Children Traumatized After Capitol Police Sergeant Gives Warning Of Arrest For Singing

Children used in the frontlines to push for immigration reform at Capitol Hill is taking its toll, as they become traumatized by warnings of arrests and are ignored by the GOP leadership.

By H. Nelson Goodson

December 5, 2013

Washington, D.C. - One thing is to train Hispanic children to take leadership roles on issues affecting them and the other is exploiting children by putting them in the frontlines to push for immigration reform. Some of the children have faced the GOP leadership in an attempt to force a vote for an immigration reform bill before the year ends. The GOP leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives have shown no compassion for the hardships that some of the children are going through as a result of losing one or both parents to Obama's deportation priorities and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security policy to deport as many undocumented immigrants as they can before a new president takes office. 

In many of the YouTube videos posted on the Internet by organizations that support immigration reform have showed that most of those children involved become traumatized when they are ignored by politicians or are warned of arrest. Their faces are evident of becoming traumatized, even when they're are assured by the activists in the video's who use them to get attention, that everything will be alright. 

Some might argue that the children are struggling to convey a message and to keep families together. Others might argue, the immigration rights activists and organizations,  including the labor unions have failed to bring about a vote for an immigration bill this year and are resorting to exploiting undocumented children and children born in the U.S. to achieve their goals, despite the consequences it might have on the children.

In the latest YouTube video posted on Thursday, immigrant rights activists and children went to deliver Christmas cards to House Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) office at Capitol Hill and were singing in the hall. Boehner's office was locked and the activists, including the children have for several days attempted to meet with Boehner with no success.

A Capitol police sergeant interrupts them and says, "This is a place of business and we do not sing in the hallway, comprende?" An female activist replies, that they won't continue to sing and resort to praying. The police sergeant gave them a first warning and threatens, that if they continue to sing, they would be arrested. The children in the video looked on as the sergeant speaks and their faces seemed to show that they were traumatized by the sergeant's threatening remarks of arrest.

Video link at: http://bit.ly/1dT9BCm

Also on Thursday (HNNUSA), Capitol police were called to Majority House Leader Eric Cantor's (R) office to remove children and teenagers from the office. A young girl got traumatized after hearing that they would be arrested, if they failed to comply with orders to leave peacefully from Cantor's office. After a few minutes they all left his office.

Video link at:  http://alturl.com/2ezmh