President Barack Obama needs to own up and accept responsibility for the growing crisis of children who came to the United States illegally.
In recent years, the number of unaccompanied children crossing illegally has skyrocketed. In 2011, there were 6,500 and in 2013, the number doubled. For this year alone, the government is projecting anywhere from 60,000 to 80,000.
“If you make it, they take you to a shelter and take care of you and let you have permission to stay,” a young Honduran boy told The New York Times. “When you appeal your case, if you say you want to study, they support you.”
Why the recent uptick? The Obama administration and pro-amnesty forces claim it’s because of unrest in Central America.
Crime and poverty are no doubt among the reasons many people want to leave their countries and come to America, but the reality is that Obama’s words and deeds are the real culprit behind spikes in illegal immigration.
For example, in 2012, Obama bypassed Congress through executive action to allow some minors brought to the U.S. illegally to defer deportation for two years.
As originally drafted, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals applied only to minors who arrived prior to June 15, 2007. But this action, along with other executive orders and policies relaxing or nullifying our immigration laws, has inspired tens of thousands since 2012 to smuggle their children across the border hoping for similar outcomes.
The fact the Obama administration has deported fewer illegal immigrants than any administration since 1973 also is a major driver. The reality is that many of those from Central America who are caught after crossing the border are not sent home. They are sent to shelters and given food and clothing while the U.S. government attempts to resettle them with relatives living, many illegally, in the U.S. And in some cases we’re providing bus and plane tickets for their travel.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who has promised to hold hearings on the issue, is right when he says “The recent surge of children and teenagers from Central America showing up at our southern border is an administration-made disaster.”
The truth is, the comments by any and all politicians suggesting amnesty or “pathways to citizenship” for those here illegally are partially responsible for what is becoming a humanitarian disaster. Who knows what these children endured on their dangerous trek north across hundreds of miles with little food or water and at the hands of human smugglers. Some may not make . Others find themselves in overcrowded shelters in border states such as Texas and Arizona that are completely unprepared to take them in. What may have been a fortunate deal for the first few hundred who got across the border soon could turn in to a nightmare for the thousands now pouring in. A crisis is building on our southern border and the pictures now being shown look more like refugee camps one would see in other parts of the world.
Would President Obama send his young daughters on such a journey? He should be doing everything in his power, both in word and deed, to prevent other parents and countries from allowing their children to face such dangers.
