State Department's Family Travel Chat Gets Mercilessly Trolled

David Moye

Timing is everything, in life and on Facebook.

Two State Department employees found that out on Tuesday when they held a Facebook live chat on family travel ― at a time when thousands of migrant children are being separated from their parents and placed in detention camps under a “zero tolerance” policy from the Trump administration.

The two employees, Kim and Carl ― no last names, we’re all friends here, right? ― wanted to focus on Americans looking for information on traveling abroad.

They tried to stick to that subject during the live chat, answering questions like “How do I take a passport photo of my baby?” But a lot of commenters had more, let’s say, topical questions.

A sampling:

  • “What tips do you have to beat the heat for toddlers imprisoned in a concentration camp in Texas in 100+ degree heat? And what type of baby pajamas will go best with a tin foil blanket?”

  • “Awww it’s so fun to fly with your kids. Your kids who are safe and sound and not locked away in a cage away from anyone and anything they’ve ever known.”

  • “What is the process for getting my children back once the US Government has separated them from me and incarcerated them?”

  • “How should I expect the ID number to be given to visiting family members? Tattoos on the forearm or just written illegibly with a big Sharpie?”

  • “How can I be sure my child’s skin is white enough for the government not to steal him from me when I attempt to return to the United States?”

Kim and Carl didn’t answer any of these questions. But they appeared visibly rattled at some points during the live chat ― enough so that one woman offered a bit of sympathy and a suggestion of her own.

“No, it is not too early in the day for you to go out and have a few drinks when you are done with this,” she wrote.

You can see the complete chat below.

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U.S. Border Patrol agents take a Central American family into custody on June 12, 2018 near McAllen, Texas.
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U.S. Border Patrol agents take Central American immigrants, including this young child, into custody on Jan. 4, 2017, near McAllen, Texas.
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U.S. Border Patrol agents take Central American immigrants into custody on Jan. 4, 2017, near McAllen, Texas.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

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