People as Collateral Damage
"Collateral Damage"
(Incidental damage or loss of life resulting from actions. It is often considered an unavoidable consequence to achieving an objective)
This is profoundly sad. So DJT—a man who has broken laws, been impeached twice without conviction, incited an insurrection, and operated (and continues to operate) scams—has built a jail (detention center) with Ron DeSantis to incarcerate migrants whose only "crime" is existing, trying to survive, and seeking honest work.
The President of the United States actually traveled to Florida for a photo op, laughing alongside the Florida governor and the Secretary of Homeland Security. This facility does not protect the homeland from actual criminals.
Among other concerns, this facility is likely a money making enterprise for those who built and operate it. It is not part of our criminal justice system, and everyone connected to it is subject to the whims of a dictator.
Conflating all migrants with criminals is a false equivalency—a “false balance.”
Proverbs 11:1 says, “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.”
In our country, people are supposed to be afforded due process under the law. However, under this regime, individuals are being snatched by masked agents. Because they are not deemed citizens—though many are or have resided in the U.S. in good faith—they are afforded no respect or rights. Many are taxpayers. These kidnapped persons are considered as “other,” dehumanized, and objectified. They have no voice, no legal representation, and their plight is hidden from the public eye, as media access is denied.
Emotional and mental trauma is being inflicted upon these individuals and their families. What we’re witnessing is the normalization of indifference. When it comes to “others,” their suffering is considered irrelevant or even deserved.
This strategy echoes another era when my ancestors were dehumanized, objectified. and treated as "less than." In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Dred Scott v. Sandford that Black people were “so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.” Enslaved people—treated as objects—could expect no protection from the federal government or the courts.
A local Florida report described persons as "criminal illegal aliens" when they have not been formally charged or sentenced in a court of law. Such language dehumanizes and objectifies, making it easier to justify treating people as less than equal.
One of the most important purposes of studying history—despite current efforts to whitewash it—is to learn from it and avoid repeating its errors.
People will suffer, and some may die in these facilities due to lack of medical care and other causes. We may never know the full extent, because the system is designed to conceal the truth. “Out of sight, out of mind” is the preferred reality for many.
But there are those of us who will always care. God sees everything and will hold people accountable, because He is neither bound by our laws nor subject to the whims of dictators.
Even more profoundly sad than DJT’s behavior is the silence of those who claim to be Christians, yet make no effort to apply Scriptures such as Leviticus 19:33–34:
“When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.”
Whatever happens to these individuals will be considered mere collateral damage in service of a larger agenda. Alongside anti-DEI actions and the minimizing of Black history, this agenda increasingly resembles another form of nativism and white supremacy.
