I agree the policy focus here is so off base. If you want to support child-rearing you create policies and programs that support parents and kids. You can't just say "have more babies."
1. Although I'm appalled by the case of VLM, the 2yo citizen deported with her Honduran mother, in the interest of accuracy I do think we should clarify that although it's been buried in media reports, I reviewed the complaint from VLM's father's lawyers and it appears he is an immigrant and is probably here illegally; the lawyers (wisely) refused to discuss his immigration status when asked, but he has named a US citizen family friend as guardian for VLM and it is this friend who is actually seeking custody at his direction. With this, it's also worth noting that it appears that ICE attempted to detain the child in order to force him to turn himself in for deportation; they refused to release the child to the lawyers or to the named guardian even with signed, notarized documents authorizing her guardianship AND a copy of the birth certificate. ICE actually told the layers "her father can come pick her up but he'll just be detained and deported with her." Absolutely disgusting.
2. More on-topic, you mentioned the high cost of children (and in many cases I would add there is a high cost even to conception and gestation), and the rapid reduction of all kinds of aid, in contrast to the $5000 cash being proposed. I honestly think that might be part of the design. The only people they want having babies are rich, white, in a hetero marriage. So, entice the rich to have more that they've been wanting anyway (although admittedly I'm not sure how much 5gs really means to rich people), but lots of rich couples can't have kids biologically and the Right knows their abortion policy is (they hope) going to lead to legal personhood from conception soon, which will do away with many fertility treatments like IVF. What to do? How about this: entice poor women to have lots of babies for 5k each, and have the "beautiful families" ADOPT them! It's really okay if the babies are brown because that makes such nice pictures with their new white parents for the church newsletter!
And if birth mom is mentally ill, addicted, has poor nutrition and health, who cares? No need to tell the adoptive parents that, let them find out later, once they're committed to raising these babies in nice white homes! Nevermind that that might lead to mental illness and abuse among those families, because pretty soon we'll make registries of the mentally ill and we'll make divorce illegal, so they will just keep those problems nice and quiet and not bother us or mess up our stats with them. The important thing is, they have enough money to cover the cost of whatever tragedy strikes (and we know they will because that will be the main criteria to adopt along with membership in a nice Christian church and their local branch of the KK-erm, we meant their local branch of MAGA). When they eventually kill themselves or each other, that's good because then we won't have to worry about where to hide them, and we'll just pay someone else to have babies to replace them.
It sounds pretty nuts and like it will have obvious bad consequences in 10-30 years, but if these folks were concerned about the kind of consequences involving emotional pain and physical and mental illness, well, then they wouldn't be "these folks" anymore. Ignoring/blaming the victim for obvious consequences and pain from their policies is an absolute requirement to join the current administration. I think they really are so short sighted that they just want lots of white workers for their factories and mansions, the rest be damned.
So i do think these policies are intended to produce not just white families but white RICH families. those will be the new regime members. Everyone else will be useful as drones to work in these dangerous factories and coal mines. Maybe they think if they pay people to have enough babies they won't get as upset when a couple die in their teens in preventable workplace accidents? Who knows? But I would bet that whenever the finalize their plan, it will favor white, hetero, rich, Christian families, BUT will also allow poor brown single women to literally sell their babies into the system as well. We are being ruled by crazy, sick, dangerous men.
Hi Jen, thanks for the added context on VLM's story! I didn't know those details.
And I agree, there's is a certain "pedigree" they are looking to reward. Just like sending school choice vouchers to families who were already affording private school while draining funds from public schools, it's a meaningless financial reward to their people who don't need it - that changes nothing.
The baby-stealing virtue adoptions are sickening. Like the many babies stolen into ICE custody from 2016-18 under the family separation policy, whose records were then lost (or never created), and the children sent off to new American homes. 😔
I agree the policy focus here is so off base. If you want to support child-rearing you create policies and programs that support parents and kids. You can't just say "have more babies."
Absolutely! Make it feasible.
I learned a lot reading this column. I thought it was excellent❣️
Oh, thank you for saying so, and thank you for taking the time to read it! 💛
Thank you for taking the time on this excellent piece. They might as well be saying “blessed be the fruit.”
Absolutely.
Well-done!
Thank you! 🙏 And thank you for sharing!
Great article 👏! Thanks for sharing this with us Dr. It's all about control
The common thread.
Thank you for this article. Two things:
1. Although I'm appalled by the case of VLM, the 2yo citizen deported with her Honduran mother, in the interest of accuracy I do think we should clarify that although it's been buried in media reports, I reviewed the complaint from VLM's father's lawyers and it appears he is an immigrant and is probably here illegally; the lawyers (wisely) refused to discuss his immigration status when asked, but he has named a US citizen family friend as guardian for VLM and it is this friend who is actually seeking custody at his direction. With this, it's also worth noting that it appears that ICE attempted to detain the child in order to force him to turn himself in for deportation; they refused to release the child to the lawyers or to the named guardian even with signed, notarized documents authorizing her guardianship AND a copy of the birth certificate. ICE actually told the layers "her father can come pick her up but he'll just be detained and deported with her." Absolutely disgusting.
2. More on-topic, you mentioned the high cost of children (and in many cases I would add there is a high cost even to conception and gestation), and the rapid reduction of all kinds of aid, in contrast to the $5000 cash being proposed. I honestly think that might be part of the design. The only people they want having babies are rich, white, in a hetero marriage. So, entice the rich to have more that they've been wanting anyway (although admittedly I'm not sure how much 5gs really means to rich people), but lots of rich couples can't have kids biologically and the Right knows their abortion policy is (they hope) going to lead to legal personhood from conception soon, which will do away with many fertility treatments like IVF. What to do? How about this: entice poor women to have lots of babies for 5k each, and have the "beautiful families" ADOPT them! It's really okay if the babies are brown because that makes such nice pictures with their new white parents for the church newsletter!
And if birth mom is mentally ill, addicted, has poor nutrition and health, who cares? No need to tell the adoptive parents that, let them find out later, once they're committed to raising these babies in nice white homes! Nevermind that that might lead to mental illness and abuse among those families, because pretty soon we'll make registries of the mentally ill and we'll make divorce illegal, so they will just keep those problems nice and quiet and not bother us or mess up our stats with them. The important thing is, they have enough money to cover the cost of whatever tragedy strikes (and we know they will because that will be the main criteria to adopt along with membership in a nice Christian church and their local branch of the KK-erm, we meant their local branch of MAGA). When they eventually kill themselves or each other, that's good because then we won't have to worry about where to hide them, and we'll just pay someone else to have babies to replace them.
It sounds pretty nuts and like it will have obvious bad consequences in 10-30 years, but if these folks were concerned about the kind of consequences involving emotional pain and physical and mental illness, well, then they wouldn't be "these folks" anymore. Ignoring/blaming the victim for obvious consequences and pain from their policies is an absolute requirement to join the current administration. I think they really are so short sighted that they just want lots of white workers for their factories and mansions, the rest be damned.
So i do think these policies are intended to produce not just white families but white RICH families. those will be the new regime members. Everyone else will be useful as drones to work in these dangerous factories and coal mines. Maybe they think if they pay people to have enough babies they won't get as upset when a couple die in their teens in preventable workplace accidents? Who knows? But I would bet that whenever the finalize their plan, it will favor white, hetero, rich, Christian families, BUT will also allow poor brown single women to literally sell their babies into the system as well. We are being ruled by crazy, sick, dangerous men.
Hi Jen, thanks for the added context on VLM's story! I didn't know those details.
And I agree, there's is a certain "pedigree" they are looking to reward. Just like sending school choice vouchers to families who were already affording private school while draining funds from public schools, it's a meaningless financial reward to their people who don't need it - that changes nothing.
The baby-stealing virtue adoptions are sickening. Like the many babies stolen into ICE custody from 2016-18 under the family separation policy, whose records were then lost (or never created), and the children sent off to new American homes. 😔