services.
Additionally, the “nanny state” has
zero compunction against removing
children from their families on the
slightest uncorroborated innuendo.
It seems liberal hypocrasy has no lim-
it.
—Ian Eales
Florence
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Je n n a B a r t l e t t
Ned H ickson
Erik Chalhoub
Pu b l i s h e r, e x t . 3 1 8
Editor, ex t. 313
Co n s u l t i n g E d i to r 8 3 1 -7 6 1 -7 3 5 3
e c h a l h o u b @ re gi s te r -p a j a ro n i a n . co m
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O f f i ce Su p e r v i s o r, e x t . 3 1 2
Pro d u c t i o n Su p e r v i s o r
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WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
(4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
(Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email: Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us