Freshman Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar is the target of accusations that she and her office are coaching asylum seekers to claim that they don’t speak Spanish in order to exploit the “remain in Mexico” policy. Escobar who says that accusations of immigration fraud are untrue is receiving threats on her life. In a statement from last week about the threats, Escobar, the first Latina to represent Texas in congress said, “I think it’s important for people to know that there’s consequences to their words.

“Being irresponsible and using xenophobia and bigotry to fuel hatred has a consequence.”

Escobar spoke on the consequences of bigotry while also addressing the threats.

But border patrol officials maintain that they are hearing “[Escobar’s office] is attempting to return people, and the story was changed in Mexico, where a person who understood Spanish before now doesn’t understand — where a person who didn’t have any health issues before now has health issues.”

While no evidence of fraud has been provided, officials also said, “They went through and interviewed everybody, cherry-picked them, brought them back, and now are using them as tag lines. They’re going over there and manufacturing a lot of these issues.”

The Texas Democrat believes that there is zero truth to the accusations of immigration fraud by Escobar or her office and that she is being targeted for raising concerns about border patrol violations of asylum laws.

Escobar has said that her office “has assisted constituents whose clients are asylum seekers who have been sent back to Mexico under Trump administration rules, “making it much harder for them to provide due process and counsel to their clients.”

Elected last November, Escobar is the congressional rep of Texas’ 16^th Congressional District which includes El Paso, Texas which shares a border with Ciudad Juárez, México. Escobar, a former county judge, now holds the seat formerly held by Beto O’Rourke. She has been transparent about the fact that she and her office go routinely to México, taking meetings there necessary for elected officials who represent people whose lives are lived at the border of the United States and México.

It’s possible that border patrol suspicions about Escobar are motivated by the fact that she is Latina and/or from the same background as those she’s being accused of breaking laws to help. Others suspect that it is also possible that criticism by Donald Trump is in retaliation to Escobar’s criticism of the president who pardoned Arizona’s Joe Arpaio– a man ordered, in 2011, to stop detaining people solely on suspicions that they were undocumented. Arpaio was ultimately jailed for not complying.

Escobar, who studied English literature at New York University, also wrote the president a letter demanding that he apologize to citizens of El Paso, Texas for the misrepresentation of their city in his 2019 State of the Union address.

Calls to have Escobar removed have been growing online.

Regardless of the fact that there is no physical evidence to support claims that Veronica Escobar and her office have committed immigration fraud, last week, Texan, Samuel Williamson created a Change.org petition to have her removed from her congressional seat.

Various Twitter users have been asking similar questions about Escobar that many others are asking about Donald Trump and possible obstruction of the 2016 elections.

Presidential candidate hopeful, Beto O’Rourke quickly supported Escobar last week after suspicions about her began to circulate.

“You will not intimidate @RepEscobar. She is strong, she is fearless, and she will never stop fighting for El Paso, the border, and ensuring every single one of our fellow human beings is treated with dignity and respect. We are better off because of it,” the presidential hopeful wrote in a Twitter response.

Some Twitter users were swift in their criticism of O’Rourke by using the old “go home” insult.

Anyone reviewing Escobar’s Twitter feed, can see that Beto O’Rourke was correct in stating that the congresswoman will not be intimidated, as her page is filled with information and news stories about asylum laws, conditions in the detention camps, and even a link to her webpage where undocumented people at risk of detainment during the upcoming Trump administration raids can get information about rights guaranteed them under the US constitution, information about what to do if ICE agents come to their door, and information about what to do if arrested or detained.

The information on a congresswoman, Veronica Escobar’s webpage is available in both English and Spanish.

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History is considering adding pictures drawn by immigrant children in detention centers. The images drawn by detained eight and nine-year-olds were taken and released to the public last week by members of the American Academy of Pediatrics (A.A.P.) who visited migrant children at Catholic respite center in McAllen Texas. The children who had been recently released from Texas detention centers, made drawings done in black and dark green on what appears to be white canvas. Each drawing depicts bars. In one drawing people are depicted sleeping on the floor covered in blankets (most likely rendering of the ‘solar blankets’ issued in the detention centers). In this drawing, a person with a hat, standing at a desk, is depicted in the background.

Another drawing depicts an elaborate rendering of the metal pen used to house migrants, complete with toilets, wire walls, ceiling, and a closed door.

Laura Duff, a spokesperson for the Smithsonian confirmed the museum’s interest in the drawings to NPR stating that their goal for American History collections is to tell the story of American History as it unfolds in order to document the complexities. Brent Glass, director emeritus of the museum, doesn’t believe that exploring the possibility of acquiring detained migrant children’s drawings is a political decision. He said that the American History Museum’s goal is “to inspire people to know more about American history and to hopefully create a more humane society.”

Sara Goza, the incoming president of-of A.A.P., who was invited  by custom officials to tour detention centers in Texas, reported noticing terrible conditions as soon as officials opened the door, “When they opened the door for us to go into the facility, the first thing was the smell — a mixture between urine and sweat and feces,” and she reported seeing children who looked afraid and some wearing blank expressions. One photo of a drawing made by a child at the facility depicts the described blank expressions.

Goza who asserted that the trauma of detainment can have long-lasting emotional effects on children said, “First and foremost, as pediatricians, the A.A.P. is convinced that children don’t belong in Customs and Border Control facilities.”

Still, many Twitter users have taken issue with the museum for considering an exhibit while not putting forth a greater effort to put an end to the detainment of children that is currently taking place.

On the other side of the aisle, of course, are the many Trump supporters who are using these images as an opportunity to put blame on the migrant children’s parents.

One user by the name of Gaston Olvera responded by saying that being interested in drawings won’t do anything to help detained migrant children.

Others have replied with the hope that the images will serve as a reminder.

One user suggested that the drawings should be preserved as a record of the Trump administration’s cruelty:

Others expressed their belief that the images were indulgent.

Coneja called a collection of drawings in the Smithsonian “tragedy porn.”

Sadly, many conservatives are using the display as a moment to criticize those who are most vulnerable and who are being victimized.

@Dreamladakh2 bashed migrants. Perhaps forgetting that he was talking about children, he said, “Yeah let the potential criminals and terrorists come in just because they made a sad painting.”

Many are calling the Smithsonian’s images the equivalent of “fake news.”

And while many, like user @techwiz711, have expressed a belief that the drawings were coerced, saying that “children don’t draw the same unless directed.”

However, according to the article “Child’s Psychology—What Do Your Child’s Drawings and Scribbles Mean?” there are definite patterns and similarities in children’s drawings, similarities that can be analyzed and offer insight into a child’s state of mind.

Perhaps the Smithsonian’s interest in migrant children’s drawing is a case of “too soon,” and if created without the greatest sensitivity, the exhibit could appear to exploit human suffering.  Further information about the drawings and the conditions under which they were created would be important information to provide. However, drawing as a form of therapy, or expressing feelings about harsh experiences, such as the ones detailed in the drawings by migrant children can tell us a lot about the effects of trauma and illustrate how children see and understand a lot more than most adults realize.