For several weeks, the caravan of Central American nationals organized by the open borders group Pueblo Sin Fronteras has been moving closer to the U.S. Their travels have been a source for multiple human interest stories about the plight of migrants. And politicians have criticized the Trump administration for their heartless efforts to block the caravan and close loopholes in the nation’s asylum laws, while urging the United States take them in.
While no one disputes the horrendous conditions in their native countries, the notion that the compassionate response is leaving in place policies that incentivize individuals to embark on or pay smugglers to take their children on dangerous journeys in search of asylum is asinine.
Even if it were true that the risk in fleeing violence in Central America was worth it, those advocating policies that make it easier for asylum seekers to resettle in the U.S. willfully ignore the danger to the children in both physical and psychological terms.
As was disclosed at a Senate hearing on Thursday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that despite performing welfare checks on children and their sponsors 30 days after placement, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) lost track of 1,475 of the 7,635 unaccompanied minors it tried to reach between October and December 2017.
During the hearing, officials from HHS acknowledged they’d yet to establish proper procedures for processing unaccompanied minors, including how to conduct sufficient background checks on sponsors and adequately performing follow up appointments.
This is nothing new and was echoed in a 2016 GAO report that found the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) was failing to keep complete information on those contracted to screen sponsors and provide services to the unaccompanied minors is incomplete. In addition, ORR’s monitoring was inconsistent and they were failing to monitor the facilities that care for the children, and failed to visit some of them for as many as seven years.
Even worse, investigators with the Senate Homeland Security Committee reported in January 2016 that at least 19 children were placed in the homes of human traffickers as a result of shoddy background checks. Another 15 children showed signs of that they’d been in the hands of traffickers and, the report said, it was unclear how many of the 90,000 children resettled since 2014 had been similarly put in abusive homes.
There are many people calling for those on the caravan and thousands of others like them to be welcomed into country, but pushing them into an overburdened and underprepared system is not in anybody’s best interest.
11 Comments
Let me tell you all, that the American media reported that they close the border and will not let them in for now, because they were at full capacity, but the Hispanic media show the first 50 coming to immigration offices at the border, just few minutes ago in the news. I saw the video and the people who are helping them, get into America.
More for you, they also show boats full of people from Bangladesh, India and some other countries, who arrive in Colombia, in the way to the US.
This probably you won’t see in the American media, but more are coming and if they let this people in, more will come, that is for sure.
We need to call Congress and demand they go nuclear, if necessary and pass though immigration laws, to stop this madness, enough is enough.
“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too. ”
Caesar Marcus Aurelius 16th emperor of Rome 161-180 AD
this is totally insane our country does not need to take these people in they have reached Mexico and that is where they need to stay this these people do not look like they need our help they don’t look tortured or under fed I see some of them carrying expensive phones it is all a lie them escaping the drug cartels they will say and do anything to get into this country I think it’s time our government cleaned up the illegal immigrant problem we have now in this country
The other problem is that, if I understand international law on this correctly, a person seeking asylum is supposed to ask for asylum at the FIRST safe country he reaches. Is Mexico such a safe country? (they certainly claim so). Then why aren’t they seeking asylum in Mexico? Why isn’t Mexico offering them asylum?
You’re presuming that Libtards give a damn about ‘The Children!” Kids who fall into the grasp of sex traffickers or unvetted guardians to suffer absuse an neglect are mere collateral damage. The aim is to get as many Undocumented Democrats as possible across the border.
The U. S Taxpayer can not be Central America’s and Mexico Sugar Daddy forever ! With automation we need less uneducated low skill immigrants . 73% of Illegal Aliens receive 1 or more forms of welfare Legal Immigrants from Mexico 75% on welfare Central Americans 73% on welfare! Sorry lets top taking in the poor who can not make in in the U,S without govt assistance, this is written in the Immigration laws people who would be public charges( Need govt assists) are prohibited Sorry your country is messed up but stay and clean up your country
They are not here to pick our crops, they are here to pick our pockets!
Troy Spence, you took the words right out of my mouth. This woman named Jennifer Hickey is obviously a liberal writing more for her view. Question Ms. Hickey, why in the hell is it the United States problem to take care of the people in this caravan? We have Americans inside our own borders who need to be taken care of. Taking care of the rest of the world is simply a dumb stance to take. Like Troy Spence stated. I suggest Miss Hickey get off her arse, go to the San Ysidro(San Diego) entry in and around Tijuana, and do some real research before spouting off about some illegals who elected to board a train to reach the golden land. Where of where are the real journalists these days. I guess they’re in the same place as the liberals who truly think the job of the USA is to take care of everyone. We are at the end of the rope. Look at the numbers. Investigate the border crossings like Say Ysidro, the alternate crossing known as Otay Mesa, and then make a trip into Arizona where the real criminals gain access to these United States illegally. Get informed Ms. Hickey. You obviously are led by your heart and have little knowledge of our porous borders, the horrendous illegal numbers in Orange County alone, and beyond.
She never wrote anything of the sort. Did you bother reading the last sentence? She constantly calls for border enforcement.
My question is, why is it always the United States responablity to take in the illegals from these corrupted countries? Haven’t the United States been taking in these illegals for the past thirty something years already? I say no! Enough is enough! We have American citizens that are struggling as it is. Border patrol agents and the national guard should not be pressure in letting these people in, even if they are children. These children are not going to stay children for ever. We have enough of these corrupted countries problems as it is!
It isn’t our responsibility except in the eyes of open door liberals. As it is, America gives hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to Mexico to help stop the flow of illegal migrants crossing their border to get to ours. And, America gives hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to Honduras (just to name one country) to help THEIR people so that they won’t need nor want to illegally migrate. That doesn’t seem to be working very well. And, Mexico allowed this caravan to cross their border to ours. They even gave some of them 30 day Visa’s to be free to travel to the border. Rabid liberals believe that America is a free for all. Conservatives want to cut welfare to our citizens while liberals want to allow more illegals in to give them welfare.