On Tuesday morning, the Department of State held a live webinar on Facebook. “Are you traveling with kids this year?” the event description read. “[W]ant tips to make travel easier? Join us for this Facebook Live with Carl and Kim from Passport Services. They’ll share lots of tips with you to make traveling with the whole family easier.”
It was an odd time to choose to advise people about travelling with children. In the last few months, the Trump administration has separated almost 2,000 migrant children from their parents as part of a new “zero tolerance” border policy. There has been mounting criticism of the practice, and nationwide protests against Trump’s policy are planned for 30 June.
It is not clear whether Carl and Kim from Passport Services realised that giving cheery “travel hacks” to help your family vacation run more smoothly was a tad inappropriate given the current political climate. However, it would have been very difficult for them to entirely ignore the stream of incredulous comments that popped up as they smiled at the camera.
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“How in the world is this a good time for you to be giving advice about traveling with children?” one commenter said. “HOW FREAKING TONE DEAF!”
“Is the bad timing on this ‘chat’ intentional or is the US Dept of State just so incredibly tone deaf that they don’t know that the US is separating children from their parents and holding them in cages?” another Facebook user wrote.
“I’d like help planning a visit to family members held in different concentration camps. What online services do you have to help me plan my visit?” read another comment.
Despite the fact that comments in the Facebook Live event were filled with anger about Trump’s immigration policy, Carl and Kim calmly soldiered on with handy tips about passport logistics. Kim shared a heartbreaking anecdote about the morning she got a phone call from her sister-in-law who had been denied boarding to her flight to Mexico because her six-year-old niece’s passport had expired – which was terribly upsetting for the whole family. “We want to save a lot of heartache from fellow parents who find themselves in this situation,” Kim said, without even the faintest hint of self-awareness in her voice.
While Kim seemed totally unperturbed by the poor timing of the livestream, Carl appeared to be affected by the constant comments about children being taken from their parents. By the end of the session, his every other word was “um” and he kept repeating the fact he was “potentially driving across the border” into Canada for a family vacation soon.
After 40 extremely awkward minutes the livestream came to an end, with zero mentions of the unpleasant family separation situation. “I think we’ve answered some good questions today,” Kim said as she wrapped things up. “We have a lot of tips to give. We just want to help other parents. We’re very proud of parents.” Then a beaming Carl and Kim showed photos of their happy children to the camera.