From the end of May through June, there was outrage over the forced separation of children from their parents as families entered the United States illegally. Many were seeking asylum. Outrage filled the news cycles. My Facebook feed had posts several times a day from people I know locally as well as national news. I had to stop checking Facebook to get away from it all.
There were protests and calls for the forced separations to stop. Comments such as, “I have a 4-year-old and can’t imagine this happening to me,” helped everyday Americans identify with the plight of people trying to escape from a variety of circumstances many people cannot understand or comprehend.
Then, everything went silent. Although I have continued to read stories about conditions at the detention centers where children are still being held, there has been nary a peep from the local folks who were once so angry about the treatment of children. It was like it didn’t matter. Several stories, however, have made national attention, and people are angry, it just seems like no one I know in western Nebraska cares about it anymore.