JUNE 23: Overlooking LA from the Pacific Palisades, California
Hosted Event at the Home of Tina Baughman and Greg Yost
My summer solstice book event host, Deirdre Roney, was my conversation partner this evening and she was on fire! It was great fun to present with her and hosts and guests, alike, agreed: she should join me as I take Crossing the Line on tour!
The setting was spectacular and the eclectic crowd of business and film-industry professionals pushed us with their excellent questions. Already well aware that immigration to the US presents a huge humanitarian issue — one that compromises our national soul, with family separation and all the related issues covered in the book resulting in the abhorrent treatment of poor and vulnerable people, we were able to dive directly into the deep end. Some of the topics we addressed included:
Busting prevalent media myths — such as, “They’re all bad hombres, bringing drugs and crime,” and "They take American jobs and drain social services" — with substance and facts.
The little-known, 100-mile perimeter that encircles the US; how it is policed; and under what law-enforcement authority.
The ways in which the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) operates outside the limits of the Fourth Amendment to conduct stops, seizures, and detentions without a warrant and how it is being used not only against immigrants and US citizens of color, but was weaponized against all US citizens in Portland, Oregon and Washington, DC in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter protests.
The numbers, sizes, and contracts of for-profit so-called immigration detention centers, aka ICE prisons; whether and how the agency is monitored and held accountable for its treatment of safety-seeking immigrants; and the cost to the US taxpayer of keeping non-criminal offenders locked up.
The influence of climate change, failed states, war, gang violence, etc., in driving displacement and northward migration, leading to immigration at the southern border reaching a near-all-time high. How many are successfully processed for asylum versus how many are turned away. And whether other countries are facing similar challenges and if so, are they doing a better or worse job?
The recent Border Bill championed by Biden, what it contained, and why it didn’t pass.
The California representatives who are getting the issue right, who we should support during the 2024 elections.
There was a real hunger among participants to take action. Besides reading Crossing the Line (😉), we left them with tools and resources for joining Get Out The Vote (GOTV) letter/postcard writing campaigns — one of Deirdre’s particular strong suits. We informed them of detention facilities and shelters in the greater LA area where everyone can volunteer to work and/or give donations of money, food, and clothing.
Finally, we were asked for messaging tips to counter others’ claims — straight from the media — that the US is being “overrun with migrants” or that we are suffering a “migrant invasion.” Here is what I said…
There is no invasion. There are no tanks or men in uniform bearing arms. There are only men and women, running from horror, hunger, and harm, carrying all that they own on their backs and their children in their arms. We must see them not as “migrants” or “aliens” or “criminal invaders” — all labels that, once applied, enable the dehumanization to begin. We must see them as people, who have the right not only to seek safety in the US as our ancestors did, but who should have the right to stay home. No one runs from home unless home is the mouth of a shark. We should be asking, Why are they coming? and interrogate how our economic and foreign policies are the root causes of their displacement. Instead, we ask only, How do we stop them? and continue to respond in ways that have not worked for over forty years. We can do better. We must do better.
Thank Tina, Greg, and your beautiful family for sharing your home and friends with us!
