Which Side Are You On — Cruelty or Empathy?

MAGA Governors Dumping Refugees on Democratic Cities and Towns Have Picked a Fight They Will Lose

“There were men, women and CHILDREN! They hadn’t eaten anything since 6:00 am. What kind of depraved individual loads up 50 people onto a plane and dumps them in a strange place without even notifying anyone that they’re coming? These are ‘leaders’? These are ‘Christians’? I’ll tell you what this is. It’s a disgusting political stunt — at the expense of human beings just wanting to work and provide for their families. But you know what? On this island, we treated them with dignity, we fed them, we gave them medical attention and we will give them a warm and safe place to sleep…Because on Martha’s Vineyard, we won’t turn our backs on people in need who are being abused by extremist Republican governors for some cheap soundbite on Fox News.”

That’s a text from a resident of Martha’s Vineyard responding to the decision by the governors of Florida and Texas to fly a group of Venezuelans who are in the US legally waiting for decisions on their asylum requests. It’s gone viral, and for good reason. It’s one thing for politicians to disagree about US immigration policy. It’s quite another to toy sadistically with people’s lives.