More Fake Photos Shared on Social Media about the “Caravan”
Deceptive photos from the “caravan” of refugees continue to propagated on social media sites at an astonishing rate.
This is not an accident — this a strategy to dehumanize the migrants and inspire fear among ordinary Americans in the final days before the election.
A simple google search reveals that photo is at least three years old. It was not taken in Mexico and ironically has been used repeatedly to demonize refugees in other countries.
Another example:
A quick search on Tineye reveals that this photo is not even close to recent.
Then there are the less subtle approaches. Myriad images of tattooed MS-13 gang members claiming to be from the the caravan.
How to get out of this mess
The so-called “caravan” of refugees — originally 160 people fleeing the crime ridden Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, has swelled to several thousand. According to Mexican authorities, 1,999 have applied for asylum in Mexico and 495 have asked to be repatriated.
Thousands remain, including men, women and children. The UNCHR has monitors on the ground and has been releasing regular reports and some individual stories which go a long way to explain why so many would take such a risky journey.
Eduardo, a 16 year old Honduran described living in daily terror of street gangs in his hometown of Colon. “When I saw our house burning I knew our number had been called, our luck had run out, it was time to flee,” he said.
Refugees have rights under international law. The United States played a major role in writing those laws.
Those laws are not just empty words. They were written by a committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt following a war in which 405,399 Americans died. Our flag, whether it flies in a football stadium or draped over a coffin at Arlington Cemetery represents that sacrifice and that heritage. Never again.
If I had to choose one photo to represent the moral challenge that our nation faces, it would be this one:
Jewish Germans, fleeing Nazi persecution came to our shores. Desperate, they begged for mercy and refuge. We denied them. We turned our backs on 935 people. Men, women and children. That too is our heritage.
We disgrace our flag when we forget our heritage — the sacrifice of those young men, and the tragedy of the St. Louis.
We should all take a knee, not in protest, but in prayer — that we may become a great and moral nation once again.
