Biblical and Constitutional Politics
Separated Families at the Border: A Manufactured Crisis
“Fact check: There is no law stating families must be separated at the border. That claim is false.”
This statement was made during my local WTAE newscast, an ABC affiliate, when it aired a segment by ABC News about the border controversy. I screamed at the TV, “That is a lie! Haven’t you heard of the 1997 Flores decision?”
So Many Lies and Deceptions
The above statement by ABC News is just one of many lies and deceptions the media and other leftists have been making about the current border controversy. Having failed with the phony Trump/ Russian collusion hoax, the misguided obstruction of justice claim, the silliness of a porn star being made out to be a reputable witness, and their many foolish attempts to make President Trump out to be a racist/ sexist/ homophobe, or whatever derogatory label they thought they could pin on him, leftists have now manufactured this crisis to try to make President Trump look like an uncaring doofus who just hates children. But just like all of those other attempts, this one will fail too, as it also is a fabrication.
Leftists have manufactured this crisis by circulating photos of children in cages and of children lying sardine-style under foil blankets on hard floors, by Time magazine putting a crying girl on its cover, saying she is crying because she was torn from her mother by Trump, along with playing audio recordings of crying children, all the while screaming there is no reason for any of this, that it is just Trump’s uncaring policy, making it sound like this is all new, like it just started happening a few weeks ago (in mid-May 2018).
They have manufactured this crisis to divert attention from the many successes of Trump’s presidency, most notably and recently, his very successful Singapore Summit. They are also using it to divert attention from the Inspector’s General (IG) report detailing corruption in the FBI. That report, incidentally, upheld many of the points and contradicted none that I made in my two-part article Chronology of Corruption in the US Government and Unjustified Attacks Against President Trump.
Obama’s Family Separation Policy
Let’s start with a few facts. Families have been getting separated at the border since the 1997 Flores decision. That order stated that families could not be held together at immigration detention centers for more than 20 days. The reason for this order was to prevent children from being held for an extended period with adults.
This is of course standard practice. When an adult commits a crime, they are always separated from their children when they are placed in custody. That is because the children would be in danger if they were held in custody with adults.
However, it usually takes longer than 20 days to process a family unit when it crosses the border illegally, especially if they claim asylum. That is what led to the Obama-era practice of “catch and release.” What this phrase mean is, when a person or family unit is caught trying to cross the border illegally, rather than detaining them, they are released, with an order to show up for a court hearing later.
Needless to say, the vast majority of the time, the illegal aliens do not show up for the court hearing, but instead just disappear into American society. It is this practice that led to the over 20 million illegal aliens now in America and to the whole problem with the DACA recipients.
Note that the 20 million figure is correct, not the 12-13 million number you have probably heard in the media. The reason is simple: the media has been citing the 12-13 million number for the past 20 years. But during that time, an estimated 400,000 illegal aliens have entered and remained in the USA each year. 400,000 x 20 = 8,000,000. Add that to the previous 12-13 million, and that means there are now over 20 million illegal aliens living in the USA.
In any case, it must be mentioned that just because an adult and a child show up at the border together, that does not mean they belong together. In other words, there is no guarantee that the adult is in fact the parent of the child. It is more than possible that the child was kidnapped by the adult to be used as a “ticket” into the USA.
By this is meant, once the “catch and release” practice of families became know in Mexico and Central America, those from those areas wanting to cross the US border illegal learned or were even taught that to do so, they should take a child with them. That child then forces US authorities to release them before the 20-day deadline.
Even worse is parents often pay “coyotes” to take their children across the border. This is in fact the reason for the vast majority of children now being held in US detention centers. The children arrived at the border either alone or with adults who were not their parents. Therefore, the separation of families occurred far south of our border and was instigated by the parents, not the US government.
But far worse than the practice of parents sending their children to the border without them is unrelated adults kidnapping children from Mexico or South America to use them to get across the border illegally. Then these adults either dump the children, leaving them to fend for themselves, or much worse, sell them into prostitution. In other words, human trafficking.
This is a very serious and growing problem, but the media has been totally ignoring it, and so are lawmakers. For instance, a Republican congressman was being interviewed by Shannon Bream on a recent episode of The Story, a Fox New show. Shannon asked the congressman how his border proposal would ensure children were not being trafficked.
I thought “good question” and anxiously awaited his answer. But he ignored the question and changed the subject. I was again screaming at the TV, “He didn’t answer the question! Ask it again!” But Shannon never did. And that ignoring of the problem is how human trafficking has grown to be so serious.
Many of those trying to cross the border illegally, when caught, will claim they are seeking “asylum.” By this is meant, they are trying to claim a legal reason for their crossing, as US law allows entry of aliens fleeing war, natural disasters, and other dangerous situations. But just as when the “catch and release” practice became known, once this practice became known, aliens began being coached on how to lie about being in such a distress, so that they can gain legal entry into the USA.
President Obama tried to address all of these issues in 2014 by separating the children from their families. After the 20 days, the children are placed in the care of Health and Human Services (HHS), while the parents remined detained. That was necessary, as the number of aliens trying to cross the border illegally spiked to the point that it became impossible to process them within 20 days in accordance with the Flores decision.
That separation enabled his administration to keep the adult aliens in detention for longer than 20 days, giving them time to determine their status, if the adults and children really belong together, and if they had a legal reason to enter the USA. Included in the detention centers where children were being housed were military bases, in which as many as 7,000 children were being held.
I have not been able to ascertain how long the Obama administration continued this practice, but it was long enough that many photos were taken of those children being held in those detention centers. And it was those photos that initially were circulated in the media and on the Internet but with claims they were taken recently. To be to clear, those photos were taken in 2014, while Obama was President, not now while Trump is President. That includes all of the photos you have seen of children in “cages.”
But why were the photos not circulated in 2014 when they were first taken and when the Obama administration was engaging in the practice of separating families? The answer is simple—the media loved Obama and did not want to disparage him and his administration. A few reporters did write articles about what was happening at the border, and some activists tried to bring attention to the growing difficulty at the border, but the media mostly ignored them, and nothing came of those reports and activists’ activities.
Hatred for Donald Trump
However, now Donald J. Trump is President, and the media and leftists hate Donald Trump. Consequently, the media and leftists trotted out those old photos and circulated them, making it appear like they were taken recently, but they were not. What that means is, those pictures of children in cages should have gotten you outraged at Obama and his administration, not at Trump and the current administration.
As for the audio recordings of crying children, those were made recently. They were made when reporters were given tours of the facilities housing the children. But the reporters were told there would no pictures, videos, or recordings made, so as to protect the privacy of the children, but some unscrupulous reporters ignored those rules and protections and secretly made the recordings.
But what I find most interesting about them is those children are crying out for “Mommy” or Daddy” in English, not Spanish. But these are children from Central America, so Spanish would surely be their native language. As such, you would think they would naturally cry out in that language when in distress. But with the cries being in the language of the majority of the American public, whose heartstrings the reporters are hoping to tug on, it seems to me like the crying was staged.
As for the Time magazine picture, the father has publicly stated that that his daughter and her mother were not separated at the border. They are being held together in a holding facility. Meanwhile, he is still in Central America, with their three other children. The mother in fact took their daughter against his wishes and took her on the dangerous trek across Mexico to the American border. And that leads to the next point.
Statistics and DNA Testing
For a few more facts, of the over 12,000 children that were being held in detention centers when this situation exploded in the media in early June 2018, fully 10,000 of them fell into the category of having arrived at the US border as unaccompanied minors. But over 40,000 unaccompanied minors arrived at the US border in 2017. Those tens of thousands of children were mostly placed with relatives living in the USA. That means the Trump administration has been doing a stellar job of dealing with a very difficult and potentially overwhelming situation, but you will never hear that in the media.
Meanwhile, only 2.300 of the children that were being held were separated from their parents at the border. As of this writing (6/24/18), 524 of them have already been reunited with their parents. But most importantly, HHS has announced that some 300 children will not be reunited with the adults they arrived with, as paternity or maternity has not been demonstrated.
It is easy to prove such with DNA testing. It should be noted that such testing is needed, as you cannot just ask the children if the adults they arrived with are their parents, as they have been scared into saying that they are their parents, whether they are or not. But DNA testing can determine with 100% accuracy maternity or paternity. And it only takes a day or two for the results to come back once the sample is sent to the appropriate lab.
In any case, if it were not for detaining “families” when they try to illegally enter the USA, then those 300 children would have remained with those adults, and those children would probably now be sex slaves, having been sold into child prostitution. Think about that before you complain about “families” being detained and separating adults from children at the border.
Also think about the fact that 2-3 people die every day making the long and dangerous trek from South American, through Mexico, to the American border. Most of those deaths are of children, who are ill-equipped to handle the rigors of the journey in the scorching heat. If our borders were to be fully closed to illegal entry, then that fact would become known below the border, and parents would stop sending their children or dragging them along on that dangerous journey, and those deaths of children would cease.
Outrageous Reactions by the Left
Who is responsible for this crisis? The media and leftist want you to think it is due to the lack of compassion on the part of President Trump and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The left has even gone so far as to call ICE agents "Nazis" and ICE a “terroristic organization.” Leftist have even called for Barron Trump, President Trump’s eleven-year-old son, to be locked up with a pedophile, for Press Secretary Sarah Sanders’ children to be kidnapped, and for DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to be caged naked and raped in public. Sarah was even kicked out of a restaurant by the owner.
Yes, all of that and more has been said and done by prominent leftists. And they feel justified in their outrageous comments and actions, because they think they are so righteous in their thoughts and President Trump so wrong in his. But in fact, President Trump is only following the law as it is written, a point Secretary Nielsen made clear in her appearance recently during the daily White House briefing.
She kept being asked over and over again why the President does not stop his policy of separating children from their parents, and she responded by repeatedly reminding the thickheaded reporters that it was not his policy but one that had been going during Obama’s administration and before, going back to the Flores decision of 1997.
Nielson kept telling them that it was up to Congress to change the law. She also put the blame firmly where it belongs, on the parents. They are the ones who sent their children on a dangerous journey across thousands of miles of drug cartel-controlled territory, either alone or with coyotes to the US border, or they dragged them along with themselves, in order to break US immigration laws. But the mainstream media reporters just refused to “get it” and kept blaming the President.
Moreover, it is the last point that the left just does not get nor want to get. Entering the USA illegally is, well, illegal. That is why those who cross our borders without permission are called “illegal aliens.” The cries of the left that “No person is illegal” or “No child is illegal” is just plain nonsense. If you break the law, you are a criminal, and that makes you a lawbreaker.
The term “illegal alien” is the official designation for those who cross the USA border without authorization in Congressionally passed statutes. It is thus the term I am using in this article and throughout this website.
Someone who is not a US citizen is an “alien” meaning, “a foreigner, especially one who is not a naturalized citizen of the country where they are living” (Oxford Dictionary). They are an “illegal alien” if they entered this country illegally. They are a “legal alien” if they entered this country legally but have not yet been naturalized as a US citizen. It is only after becoming a citizen that a person from another country becomes an “immigrant.” As such, the term “undocumented immigrant” the left wants us to use is nonsensical on legal terms.
Should There Be Immigration Laws?
But the main point is, the left does not think there should be immigration laws. They think everyone who wants to enter this country should be allowed to do so, regardless of background, what benefit they might bring to this country, or even how dangerous they might be. Just fling open the borders, and let everyone in.
This attitude can be seen in the left’s reaction to President Trumps’ Executive Order rescinding the need to separate families at the border. Initially, the left was euphoric, claiming Trump had “caved” and had turned his back on his base in opening up the border. But then they realized that what Trump was planning on doing was not to return the policy of catch and release but to still detain the illegal aliens, but with the families intact.
Now the left really went into a tizzy. That is not what they wanted. They wanted all of those being held and those who are still coming to be left free to get lost in America, with no repercussions to them for breaking US border laws. But that is not what the Executive Order says. The border laws will still be enforced, and illegal aliens prosecuted, it is just that families will stay together throughout the process.
At least, that is what the President wants, if the Justice Department can convince the courts to rescind the Flores decision. But that is unlikely, and Democrats are counting on it. That is why they have already filed lawsuits trying to stop the Executive Order, proving without any doubt that their concern was not really about children being separated from their parents, as the Order prevented that.
But it is true that what is needed for a true fix is for Congress to get its act together and to pass a compressive immigration law. But that will not happen as Democrats do want to actually fix this problem.
To be clear, it takes 60 votes in the Senate for a law to be passed. That is due to the filibuster rule that requires 60 votes to end a filibuster. That is not a constitutional requirement. It is due to a Senate rule that only went into effect about a century ago. Prior to that, all Senate bills were passed with a simple majority.
I previously stated that I did not think it would be a good idea to rescind this rule, as it could come back to bite Republicans if or when Democrats gain control of the Senate. But that was before I realized the Senate got along just fine for 150 years with a simple majority rule. In fact, it actually got something done. As it is, with 60 votes, nothing can get done.
This was seen when not a single Democratic Senator voted for the most recent Senate bill on immigration, never mind that it contained everything the Democrats say they want. But what they really want is for this problem to never be fixed, so that they can continue to use it as an issue to attack Republicans and the President.
In other words, Democrats, the media, and leftists in general are not interested in fixing the border problem but in prolonging it, just so they can win elections.
The Effect of Open Borders
As for opening up our borders to whoever wants to come here, Newt Gingrich on Fox News cited the statistic that if that were to happen, an estimated 165 million people would come to the USA. Think about that, 165,000,000. The population of the USA is currently 325.7 million (Google). That means, if we were to open up our borders to whoever wanted to come here, our population would be increased by over 50%.
There is no doubt that such an incredible increase in population would immensely and irrevocably alter our country. It would alter our culture, our music, entertainment, movies, TV shows, and sports. It would alter our economy, our prosperity, inflation, jobs availability, and which jobs have the best career paths. It would alter politics, the number of Democrats vs. Republican, liberal vs. conservatives, and the types of laws that are passed. It would alter the danger level of our country, with MS-13 gang members, drug dealers, human traffickers, terrorists, and other dangerous criminals entering the country unfettered. It would alter our religious state, with Protestant Christianity no longer being the dominant region. It would alter our language, with English no longer being the dominate language, and on and on and on.
Now, we could argue endlessly whether these changes would be good or bad. Some would probably be good but some bad, even very bad. But there is no doubt such incredible change would happen.
Such a radical change I the USA should be controlled, with the people currently here having a say in it, not having it forced on us by some leftist elites. But the left is so sure they are correct in their attitude they do not even want to hold discussion about it.
Fixing the Problem
There are two sure-fire ways to fix the border problem. The first is to take anyone who enters the country illegally, families included, stick them on a bus and send them back home. If they came from El Salvador, send them back to El Salvador. If they came from Honduras, send them back to Honduras. That’s it. No illegal entry, and no families being separated. If they have a legitimate asylum claim, then they can enter at a legal port of entry. But of course, the left does not want that. They want everyone to stay, regardless of why they are coming here.
It you think such a suggestion sounds cruel, that is only because you do not consider breaking our immigration laws to be a crime. But it is a crime. The first offense is only a misdemeanor, but second and subsequent attempts at illegal entry are felonies. And in many cases, that is the case, repeat offenders who have little regard for our laws. And the more we allow aliens to ignore our laws, the more they will be encouraged to do so, and the greater this crisis will become.
It is in fact due to Obama and even Trump not fully enforcing the law that has led to this recent invasion of multitudes of illegal aliens. When Trump first took office, illegal immigration dropped dramatically, as the aliens assumed the border would now be closed. But when Trump did fully keep his promise to secure the border, due in part to Democratic opposition, the aliens took notice and began to come here in droves. But Trump then cracked down in mid-May and started actually enforcing the law, and that led to this current situation.
Hopefully, that crackdown will lead to fewer aliens trying to illegally cross the border. In fact, in interviews of illegal aliens who were separated from their children, the parents are saying they would not have tried to cross the border illegally if they knew they would be separated from their children. And that slowdown will enable ICE agents to better weed-out the human traffickers who are using this onslaught as a cover for their atrocious activities.
Those who think sending back illegal aliens is uncaring are not showing concern for the very real and growing problem of human trafficking. But I am; that is one reason I want a secure border, to stop this horrendous practice.
The other sure-fire way to stop all of this is to BUILD A WALL. That would keep all aliens from coming into the country and becoming illegal, it would keep families together, on the other side of the wall, and it would stop the activities of human traffickers. If the aliens have a legitimate reason for wanting to enter the USA, there would be “doors” in the wall at legal entry points for them to file their claims. But of course, the left wants none of that and is doing everything possible to stop the building of a wall.
But until such actions are taken and a wall is built, those who are being detained at the border are being housed at much taxpayer expense in a human manner. They are receiving shelter, food, and medical care, with the children being given free education, including learning English, as it should be. No one is being mistreated, and no one is being harmed. That has bene proven by the tours reporters have been given of the facilities. But despite that fact, leftists are still making claims to the contrary.
But the problem has become so great, the President is preparing to house as many as 20,000 illegal alien children on military bases. The left is again screaming foul, saying that is somehow inhumane. But Trump is just following Obama’s lead in using military facilities, and the left never complained about it when Obama did the very same thing. But still, that is still only a temporary fix.
What is needed is for Congress to act and to pass a comprehensive immigration bill that will fix not just the current manufactured crisis of family separation, but all issues regarding immigration, including what to do with the DACA recipients. But again, it is Democrats who are standing in the way, as they want to extend this crisis until at least the mid-term elections, as getting elected and remaining in power is all they care about, not families. And they will continue to spread lies and deceptions in their attempts to do so.
Conditions in Central America
One last point that I have heard mentioned is worth mentioning here, that of the conditions in Central America that are causing parents to send or drag their children on the dangerous trek across Mexico to reach the US border.
I am not familiar with the governments, economic conditions, and other situations in these countries, but I have heard it said that gangs are basically running Honduras and El Salvador. Teens are often forced to join a gang or risk them or their family members being killed.
But the question is, what can the USA do about it? I guess we could send our troops down there to get control of the streets. But the idea of army troops on the streets doesn’t even go over well here, let alone US troops on the streets of Honduras or El Salvador.
Another option would be arm the governments of Central American countries with better weapons. But that approach has a way of coming back to bite us. For instance, back in the 1980s, we armed the Taliban in Afghanistan, so that they could fight against the Soviet Union after it invaded that country. But now those very same weapons are being used against our troops in Afghanistan in our fight against the Taliban. That is one reason why the Afghanistan war has dragged on so long.
A third option would be to send experts in dealing with gangs as advisors to Central America. We of course have a problem with gangs here, but the Trump administration is doing a good job in dealing with it. But if our methods would work down there is hard to determine.
A fourth option would be to send cash to the governments of Central American countries to help fund their anti-gang activities. That has already been tried, with the US giving foreign aid to the tune of $1.4 billion to Guatemala, $1.1 billion to Honduras, and $1.5 billion to El Salvador. But it has done little good, as the governments are corrupt, so that money just ends up in the coffers of government officials, doing little to help the people (Fox News Channel). And that leads to another point.
The reason for the gangs is probably weak or corrupt governments and poor economies. But addressing such issues is very complex and fraught with difficulties. It could get the USA involved in nation building, regime change, and other activities that often end badly, at great expense to the US in both dollars and USA lives and causatives, such as we have seen in Iraq.
The point is, yes, it would be good to deal with the problem at the root, the conditions in Central America, but doing so is not easy. However, President Trump is aware of this aspect of the immigration problem. That is why he is sent Vice President Mike Pence to Central American on June 27, 2018 to meet with the leaders of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
Conclusion
I am calling this a “manufactured crisis” as it is nothing new. Families have been getting detained and separated at the border for many years. It is only now being manufactured into a crisis as a way to “get” President Trump and the Republicans and to ensure a “blue wave” in November. But as the lies of Democrats, the media, and other leftist are exposed, their attempts will backfire, and that blue wave could very well turn red.
Sources
Videos:
In this first video is documentation of the efforts of activists to bring attention to the separation of families and other problems at the border back in 2014, which the media ignored.
This second video shows that President Obama made efforts to secure the border back in 2014, and prominent Democrats were in full support of his efforts. It is only now, when President Trump is using the very same tactics as Obama did, that these same Democrats are opposed to them.
Pertinent Tweets:
“In Texas alone within the last 7 years, more than a quarter of a million criminal aliens have been arrested and charged with over 600,000 criminal offenses. You don’t hear that.” Trump in a Fox News Tweet. 6/22/18
Trump, standing with families whose loved ones were killed by illegal immigrants: “These are the American citizens permanently separated from their loved ones. The word ‘permanently’ being the word that you have to think about.” Trump in a Washington Examiner tweet about Angel Families. 6/22/18
“Bernie Sanders, April 4 2016: ‘Stop the separation of immigrant children and families’ So Bernie admits this was happening under Obama, he ignored it and did nothing about it.” Charlie Kirk tweet. 6/22/18
“You cannot pass legislation on immigration whether it be for safety and security or any other reason including ‘heart,’ without getting Dem votes. Problem is, they don’t care about security and R’s do. Zero Dems voted to support the Goodlatte Bill. They won’t vote for anything!” Trump tweet 6/22/18
“’I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?’ written on the back of Melania’s jacket, refers to the Fake News Media. Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!” Trump tweet 6/22/18
“Actor Peter Fonda has since deleted his tweets calling
for:
• The kidnapping & rape of the president’s 11-year-old son
• Sarah Sanders children to be kidnapped
• DHS Sec Nielsen to be caged naked & raped in public while being filmed”
6/22/18
“We shouldn’t be hiring judges by the thousands, as our ridiculous immigration laws demand, we should be changing our laws, building the Wall, hire Border Agents and ICE and not let people come into our country based on the legal phrase they are told to say as their password.” Trump tweet 6/21/18
“We must maintain a Strong Southern Border. We cannot allow our Country to be overrun by illegal immigrants as the Democrats tell their phony stories of sadness and grief, hoping it will help them in the elections. Obama and others had the same pictures and did nothing about it!” Trump tweet 6/22/18
“We have tremendous numbers of people that have waited for years and years and years to come in and they’ve gone through a process and it’s been a hard process, a long process and then you have people coming over our border all of a sudden they’re in our country.” White House tweet 6/20/18
Articles:
Blaze, The. ‘They Keep Coming’: The ‘Rehearsed’ Answers Illegal Immigrants Are Using at the Border to Gain Entry Into the U.S.
Breitbart. Ann Coulter: Google ‘Internet,’ Media!
Daily Mail. EXCLUSIVE: 'They’re together and safe’.
Fox News. Crying migrant girl on TIME magazine cover was not separated from mother, family says.
Fox News Channel. Special Report. June 27, 2018.
National Review. By Its Terms, Trump’s Executive Order Restores Catch-and-Release.
National Review. The Truth about Separating Kids.
Sean Hannity. THE ORDER: Read the Full Text of President Trump’s Executive Order on ‘Family Separations’.
Sean Hannity. REPORT: Asylum Requests from Central America UP 892% in 2017.
Western Journal. Who’s Responsible for Separating Illegal Immigrant Families? Many People, but Not Trump.
Washington Examiner. Justice Department reviewing conduct of paralegal who chased Kirstjen Nielsen from restaurant.
White House. Affording Congress an Opportunity to Address Family Separation.
White House. President Donald J. Trump is Acting to Enforce the Law, While Keeping Families Together.
TV, Radio, and Podcasts:
Various ABC news reports airing during my local ABC affiliate WTAE’s newscasts in June 2018.
Various news reports on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC in June 2018.
Washington Watch radio show, heard on the Bott Radio Network app, 6/24/18.
Bill O'Reilly podcasts. Available on the iHeartRadio app.
Rush Limbaugh radio shows in June 2018.
Sean Hannity radio shows and podcasts in June 2018.
Various:
Oxford Dictionary on MS Word.
Google info box.
Separated Families at the Border: A Manufactured Crisis. Copyright © 2018 By Gary F. Zeolla.
The First Impeachment of Donald J. Trump
This three-volume set covers the impeachment of Donald J. Trump that occurred over the fall of 2019 to the winter of 2020. It was yet one more attempt to oust the President from office by Democrats, who never accepted he won in 2016. A complaint about a phone call between President Trump and Ukraine President Zelensky led to an impeachment inquiry to begin in early September 2019. Along the way, the corruption of Joe Biden that Trump wanted investigated and which led to the impeachment inquiry is discussed.
The above article was posted on
this website June 24, 2018.
It was last updated June 29, 2018.
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Biblical and Constitutional Politics