6/19/2014 - Bob Barr Townhall.com
“A seemingly endless surge of
immigrants.” That is how the L.A. Times recently described the
situation in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, described by one local government official as “the hottest spot in the
nation” for border crossings. The surge of illegal immigrants at the border,
largely composed of “unaccompanied alien children” (UACs) from Central America,
is creating chaos at the border and turning processing stations and military
bases into veritable refugee camps as border officials struggle to handle the
surge. And, with the number of UACs expected to climb to more than 90,000 by
then end of September, U.S. authorities are quickly losing ground.
However, this chaos at the border is
just the beginning of the disastrous consequences stemming from Obama’s
whimsical immigration “policies;” a mixture of ignoring current immigration
laws, manufacturing new policies based on his “Executive authority,” and
blaming Republicans for creating gridlock in Congress forcing him into taking
these actions (or lack thereof). And, given that this Administration has yet
to approach
the negotiating table in good faith with real
solutions, it is addressing the crisis in an equally haphazard way, endangering
America’s national and economic security in the process.
Were Obama a competent leader,
surrounded by competent subordinates, some immediate actions might have
included taking all illegals currently in U.S. custody at the border, and
shipping them back to Mexico, the country from whose territory they crossed
into the United States. Such swift action would have sent an immediate message
to others thinking about coming into the U.S. illegally that our borders are,
in fact, not open to lawbreakers. Instead, our Homeland Security and Health and
Human Services folks are responding with a “public relations campaign” to tell
folks in Mexico it is dangerous to trek through the desert, as if those
illegally immigrating were doing so because they did not understand the risks
already.
Regrettably, the Administration appears
to be following its standard protocol for crisis management: ducking
responsibility and blaming the resulting mess on external factors beyond its
control; in this case, violence and worsening conditions in Central American
countries. Of course, we know not to take this Administration at its word,
especially when its public image is at stake in yet another Executive
failure. The true catalyst for this surge in
illegal immigration stems not from external factors, but is a direct result of
the President creating a patchwork immigration enforcement system that has done
nothing if not encourage individuals from Mexico and Central
America to “come on in.”
For example, frequent grandstanding by
Obama and his allies in the Congress about the need to welcome the children of
illegal immigrants (“DREAM kids,” in the current liberal jargon) has – not
surprisingly – become a clarion call to those south of our border simply to
take us up on our offer, and flood our border with UACs. To make matters worse,
the Administration has ordered border officials to shelter and process all
these illegals, including child members of violent gangs, not because the law
dictates they do so, but because Obama has decided this will
be a part of America’s immigration policy.
Obama officials like Department
of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson claim the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 requires them to act in the
“best interest” of the child, which “very often means reuniting that child with
the parent in the United States.” However, the law
clearly states that the “interests” -- it makes
no mention of “best” interests – are only be “considered” in deciding how to
care for the children while in U.S. custody. Furthermore, the law defines UACs
as those children with “no parent or legal guardian in the United States,”
making Johnson’s excuses for the Administration even more absurd.
The Keystone Cop mentality driving
Obama’s bush league immigration policies is a well-established hallmark of
those who head the many federal agencies under Obama’s control. A
less-established characteristic is why, in the face of such obvious dangers to
America’s national and economic security, this Administration continues to push
such patently ineffectual policies. Is it incompetence, pure and simple, or
some crudely disguised liberal master plan to let illegals flood into our
homeland, then quickly grant them amnesty in time for the 2016 election? Is it
a ploy to create a “crisis” in order to force the Congress to pass his coveted
“comprehensive immigration reform” legislation? The latter scenario very well
might appeal to a number of Democrats in Congress who face brutal election
prospects resulting from the many blunders by a President whose party label
they share.
Regardless of the motivations or
ultimate agenda behind the failure of protecting our borders, Republicans must
act swiftly before our already strained border resources – and those in
communities and military installations across the country having to cope with
the child immigrants being shipped into their care as a result of Obama’s
edicts -- collapse under a new rising tide of illegal immigrants.
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