By Lowman S. Henry
The flood of illegal immigrants crossing America's southern
border has become a crisis. Those
arriving are not "undocumented" or "refugees," what is
occurring is a blatant disregard for the immigration policies of the United
States, however flawed those policies may be.
We are not dealing with immigrants "yearning to breathe free,"
rather this is Mexico and the countries of central America dumping their
economically dispossessed, gangs and criminals on our doorstep.
This is a humanitarian crisis, with reports of the bodies of
small children washing up on the shores of the Rio Grande. It is a law enforcement crisis as drug cartel
"coyotes" transport illegals across the border for money. It is a political crisis as leaders of both
parties have been unable to come together to develop a coherent immigration
policy. It is a foreign policy crisis as
Mexico detains one U.S. Marine who accidentally wandered into their territory
while sending tens of thousands across our borders and suffering no ill
consequence. It is a constitutional
crisis as our president refuses to perform his sworn duties and enforce the
immigration laws passed by Congress.
The degree of President Obama's arrogance on this matter was
on full display last week as he played pool and drank beer during a visit to
Texas rather than tour the border and holding facilities. Imagine the uproar if President Bush had gone
to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and instead of delivering
a substantial address while standing in front of the St. Louis Cathedral he had
gone off for some Beignets at Café du Monde?
Media reports would have us believe that those flooding
across the U.S. border with Mexico are small children looking for a better life
in the United States. They are often referred to as "dreamers," an
effort to slap lipstick on the immigration crisis pig. While some are small children, the fact is
criminals, drug dealers, and those sick with infectious diseases are also
arriving in the current wave. And how
does it benefit those who are small children to separate them from parents and
send them into camps filled with miscreants and disease?
The preponderance of the blame for this situation lays with
the president and his administration whose refusal to establish effective
border security and whose political pronouncements telegraphed an open border
policy to Mexico and its southern neighbors.
Administration spokesmen engage in Orwellian double speak, a frequent
dialect in this White House, claiming the borders are more secure than
ever. Really? So the most secure border ever has resulted
in a wave of illegal immigrants that have so overwhelmed the system more border
control agents are attending to basic human needs than providing security?
Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel once said no
good crisis should ever go to waste. By that he meant a crisis gives the
president the opportunity to take actions he might not otherwise be able to
take. That is why the Obama
Administration has allowed the current immigration crisis to occur. It was predictable and encouraged and
designed to help the president achieve his personal political goal of letting
tens of thousands of new immigrants - who will become dependent on the
government services his party champions, and ultimately voters for future
progressive regimes.
Against the backdrop of this harsh reality Republicans and
responsible Democrats in congress must act quickly to change current law
allowing those who have crossed the border to be sent back immediately. The current process is unenforceable,
unrealistic and partially to blame for triggering the crisis now
unfolding. Then, steps must be taken -
including the deployment of troops - to seal off the nation's southern
border. And finally, congressional
leaders must come together to craft a reasonable and enforceable immigration
policy going forward.
A nation is not truly a nation if it cannot control its own
borders. The time has come for us to
regain control of ours.
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