Our national trauma

By Ande Jacobson

Everyone experiences trauma of one sort or another during their lifetime, often more than once. For some, it’s part of the normal cycle of life such as losing an elderly grandparent who was dear to them. It’s still traumatic, but it’s also not unexpected. For others, it might be a physical injury that takes time to heal. For still others it’s a childhood trauma that takes years or even a lifetime to absorb and process such as losing a parent through a tragic accident as a child. That’s harder to deal with. When the trauma involves violence, it’s even more difficult to process and cope with the aftermath. What’s happening in the US under the current administration (or regime) is inflicting trauma at a national level. For adults who have lived a good portion of their lives before this era, it’s a painful and scary turn. For children who haven’t known any different, it’s even worse. Their entire life experience is one of fear caused by a government that’s supposed to working for everyone but instead is showing these young people that the federal government is something to be feared.

I have some personal experience with childhood trauma having lost a parent due to a tragic accident when I was young. My father died in a plane crash, and the suddenness of it made it difficult to deal with. I can only imagine the trauma that kids today are suffering with the threat of mass incarceration, deportation, or even worse hanging over everyone’s heads. Some have lost their parents due to government inflicted violence. Even for those who haven’t lost their own parents, many have friends who have. Worse, the general threat that their school, their church/mosque/temple, their local grocery store, their playground or skate park, or even their own home may become the scene of more loss due to government inflicted violence is ever present no matter which US state they call home.

It’s not about immigration at this point. We’ve always had immigration enforcement of one sort or another. In the past, it was an administrative matter. People went through a process to immigrate to the US. Those who violated that process were handled administratively, without rancor or violence. They had court hearings, and if after due process were to be deported, they received appropriate notice and left the country. They weren’t rendered to third countries. They also weren’t held in detention and tortured.

Seeking asylum is not illegal, and there is a process for doing so. There has been some confusion as that process has changed over the years, but it’s still legal.

The violence that’s being carried out by various immigration enforcement surges isn’t about immigration anymore. It’s about government power, power that is limited by the Constitution that this current administration refuses to abide. All persons within the US are covered by the Constitution, not just citizens. Citizens have certain additional privileges and rights such as the right to vote and to run for office to serve in elected positions in our government, but all persons in the US, citizen or not, have other rights enumerated by the Bill of Rights, i.e., the first ten Amendments to the Constitution. As written, these Amendments define prohibitions on the government against restricting the people’s rights. The Bill of Rights Amendments are:

Amendment I: Freedom of religion, speech, and the press; rights of assembly and petition: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II: Right to bear arms: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III: Housing of soldiers: No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV: Search and arrest warrants: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V: Rights in criminal cases: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI: Right to fair trial: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence <sic>.
Amendment VII: Rights in civil cases: In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rule of the common law.
Amendment VIII: Bails, fines, and punishments: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX: Rights retained by the people: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X: Powers retained by the states and the people: The powers no delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The very public immigration enforcement surges blanketing the country have violated many of these Amendments with glee. The hyper-militarization of immigration enforcement is unnecessary and is being driven by a few individuals who revel in inflicting harm on others. This is not normal.

Together we can stop this abuse, peacefully. There are just over 340 million people in the US at this time. Most of the country doesn’t like what’s happening and wants it to stop. Contacting our Congressional Representatives and Senators is something that we can all do. Make sure they know what we want and need. Speaking to our friends and neighbors and helping them as we can is also something that makes a difference. Citizens need to vote responsibly in every election. Learning our history is also important, and hopefully this current era will soon be just that, history. But right now, we are living through a dangerous and scary time.

One thing that should be abundantly clear to us all though is that our democracy is a fragile thing. For all of us to have our say, we have to tend it, support it, and not take it for granted. Democracy requires us to do our part, and recently as a nation we haven’t done that. Too many people have tuned out so much that they really didn’t understand what they were voting for, or worse, chose to not bother to vote at all. We are seeing in real time how much having a government working for the people of this nation matters – a case of not knowing the real value of something until we’re losing it.

If not for ourselves, we need to work together to return sanity to our government for the children who will outlive us. They will bear the burden of repairing the damage being done now and reestablishing a US government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” as Abraham Lincoln so famously said.