This week, we have watched the unfolding story of the thousands of "unaccompanied children" who have been flooding our borders. Without a doubt, this is a human tragedy. Is it a tragedy that could have been avoided? Probably. Our immigration policy, never truly defined, has been rendered completely ineffective by one and one only fact: This administration has steadfastly refused to secure our southern border. Beyond that, the President's former spokes-minion, Jay Carney, actually stood in the press room and lied (again) in his statement that our "...border is more secure than it has ever been."
Just yesterday, the President proposed spending (depending upon whose report you read) either 3.8 or 4.3 billion dollars to help solve the current dilemma. Yet, NOT ONE DOLLAR of this proposed expenditure does anything to stem the flow of this overwhelming attack on our border. No money for a fence, no money for increased enforcement, no LONG TERM solution. Once again, we "lead from behind." Once again, we are reactive rather than proactive.
By the administration's own acknowledgement, many of these latest border crossers will eventually be sent back from whence they came. At least, that is, those who don't "disappear" prior to their hearing dates. Which brings me to question: Do we really have as much control on these visitors as we are being led to believe? We've already heard the story of one who was sent to Maryland and claimed by someone who gave a bogus address and who never showed up for their scheduled hearing. Gone into the hinterlands of America. Probably soon to be found at an emergency room near you, or maybe in your child's school this fall.
And, with all the mass confusion along our border, creating mass distraction for our border control agents, how many of the really BAD characters have we missed? Sadly, we won't know until it's too late. We can reasonably suspect that much of this influx of unaccompanied children at our border is the work of the many Central American drug cartel types. Isn't it also reasonable to assume that this is being done for their benefit in some way?
The next and most burning question I have is "Why all the secrecy when it comes to these children?"Congressman Jim Bridenstine was denied access to one of the facilities where these children are being kept. When he inquired as to what was happening, he was told to email questions to HHS (Health and Human Services).
Meantime, HHS is willing to schedule tours of these centers with the following restrictions: No pictures, no questions of the children, no real contact. This truly sounds like something out of the former Soviet Union. Why HHS being so secretive? At a time when this administration desperately needs someplace where they can show some transparency, they run in exactly the opposite direction. Look, I understand the idea of protecting the privacy of these children, but we first should be damned certain that these folks aren't bringing MORE uninvited "guests" with them in the form of diseases, parasites, lice, and whatever else with which they may be afflicted.
Personally, I would have no problem with these guests being totally quarantined until their health status is ascertained; yet, HHS has seen fit to transport these people all over the damned country, and schedule "tours" of their detention facilities. That doesn't seem real healthy to me, at least in the present tense. Once that status is established, they should be returned from whence they came.
At the very least, since we, the taxpayers are being "volunteered" to pay this bill, we deserve some semblance of an accounting. Not only that, but if these kids are allowed to stay, our tax dollars will be further spent to educate and care for them, a burden which our already overtaxed educational system cannot afford.
Bottom line: This whole crisis could have been avoided had not the Obama Administration essentially implied that "If you get to America, you can stay." We have essentially obliterated our border at a time when it should be reinforced and closed.
At a time when everyone seems to clamor for "immigration reform," we've been handed a set of circumstances that shows we need to clearly demand that before ANY reform can be considered, we need to STOP the flow of illegal immigrants and control our own borders. Obviously, we cannot trust the current administration to do this, as they have shown no inclination to do so. Without that step, "immigration reform" cannot be considered.
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