HN Explorer

Ask HN: What can we do to help with the humanitarian crisis at the US border?

38 points by enraged_camel ↗ HN
I don't want to make this too political, but if you have been following the news you'll know that there is a significant humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border where, according to numerous reports and first-hand accounts, children are being separated from their families, with no recourse to get them reunited later.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/the-chaotic-effort-to-reunite-immigrant-parents-with-their-separated-kids/2018/06/21/325cceb2-7563-11e8-bda1-18e53a448a14_story.html?utm_term=.405da70826e9

What can we do to help mitigate this?

9 comments

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kevmo
Caging human beings has a long, rich tradition in America.

Everyday, hundreds of thousands of American children are separated from their parents who are rotting in jail because they can't pay bail or because they're locked up for a low-level drug crime or manufactured probation violation.

Until we quit being okay with caging humans as a default cultural practice, we're going to see stuff like this. I hope this current atrocity wakes more American moderates up to the fact that we're not just doing this to immigrants, but to our own citizens as well.

craftyguy
Honestly, not much. The most we can legally do is sit on our asses until the next round of elections and try to remove those who allowed this to happen on their watch. Oh, you could also write your representatives and hope that their interns pass along your message to them. Sometimes that works, sometimes that doesn't work, YMMV.
[dead] throwaway8879
There is no "humanitarian crisis" happening, let alone a "significant" one.
nostromo
Lobby for legalized drugs. End the cartels. Reduce violence in Central America.
_b8r0
I've been wondering this myself. As a non-American, I'm absolutely appalled to see this going on. It feels like it's 1933, and the good Germans haven't yet come to terms with what's happening.

I don't get to vote, but I do decide where I spend my money. I'm looking into boycotting American companies involved with ICE, as I think that's probably the least difficult starting point, then to slowly move towards boycotting the US entirely should things get worse. If they get better, it's fairly straightforward to ease up.

I think the only option available for the rest of the world is to vote with their wallets, as hard as that may be. I hope that Americans will understand that this isn't a slight against them or their hard work, but that moral hazard has to be upheld.

labster
American here, I understand. Many people here think Trump is an excellent president because the economy is good; the only way to change their minds is a worse economy. I don't want to repeat that part of 1933 either, but better 1933 than 1943.
[dead] tripplethrendo
This will surely be a productive and non-partisan discussion without any resorting to Goodwin's law.
pjc50
This whole post will soon be flagged to oblivion, because it is deeply, tragically political. So the one word suggestion is: organize.