Is the government confused about its success with border security, or is the opportunity to give sanctuary to undocumented children an opportunity too good for Obama to pass up?
Long after ex-Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano told us the Southwest border was open for business, the president assured us that the flow of undocumented immigrants was all but staunched:
We strengthened security at the borders so that we could finally stem the tide of illegal immigrants. We put more boots on the ground on the southern border than at any time in our history.1
Many of us didn’t believe him, but that’s what he said. Now we find out that not only are undocumented children arriving in droves, they have created an urgent humanitarian situation.2 We have also been told that the problem created by Obama’s welcoming approach to illegal immigrants demands a coordinated Federal response.3 That last part, the federal response? The administration will never admit responsibility for luring illegal immigrants across the border, but it had no problem asking for $1.4 billion to deal with this new problem.
Undocumented children are a great opportunity for Obama. Washington loves passing laws on behalf of kids. When it comes to helping children we are not supposed to care what we spend or why, even if we are spending on kids who don’t belong here.
Do thousands of undocumented children mean Washington lied again?
It’s hard to know what to believe about Southwest border control. The Obama administration’s track record on immigration and its fondness for playing with facts mean it’s safe to assume our information is faulty either by accident or design.
Is it the untold resources dedicated to stopping citizens from Mexico and Central America from breaking into the U.S. that make Democrats think we can separate border security from immigration reform (see: Border Control Policy Stalled by Legalization Campaign)? Let’s face it. The more illegals that come to the U.S. seeking sanctuary, the better the chance our government will be forced to do something about it. That’s where undocumented children come in. When government needs a sympathy vote, what could work better than unwashed kids seeking sanctuary?
Arizona is a bad choice for sanctuary.
Arizona’s proximity to Texas might have saved taxpayers a buck, but the undocumented children being dumped in the Grand Canyon state would probably have been happier if they had been shipped to a sanctuary city like Chicago. After being sued by Eric Holder and lambasted by liberals nationwide because of SB 1070, Jan Brewer probably didn’t appreciate the humor in dumping Texas’ undocumented overflow into her state. She didn’t sound amused. The children who made it across the border probably weren’t laughing, either, but that’s Obama’s fault. He’s the one who keeps giving them reasons to risk their lives to come here.
Our newest Homeland Security chief called undocumented children an important priority of this administration.4 They should be, but not in the manner Secretary Johnson intended. Instead of making young illegal immigrants a priority, how about delivering taxpayers the border control we were promised and eliminate the problem altogether? Alas, this is America. Obama is in the White House and he wants to do more for Democrats. That means putting on a show for illegal immigrants. Instead of solving the problem he will eke out some political gain from a manufactured humanitarian crisis and maybe toss in an executive immigration order for good measure. We have to give some credit to whoever decided to stage this fiasco in Arizona, though. That was a cruel stroke of liberal genius.