The Wall Street Journal
05/08/12 Nathan Koppel
“Child Immigration is Rising: More Unaccompanied Minors cross Border
Illegally: Mexican Law is blamed”
Many more unaccompanied children are illegally crossing the
southern U.S. border, a situation that some experts attribute to a new
immigration law in Mexico allowing some kids who enter that country to remain
there without visas for humanitarian reasons.
The influx across the U.S. border is causing a political
outcry in the state, where the federal government has set up five temporary
shelters to deal with the growing numbers of young immigrants.
From October to the end of April, the U.S. government has
detained more than 6,500 unaccompanied minors who had crossed the border,
nearly double the number detained in the comparable period the previous year,
according to U.S. officials.
Most of them come from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador,
countries that are close to Mexico's southern border, and generally range in
age from 14 to 17, though some are younger.
"By failing to take immediate action to return these minors
to their country of origin and prevent others from coming, the federal
government is perpetuating the problem," the governor wrote.
The White House referred questions to the Department of
Homeland Security. A spokesman for the department declined to comment on the
Mexican law or to discuss the reasons behind the increase in border crossings
by Central American children.
Immigration experts say a Mexican law enacted last May,
which lets some kids who enter that country remain there without visas for humanitarian
reasons, allows more children safe passage to the U.S. border.
Ricardo Alday, a spokesman for the Mexican embassy in
Washington, said in a statement that Mexico's new immigration law strengthens
"the protection of non-accompanied minors in Mexico," and ensures
that when children are deported, they are returned to their home countries
safely. He said it is too early to tell whether the law had led to a decline in
the number of children that Mexico sends back to their native countries.
"Mexican authorities interview all non-accompanied minors and through
established protocols, work with Consular officials from Central American
nations in Mexico to ensure the minors return to their countries of origin
safely," he added.
The federal Administration for Children and Families, a
division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said the children
were being well cared for at the temporary Texas shelters.
The kids have constant adult supervision and medical care,
said Kenneth Wolfe, a spokesman for the Administration for Children and
Families, as well as "three meals and two snacks daily." The agency
said it allocated $33.5 million to cover additional costs associated with the
surge in youth immigration.
Many of the children
are quickly reunited with family members in the U.S. and remain with them while
they fight against deportation—a difficult challenge, immigration experts
said. Children not reunited with relatives are sent to permanent shelters.
Authorities plan to operate the temporary Texas shelters through the end of the
summer while permanent shelters expand to deal with the surge.
Common Sense Review
Someone please explain this to me… So due to Mexico’s kind
heart law toward immigration and minors, we the US Taxpayers have to pay for
the mass entrance into the US. We are
the land of opportunity, yet to the admittance come at a price which is the
hard effort to come here legally. What
an idea!
Our gov’t has lost that concept… that pride of
patriotism. The borders need to be
protected and secured for us. The
blatant crossings cost Americans money and our citizens.
All good things comes at a price, being an American has a
large price tag.
No comments:
Post a Comment