The large majority of minors in custody of ICE were separated from their families by their families and sent here by themselves. Why no outrage over that? From all I’ve seen, parents are held completely blameless. What would happen if an American parent sent their child to a foreign country?
Okay, let me take a few of these.
First, i'll go with the last question. Those parents would likely be chastised, and rightly so. Despite the caterwaulingT by some about this country, poverty, and the poor, the average standard of living in the US is exceptionally good. We're 7th in terms of national income per capita and 10th on the UN's human development index. There's few places that a parent could send their child to that would objectively give them an opportunity for a better life, and few legitimate reasons for why sending them away would be the better option than staying in place. That same thing can't be said for the locations where many of the unaccompanied minors are coming from. So the context plays a huge role in that being in no way similar.
Second, as to your question why there's no outrage, but first...
Before I get into that, let me just ask...why not asking this in reverse as well, hmm? I remember people suggesting that families were so irresponsible and bad for sending their child away without a parent. I also seem to remember people that are of a similar mind to those who are not outraged at this being outraged over "black families without fathers". I remember them being upset about how horrible it would be for a child to have two daddies because a standard male and female parental unit is always superior. I remember them being upset by the notion of unwed mothers. I remember them often being the type that have been outrage over the government coming in and removing children from the home due to "abuse" that they found to be questionable. Why then is the question not why they are
NOT outraged in this instance when a child is made to not have a family unit, but were outraged in those other times.
But now to your actual question. Why there's not as much outrage? Two possible reasons, one of which you'd think a conservative would've immediately got. The first likely reason is that there's a base assumption that a parent sending a child alone to the U.S. is doing so out of desperation, despite the pain it causes them, in hopes of giving their child a better life and that is viewed as far less worthy of condemnation than separating a family, sometimes in extreme fashion, in order to enforce an immigration law to a degree that presidents of both parties did not go to. The second potential reason is that there is more trust and belief in the altruistic nature of a parent and them knowing "whats best" for a child than there is trust in a government entity forcing the situation and bungling it in the process.
The third answer for it all is pretty simple...one of these things (parents of the unaccompanied minors) are a faceless entity that the public has no real tie to or ability to vent their frustration towards. They are an simply a unknown pathwork entity of unseen parents. That is far more difficult to show outrage towards than a government agency or administration who's presence and policies and statements on it are all front and center and clearly identifiable as a means of pointing blame. Outrage is easier when there's a tangible target.
