The days when securing the border was a priority for both parties are over. In this histrionic political climate we can’t call murderers and rapists “animals.” Enforcement policy that deters by separating families at the border is inhumane. Metropolitan oases for illegal immigration are firmly established to keep criminal offenders safe from federal law enforcement.
None of this makes any sense if we take politics out of the equation. What makes even less sense is the inconsistency in how we go about protecting children victimized by Democratic proponents of permissive U.S. immigration policy.
If children are prey for criminal aliens are they safer in federal custody?
Policy: separate families at the border when they break the law
Homeland Security’s zero tolerance policy is explicit:
Children whose parents are referred for prosecution will be placed with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).1
The message is clear: don’t come here if you don’t have the legal right to enter. If families are separated this is on the parents, not the Trump administration.
The first hurdle in an immigrant’s new life in America is keeping the family unit intact. They probably don’t know that we routinely break up families of citizens when a single parent commits a crime and is incarcerated. That’s not our fault. Illegal immigrants aren’t special. We’ll break up their families, too if they don’t respect the rule of law.
At least when we do that we have control over what happens to the kids caught up in their parents’ bad decision. If they make it all the way to an urban sanctuary community we can’t protect them.
ICE photo
Democrats have a conflict: protect children or not?
There is a tremendous conflict between the two positions staked out by Congressional Democrats. On the one hand separating families at the border is the new rallying cry for illegal immigration supporters. On the other, they endorse sanctuary policies that protect criminal illegal aliens accused of crimes including child abuse, sex with minors, and child pornography.
We can make a very reasonable argument for separating families at the border so their children are safe from the criminal elements that Democrats shield from the law.
Democratic policy reversal: what happened to border security and arresting criminal aliens?
When Barack Obama backed the DREAM Act border security and deporting criminals was paramount:
Our priority of removing criminal illegal aliens – which the DREAM Act would further enhance – is only one part of this Administration’s broader strategy to secure the border and enforce our nation’s immigration laws.2
That snippet from then DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano even included the phrase “illegal aliens,” two words that no Democrat would use today. Napolitano spoke of the fact that Homeland Security had “deported a record number of illegal aliens convicted of criminal offenses.”3 At the time that was an accomplishment. Now we protect those people in urban sanctuaries. Some of them hurt children.
Separating families at the border: criminal act while we defend criminals
Accusing the U.S. of “criminalizing parents seeking protection for themselves and their children” Rep. Bennie Thompson argued:
This misguided policy is another statement of cruelty from President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security. Let it be clear: the Department of Homeland Security’s official policy is now to separate families – including mothers from their young children – when they seek assistance at the border between ports of entry.4
Are they seeking assistance or entering illegally? That all depends on how much Democrats think they can get away with as their immigration rhetoric takes them to the limits of absurdity.
There is also outrage because the Trump Administration labelled the worst of the worst “animals.” New York Democrat Yvette Clarke charged:
President Trump has convened two events in recent weeks, including one in Long Island, NY, that demonized and belittled the valuable contributions of immigrants living in the United States, painting immigrants as criminals and referring to them as, “animals.”5
While Clarke’s party plays word games dangerous politics sets public safety aside.
Children aren’t safe from their immigrant communities
ICE reported recently on New York sanctuary policies. The agency drew up 440 detainers and then:
In just three months, more than three dozen criminal aliens were released from local custody. Simply put, the politics and rhetoric in this city are putting its own communities at an unnecessary risk,” said Scott Mechowski, acting field office director for the ERO New York.”6
Those released had committed crimes including assault, felony grand larceny, robbery, and homicide.
When citizens commit these crimes we lock them up immediately to keep law-abiding people safe.
Last week ICE announced that 91 criminal aliens were arrested in New Jersey for crimes that included assault, possession of a weapon, heroin distribution, sexual assault of a minor, domestic violence, money laundering, homicide, and child abuse.7
None of this is new news. Last December while children of anti-Trumpers in Congress got ready for Christmas, ICE announced more enforcement efforts that included arrests for sexual assault of a minor and possession of child pornography.8
How do we reconcile damning this administration for separating families at the border while we protect people who abuse children?
The truth is that any policy that restricts the activity of illegal immigrants coming across the border or working, living, and even committing crimes within our country will be roundly condemned. This is a war against public safety waged by Democrats. Perhaps if those pointing fingers at the merest thought of law enforcement had the opportunity to spend a few days in a prison cell with the people they defend they would think differently.
UPDATE June 19, 2018: Democrats won’t acknowledge child abuse, sex offenders
Sanctuary state Congressman Bill Foster put ICE on notice when he defended his district’s immigrant residents yesterday:
“I strongly condemn any attempt to instill fear in our immigrant community,” Foster said. “I am proud to represent a district with vibrant and diverse immigrant communities from around the world.”9
Foster and 10 other Illinois Democrats sent a letter to ICE Field Director Ricardo Wong on June 15, 2018 demanding to know the who, what, and why of the agency’s recent Operation Keep Safe criminal immigrant sweep.
ICE had already swept through the Minneapolis-St. Paul area earlier in May. Agents arrested immigrants who had committed crimes including rape, soliciting a person the offender believed to be 13-16 for prostitution, domestic assault of a child, and electronically soliciting a child.10
According to Foster, Chicago’s immigrant communities were also threatened. Crimes leading to the arrests included indecency/sex conduct, sexual assault, and soliciting sex.11
We hear about the same crimes committed over and over by the people Democrats insist deserve blanket protection at the expense of public and yes, immigrant safety. In September 2017 it was Operation Safe City with arrests for cruelty towards a child, indecent assault and battery on a child, prostitution, rape, sex assault, sex offenses against a child, and sexual exploitation of a minor.12
These crimes are committed by people Democrats hold blameless and staunchly defend, including tens of thousands of DACA recipients who we just found out have arrest records13 and received temporary amnesty anyway.
Foster is right. ICE does threaten individuals in immigrant communities. Just because Democrats refuse to acknowledge for political reasons that not all immigrants are law-abiding doesn’t make it a fact.
Keeping families away from predators in illegal immigrant sanctuaries is good policy, but in any event we can expect that the crisis created by separating families at the border will be resolved soon. Hopefully good judgment will prevail and these families will be sent home safe and intact before they subject their children to the dangers America’s big cities hold for the vulnerable.
UPDATE June 20, 2018: People in cages? No, illegals in jail.
Trump gave in and passed an order today to end the crisis. The media and Capitol Hill lefties are still babbling about children in cages. Don’t expect that to stop just because we decided, at least on paper, to stop separating families. Now the problem will be entire families in cages. You won’t hear about illegals in temporary holding cells. It serves the rhetoric better to pretend we’re treating these people like animals. Enough of us swallow this kind of flagrant anti-Americanism to create the illusion of truth.
UPDATE July 1, 2018: ICE looks for immigrant sex traffickers
As the abolish ICE movement gains traction and protests break out across the country over separating families, ICE is still looking for human traffickers who operated in the U.S. and escaped law enforcement. You can read about who they are, where they came from, and the crimes they committed on the agency’s three “ICE Most Wanted” pages.
While ICE searches for the bad guys Democrats calling for yesterday’s “mass mobilization” got their wish. Their pronouncements become more outlandish as the national outrage they created grows:
Donald Trump wants Americans to believe that these are all criminals and gang members crossing the border, but these are survivors of crime and violence – not perpetrators. These are men seeking security and safety from terrible horrors that we cannot even imagine, and trying to bring their families to safety.14
If they are all survivors of crime and violence, where are the criminals coming from who have already been deported?
UPDATE July 13, 2018: 16,000 child predators arrested by agency Democrats want to abolish
Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan’s abolish ICE bill now has a number. H.R.6361 was introduced on July 12, 2018.
New York Congressman Adriano Espaillat, who was born in the Dominican Republic, justifies terminating the agency:
We are pushing to bring an end to ICE as the agency has strayed too far from its original mission, intent and purpose,” said Espaillat. “15
The good news is that Pocan’s bill calls for a commission to decide who is going to take over ICE’s many jobs. The bad news is that this is an easy way for Democrats to nullify immigration enforcement. Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal suggests:
We should eliminate the agency as it stands and start from scratch to restructure its functions.16
Those functions include protecting kids, including children of illegal immigrants. ICE’s Operation Predator has arrested over 16,000 people for committing crimes against children. 2,600 were nabbed in 2016 alone.17
Who is going to go after these people while Democrats twirl their thumbs and laugh about the end of immigration enforcement in America?
When the text of the abolish ICE bill is published we’ll let you know.
UPDATE July 28, 2018: Democrats value dogs over children
Last Thursday was another liberal judicial deadline from California to reunite children with their illegal immigrant parents.
The media and congressional left wingers were delighted to update the country on the alleged federal failure to get the job done. Congressman Darren Soto republished an article from local media that never once used the word “criminal”18 despite news outlets reporting that one of the reasons not all families are reunited is that the parents are exactly that.
The number we keep hearing is 711 children. One of the reasons according to a Daily Beast article19 is that their parents have criminal records, which raises another question. If they were apprehended at the border, how many of these immigrants have already been deported at least once?
House members who proposed the REUNITE Act on Thursday, July 26, 2018 didn’t have much to say about the issue of criminal migrants, either. Instead, they proposed a bill to “Reunite Every Unaccompanied Newborn Infant Toddler and Other Children Expeditiously.”
So we went from children to newborn, infants, and toddlers. Sounds like a cover up. Democrats must know that we’re down to sorting out the criminals they claim don’t exist.
Have a look at this Homeland Security list of what can happen to people who trek to the Southwest Border and then ask yourself: why aren’t all parents who bring their children here prosecuted for child abuse?
If you leave your child, or even your dog in a hot car you go to jail and your family is separated. Lucky for illegals they don’t face the same scrutiny as citizens.
Footnotes
1. “Fact Sheet: Zero Tolerance Immigration Prosecutions – Families.” Homeland Security. June 15, 2018. https://www.dhs.gov/news/2018/06/15/fact-sheet-zero-tolerance-immigration-prosecutions-families, retrieved June 17, 2018.
2. “How the DREAM Act Would Bolster Our Homeland Security.” The White House. President Barack Obama. December 14, 2010. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2010/12/14/how-dream-act-would-bolster-our-homeland-security, retrieved June 17, 2018.
3. Ibid.
4. “Thompson Statement on DHS Policy Change to Separate Families at Border.” Committee on Homeland Security. Democrats. May 7, 2018. https://democrats-homeland.house.gov/news/press-releases/thompson-statement-dhs-policy-change-separate-families-border, retrieved June 17, 2018.
5. “Clarke, Members of New York City Delegation to Trump: Come to NYC and Meet With Immigrant Communities.” Yvette D. Clarke. May 24, 2018. https://clarke.house.gov/clarke-members-of-new-york-city-delegation-to-trump-come-to-nyc-and-meet-with-immigrant-communities/, retrieved June 17, 2018.
6. “3-month review shows how New York City’s failure to honor immigration detainers leads to hundreds of dangerous criminals released.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. June 1, 2018. https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/3-month-review-shows-how-new-york-citys-failure-honor-immigration-detainers-leads, retrieved June 17, 2018.
7. “ICE arrests 91 in New Jersey operation targeting criminal aliens.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. June 11, 2018. https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-arrests-91-new-jersey-operation-targeting-criminal-aliens, retrieved June 17, 2018.
8. “ICE arrests 101 in New Jersey operation targeting criminals aliens, illegal re-entrants and immigration violators.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. December 12, 2017. https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-arrests-101-new-jersey-operation-targeting-criminal-aliens-illegal-re-entrants-and, retrieved June 17, 2018.
9. “Foster Leads Call to Demand Answers to ICE Arrests.” Bill Foster. June 18, 2018. https://foster.house.gov/media/press-releases/foster-leads-call-to-demand-answers-to-ice-arrests, retrieved June 19, 2018.
10. “ICE arrests 78 criminal aliens and immigration vioaltors in enforcement surge in 5 Midwest states.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. May 15, 2018. https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-arrests-78-criminal-aliens-and-immigration-violators-enforcement-surge-5-midwest, retrieved June 19, 2018.
11. “Ice arrests 156 criminal aliens and immigration violators during Operation Keep Safe in Chicago area.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. May 25, 2018. https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-arrests-156-criminal-aliens-and-immigration-violators-during-operation-keep-safe, retrieved June 19, 2018.
12. “Operation Safe City. Over 450 arrests.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. September 28, 2017. https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-arrests-over-450-federal-immigration-charges-during-operation-safe-city, retrieved June 19, 2018.
13. “King: Stop Paul Ryan’s DACA before it Delivers Amnesty to Criminal Aliens.” Steve King. June 19, 2018. https://steveking.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/king-stop-paul-ryan-s-daca-before-it-delivers-amnesty-to-criminal-aliens, retrieved June 19, 2018.
14. “Jayapal Returns to SeaTac Detention Center, Hears Heartbreaking Stories That Reinforce Need for Mass Mobilization.” Pramila Jayapal. June 23, 2018. https://jayapal.house.gov/media/press-releases/jayapal-returns-seatac-detention-center-hears-heartbreaking-stories-reinforce, retrieved July 1, 2018.
15. “Members of Congress Introduce Legislation to Terminate ICE and Transfer Critical Functions to Other Agencies.” Mark Pocan. July 12, 2018. https://pocan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/members-of-congress-introduce-legislation-to-terminate-ice-and-transfer, retrieved July 13, 2018.
16. Ibid.
17. “Humacao man sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for production of child pornography.” ICE. July 5, 2018. https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/humacao-man-sentenced-more-17-years-prison-production-child-pornography, retrieved July 12, 2018.
18. “Deadline Passes to Reunite Families Separated at Border.” Darren Soto. July 27, 2018. https://soto.house.gov/media/in-the-news/deadline-passes-reunite-families-separated-border, retrieved July 28, 2018.
19. Bixby, Scott. “711 Migrant Children Still Separated From Families Hours Before Reunification Deadline.” Daily Beast. July 26, 2018. https://www.thedailybeast.com/711-migrant-children-still-separated-from-families-hours-before-reunification-deadline?ref=scroll, retrieved July 28, 2018.
20. “Reps. Espaillat, Gutiérrez, Bonamici, Jayapal Lead House Members to Introduce Reunite Every Unaccompanied Newborn Infant Toddler and Other Children Expeditiously (REUNITE) Act.” Suzanne Bonamici. July 26, 2018. https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases/reps-espaillat-guti-rrez-bonamici-jayapal-lead-house-members-introduce-reunite, retrieved July 28, 2018.
Image: “ICE arrests 156 criminal aliens and immigration violators during Operation Keep Safe in Chicago area.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. May 25, 2018. https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-arrests-156-criminal-aliens-and-immigration-violators-during-operation-keep-safe, retrieved June 17, 2018.
Leave a Reply