When will we stop hating? Haven’t we learned from our past? Is history doomed to repeat itself?

In 1939, the United States turned over 900 Jewish refugees away and sent women & children back to Europe to die in the Holocaust. Why? They were turned away because “American’s” were afraid that they would take their jobs, bring disease, and many more ridiculous reasons.

The president, FDR, said nothing & did nothing. Almost 66% of “Americans” supported turning them away. They justified their hate and ignorance by believing that they needed to “take care of their own people” and that these desperate refugees needed to “go back where they came from.” They turned their backs on the refugees and sent them to their deaths.

“Americans” would never repeat a horrific act like that again…would they?

In Artesia,NM, hundreds of big-hearted people marched to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to show support and love for over 500 women & children being detained there awaiting deportation.

The women & children in the detention center traveled thousands of miles, risking their lives, to flee dangerous circumstances in their home countries. They come from counties that have been devastated by US policy and interference. Many of these countries are collateral damage of the US war on drugs and communism.

They are fleeing from countries that are torn apart by violence from drug cartels. The cartels make money by feeding America’s never-ending appetite for drugs.

They come from countries that are exploited by global corporations that devastate the local economies. Small farmers and local businesses cannot compete with the mega-corporations. They do not have very many options to make a living.

To make matters worse, severe droughts in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador have destroyed crops and hurt fishing and livestock.

How could anyone blame these families for leaving a completely hopeless situation? What parent would allow their children to grow up like that?

The parents brought their children here hoping to give them a better life. Instead, they are forced to live in prison-like conditions and treated like the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. They are held without formal charges and treated like they are sub-human.

The protestors do not want to see history repeat itself. They marched in a “Campaign of Love.” Hundreds of people peacefully marched from Martin Luther King, Jr Park to the FLETC fences.

Police officers lined the street dressed in bulletproof vests and military uniforms. The marchers sang songs to the families and let them know that they were not alone.

The detainees cheered and joined in the songs from behind the fences. The police became agitated and demanded that the marchers leave. They claimed that the detainees were “rioting” because of the marchers.

How is joy and love considered “rioting”? They were just happy to find out that people in the US care about them. They were happy to be treated like human beings for a short period of time.

But the police did not like that. They slowly began to surround the marchers and used intimidation to force them to leave. They followed the marchers back to the park and observed them as they peacefully dispersed.

The day was both beautiful and disturbing. A handful of hateful anti-immigrant protestors attempted to agitate the marchers by yelling extremely hateful words. But the marchers were there to spread love, not hate. The marchers ignored the hateful words and remained positive.

It is clear that the US government put the women & children in a remote facility hoping that they would be “out-of-sight & out-of-mind.” It is an attempt to make these brave people irrelevant to the average “American.” By doing this, they can send these people back to the violence, famine, and poverty that they attempted to escape.

The world MUST pay attention to what is going on. We cannot repeat the past.

Inscription on the Statue of Liberty:

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free; The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, Tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” 

KOB News: Police:It’s the largest protest Artesia has ever seen http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S3535123.shtml?cat=516#.U_GY8VbfZ0s