Amusement and Fear at Strange, Ragged People


 

We treat some with fear and loathing. Others are a source of amusement.

The homeless in our midst and refugees from without, at least those who with brown skin, share one fatal attribute.

Coverage began with the voice of reporter Elle Thomas.

Talk about weird.

Viewers in Salt Lake City saw the amusing little story first, as they turned to KSTU news on Channel 13. The rest of us caught it online.

You know, this woman cracked open a cold one, literally thought she owned the place, and then things just kept on getting weirder.


The weird story was about an apartment dweller’s encounter with a young woman, described as homeless, who had climbed in through a balcony door. As he returned home at 4 AM, he found her standing in his kitchen.

The point of the story was her brazen attitude. As he watched, she went to the refrigerator, opened a beer, sat on a couch, and explained that it was her apartment.

After he told her he would call the police, she jumped from his balcony, apparently injured herself, and was caught by police as she limped behind a nearby garage.

The accompanying print story mentions that police found the wallet of another man in her possession. The story is headlined:

‘Who’s been sitting in my chair?’: Man comes home at 4am to find a woman in his apartment drinking his beer, petting his dog and wearing his brand new clothes

To me, the comedy seemed incomplete.

The old saw is that dog bites man is not news. Man bites dog is news.

Commonplace circumstances generally do not get reported. They are not news, although they may be our concern as a matter of idle curiosity.

Some studies indicate homelessness increased decades ago as well-meaning civil libertarians forced open the gates of mental institutions. We can’t keep people committed involuntarily if they pose no immediate danger. But institutional help is now scarce, and those who need that help are left to street life. Was this young intruder as delusional as the story made it seem?

About that wallet. Was it simply stolen in another trespass? Is the young woman dangerous? Is the owner of the wallet safe?

None of that is really part of the story. It was news because it was kind of funny and, you know, kind of weird.

Wow. You know, I don’t even know what to say about this one.

Ryan says he’s not sure exactly how the woman got inside but it was a great reminder for him to always check to make sure that front door is locked.

Front door locked. Got it.

As the story closed, I thought about the court hearing. My own unfocused mind found a connection.

Back in 1985, a 15 year old Salvadoran girl was taken from her mother. A lawsuit was filed by human rights groups about the conditions in which the child was kept.

The lawsuit sought to establish standards for how INS handles detained minors, and specifically expressed concerns that Jenny Flores was strip-searched, that she shared living quarters and bathrooms with male adults, and that she couldn’t be released to non-guardian relatives.

In 1988 a U.S. District Court judge ruled that you can’t treat little kids that way. In 1990, a three judge panel said yes, you can. Then an Appeals Court said nope, you had to treat little kids right, even if they were migrant children. In 1992, THAT ruling was overruled by the Supreme Court.

Lawsuits and publicity went on for years. Until the Clinton administration said enough.

In 1997, they signed a consent decree that still has the force of law. It has been followed ever since. It says kids have to be kept in safe and sanitary conditions. It gives a few examples.

Facilities will provide access to toilets and sinks, drinking water and food as appropriate, medical assistance if the minor is in need of emergency services, adequate temperature control and ventilation, adequate supervision to protect minors from others, and contact with family members who were arrested with the minor.

In one camp, the Trump administration is putting kids into cages in an outside area that prison guards refer to as the dog pound. No floors, kids sleep in the dirt. It is often cold at night, and aluminum covers are provided as a sort of blanket. No soap, no tooth brushes. In other locations enclosures are small, with little room to lie down.

Trump lawyers are arguing in court that soap, toothbrushes, blankets, floors, and indoor shelter are not specifically mentioned in the written requirements and are therefore not required. They argue that “safe and sanitary” are vague terms and therefore have no legal meaning.

Sarah Fabian argues for the Trump administration:

Any number of things might fall under those categories…

She is interrupted by Judge Marsha Berzon:

But sleep surely does. Right? You can’t be safe and sanitary, or safe as a human being, if you can’t sleep. And you said in your brief it doesn’t say anything about sleeping so therefore there’s nothing in here about being able to sleep.

Lawyer Fabian tries to continue arguing that anything not specified is not included.

Safe and sanitary is a singular category in the agreement. And one has to assume left that way, and not innumerated by the parties, because either the parties couldn’t reach agreement on how to innumerate that or that it was left to the agencies to determine…

This time, Judge William Fletcher is getting impatient:

OR it was relatively obvious. And at least obvious enough so that if you’re putting people into a crowded room, to sleep on a concrete floor, with an aluminum foil blanket on top of them, that doesn’t comply with the agreement.

Judge Wallace Tashima pushes on the plain meaning of words:

To me, it’s more like it’s within everybody’s common understanding. If you don’t have a toothbrush, if you don’t have soap, if you don’t have a blanket, it’s not safe and sanitary. Wouldn’t everybody agree with that? Do you agree with that?

In the real world, the world in which inhumane conditions do not involve quibbling about inter-agency definitions, kids are taken from parents, kept in cages, often outside, sometimes sleeping on concrete floors, sometimes in the dirt, in the cold, with aluminum foil for blankets, without soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste.

Why? Inadequate budgets? Unanticipated numbers?

It seems to me the reason is hidden in plain sight.

Refugees are struggling to get their children away from deadly danger. They have the legal right to go to the United States, turn themselves over to authorities, and apply for asylum.

The idea is to discourage exactly that.

Why? Consider this administration’s approach toward refugees from the south, refugees with brown skin:

They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.

Donald Trump June 16, 2015

Is this truly our attitude toward immigrants? Well, not necessarily:

I say to myself, why aren’t we letting people in from Europe?

Donald Trump at CPAC, March 15, 2013

Trump policies, Trump politics, doesn’t all come from the top. Much of it has incubated for decades in living rooms, and over kitchen tables. Perhaps it is human nature. Maybe it’s one version of original sin.

Those we see every day, those we live near, work with, speak with, as part of daily living, are those we see as normal, as human.
Like us.

And we extend that view to others we have not yet met: those who speak the same language, have the same social status, share the same appearance, are part of the same religious tribe.

I have many friends from Europe. They want to come in. People I know. Tremendous people. Hard-working people.

We don’t always hate those who are different. We mostly don’t care. They may have their own stories, but we do not waste our time hearing them.

It’s just that they aren’t like us. They are strange, which makes them strangers, unpredictable.

Immigrants, at least those who are not like us, are outsiders, invaders, and so they are a menace. It unfortunate that we must take away their children and put them in cages. But these people have to be discouraged. We find it easy to believe simple accusation.

They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.

The homeless are a little different. We see them everyday. They are strangers but at least they’re not quite as strange. As long as we’re watchful, they can be avoided.

At a distance, they can even be a source of amusement. We can laugh at the comedy these pathetic, ragged people sometimes offer.

The homeless in our midst and refugees from without, at least those who with brown skin, share one fatal attribute.

They are different.

Talk about weird.


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