His name is Liam.

I can't believe I'm watching people defend this. But I'm watching people who are thrilled by this.

Late tonight and early tomorrow morning, thousands of people will board coach buses and head to Washington, DC, for the March for Life. This annual march is held on or around the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that effectively legalized abortion in this country. Despite the fact that the Dobbs decision undid Roe, this anniversary remains fresh in the minds of those opposed to abortion. The people headed to DC believe they are prolife, that this extends from “womb to tomb.” They claim to believe that it’s not merely about abortion, it’s about “protecting life at all stages.”

I haven’t spoken much about my life in that world publicly. I don’t like to cast some very good yet misguided people in a bad light. If I’m being honest, I also admit that I find it difficult to reflect on my own misguided efforts sometimes. I try to be gentle with my younger self and vow to do better instead. Some days are better than others on that front.

But what I haven’t talked about publicly is what it has felt like to watch some of the kindest, smartest, most compassionate people I have ever known seemingly transform into cruel and power-hungry monsters. I’ve had scores of conversations with other dear friends who find themselves in the same unenviable position. We talk about the good people we loved. Those who gave of their own portions, not their excess to help others. We scratch our heads over the brilliant professor we shared who taught me everything I know about eugenics, the American contribution to Nazi policies, Buck vs. Bell, Havelock Ellis, Aldous Huxley, and social engineering, who died a diehard supporter of the most wretched individual to enter the political sphere: our current president.

There is no denying that Donald Trump is an immoral man with hours of audio and video available denigrating women and children. These were set aside long ago because he said some words that someone put in front of him, and from that moment on, this movement hitched its wagon to his gold-plated star. I never in a million years would have predicted this commitment from a group of people who were reticent to accept Reagan because he was married before Nancy.

Which is why many of the same people boarding those coach buses headed to DC woke up this morning as most of us did: to the picture of wee Liam. And when they saw his image, the sweet baby boy with his Spiderman backpack and bunny hat, they didn’t see their own children’s faces reflected back as I did. They saw an invader. An alien. A criminal. A non-person. They added laugh-reacts to news stories about him. They wrote FAFO underneath the image of his scared little face. Some suggested that Liam should be taken and raised by an “American” couple since his own parents were negligent in their minds. They scolded their friends for believing liberal lies. For falling for fake news. For being manipulated. Their deeply-held opinions were shaped and re-shaped like clay as the day progressed, and while DHS issued lie after lie about Liam and his father.

“He was abandoned by a criminal!” Liam and his father are legally present in the United States, currently complying with asylum proceedings. There is no evidence the child was abandoned. Video shows ICE forcing Liam to the door. There is no deportation order.

Tomorrow, they will hold signs with the aforementioned slogans. They’ll brave the cold to listen to our Vice-President. They’ll smile and applaud when he talks about the child his wife, Usha is carrying, ignoring the reality that Usha’s children look more like Liam than they do James Donald Bowman, who recently assured those gathered before him that people would “no longer need to apologize for being white.”

Maybe Vance will have his children beside him while he extols the virtues of family. Perhaps he will remind them that family needs to be protected. Other speakers will undoubtedly note that the devil hates families. That he wants to destroy families. As my friend Erin said earlier, we were raised hearing this repeated often. Nevermind the families like Liam’s that have been torn apart by ICE.

Perhaps a five year-old is too fully grown to warrant the attention that a tiny baby does. Perhaps not being as American as some others, “heritage Americans,” as Vance likes to call them, Liam doesn’t make them feel anything.

Consider then the six month-old baby riding in a car with his parents and their five other children. Driving home from a basketball game, they found themselves pulled over by ICE. The father rolled down his window, listened to the ICE agent and attempted to comply despite having absolutely any reason to believe he was safe in doing so. For his efforts, ICE rewarded him by throwing a flashbang through the open window, causing the family to evacuate. All had to be treated at the hospital. The six month-old’s tiny lungs couldn’t take the poison as well as the others, and he had to be resuscitated on the scene by his mother who thankfully knew CPR.

A spokesman for ICE stated that they had acted reasonably. When poisoning a car full of children. Whose parents complied.

Today, Border Patrol’s Commander-At-Large was directly asked about Liam. There is absolutely no grey area here. And Bovino replied that ICE always acts morally, ethically, and within the law. When taking and using a five year-old child to trap his father and then incarcerating them both.

The prolife Vice-President who defended the killing of Renee Good before any evidence was available because ICE has “complete immunity,” a woman who was shot once from the front of the vehicle, then several more from the side, the last words she heard — from the man we are supposed to call a good father and wonderful Christian — were “fucking bitch.” But a man who assured us it was good and moral to lie about immigrants eating house pets for the greater good will stand on that stage and address the tens of thousands gathered, declaring his respect for life at all stages.

Today, I saw one of Minnesota’s most famous bishops declare that today was a special day of prayer. This bishop hasn’t said a word about what ICE is doing, other than suggesting in the most milquetoast of ways that in order to lower the temperature, ICE stick to only “rounding up” criminals….for now.

Perhaps the good bishop and those gathering tomorrow who dismissed Liam (or worse) today before boarding their buses can close their eyes and pretend he is not yet born so that they may care.