UPDATE 1815 GMT: A conversation with Ireland’s RTE News at One about the shambles of the Trump policy and whether it may be checked by growing criticism, which “is beyond storm and now is of tsunami proportions”:
I see a way out at two levels. One is that the courts have yet to rule on this. At a broader level, I still have faith in the American people. I think that on June 30 we are going to see hundreds of thousands of them marching in opposition to this.
Listen to Discussion
UPDATE 1700 GMT: This was a tough interview to explain the extent of the Trump Administration’s policy and the damage and it is causing, as I am asked by Jonathan Vernon Smith on BBC Three Counties, “Is this comparable to Nazi Germany in the 1930s?”
I think we have to be careful about making immediate comparisons. But some of the language — saying that immigrants “infest” the United States — is exactly the type of poisonous and corrosive language that you can use to take away all rights and do anything you want to people, because they are now less than human.
UPDATE, JUNE 20, 1000 GMT: Further discussion this morning with BBC Hereford and with Julia Hartley-Brewer on talkRADIO:
Should the children of Mexican immigrants jailed for crossing into the US without permission be separated from their parents? Watch again ▼@JuliaHB1 | @ScottLucas_EA | https://t.co/sv3MZUm41c pic.twitter.com/igs9hc8ULW
— talkRADIO (@talkRADIO) June 20, 2018
Listen to full talkRADIO interview from 11:03 in 0700-0730 Segment
Listen to BBC Hereford
Amid the latest revelations about the extent of the Trump Administration’s detention of children separated from undocumented immigrant parents, I spoke on Tuesday with talkRADIO and the BBC about the motives for the policy and what happens next.
Listen to BBC Ulster
A discussion establshing the reality of the Administration’s policy vs. the myths and lies being used to justify it, with the unwitting assistance of Trump supporter Jan Halper-Hayes.
The Trump Administration strategy is to use the children as hostages: “We will reunite them with parents if you give $25 billion for The Wall with Mexico, if you give us sharp reductions in legal immigration and admissions of refugees, if you end the Visa Diversity Lottery.”
I don’t think children should be used that way, to get the passage of legislation. I think that is the very definition of child abuse.
Listen to talkRADIO from 6:58 in 0630-0700 Segment
The discussion with Julia Hartley-Brewer considers how the Trump Administration is now trying to use the children to get their anti-immigration legislation passed, and looks at the German political debate — which Trump tried to exploit in a Monday tweet — over immigrants, shaking the position of Chancellor Angela Merkel
The interview also includes a look at the latest House of Lords defeat for the UK Government in the negotiations over a Brexit departure from the European Union.
Listen to BBC Foyle
The conversation reviews the Trump policy, the growing criticism which is “no longer just a party issue”, and why the policy will continue at least for the short term:
Donald Trump is not a man to admit a mistake and behind him are very hard-line advisors, such as Stephen Miller, who are so anti-immigrant that they will spare no effort to prevent anyone from reaching the US.
And around that is the political tactic of holding the children hostage.