Here
we go again, I’m afraid, with another “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” narrative. This
time with regard to illegal immigration. The stories and pictures and alleged
news stories floating around range from not exactly true to completely made up
nonsense and, as usual these days, the real story won’t matter nearly as much
as the liberal media narrative.
I’m
not sure I’ve seen a picture yet of the current situation in which second-time
offense illegal border crossers (second-time, repeat offenders are felons) were
being separated from their children. The most widely publicized pictures of the
“caged” children earlier this week were from 2014 and 2016 when somebody else
was president.
Let’s
not forget that picture that pulled at all of our heart strings of the child
standing at the chain link barricade crying uncontrollably for her mother. It
was snapped by some chap named Vargas who knew an opportunity to make a couple
of bucks when he saw it.
As
it turns out the child had merely been set down by her mother who moved to the
other side of the barricade and picked the child back up. They never were
separated and the whole event lasted about 30 seconds according to Vargas. Mom
was a first-time offender which is just a misdemeanor and so separation wasn’t
necessary because we will just send them back. Again, it’s not a felony unless
you’re a repeat illegal tourista.
There’s
more to the story which I’m sure you’ve all heard by now and I just want to say
that I think “kidnapping” was the wrong word Fox News, since the dad never
reported it, wasn’t concerned and just seemed happy that she was being returned
to him and his three other children in Honduras. I am an equal opportunity
media critic.
And
by now I hope you’ve all heard of The Flores Settlement too, right? Maybe not
if you’re main street news consumers as an NYT reporter was denying as recently
as last Monday that there was any such law. But it was signed into law in 1996
by Bill Clinton and states that anytime a person in this country illegally is
detained on a felony charge they must be separated from their children
(understandably) while they sit in jail awaiting trial. That law has also been
enforced every year since 1996, not just under Donald Trump. Surprise!
It
is true that during the Obama administration, the law, which states that
second-time illegal border crossers are upgraded from misdemeanor and need to
face a judge, was completely ignored and, in fact, border patrol agents and
many local law agencies were ordered to release such illegals before ICE could
take custody of them and get them dealt with.
It
is also true that due to the sheer number of illegals flooding our country with
Obama’s encouragement, so many more felons of other varieties were crossing the border that he had twice as many
children being held in compounds as Trump has, but never mind the facts, libs.
Trump’s
DOJ declared a zero-tolerance policy for felonious entry into the United States
and began enforcing the separation law on those criminals if they brought their
children with them. And therein lies the rub or at least part of it. The left
wishes to make no distinction between immigrants, who are welcome and cherished
in this country, and illegal immigrants who slip across our border without
permission, without undergoing background checks and without any means to
support themselves upon arrival.
No
matter what our friends on the left think of us, none of us enjoy seeing
children distraught and separated from
their parents. The President didn’t like it either, no matter how much Time
Magazine wanted to say he was enjoying spreading misery to little boys and
girls. That’s why he signed an executive order ending the practice of
separating children from their illegal entry parents.
It was comical on Thursday how
quickly the left went from crowing about “making the President cave,” to
realizing that that didn’t mean a return to Obama’s catch and release policy
and that the order would probably be overturned in court because what the heck
are you going to do with the kids while their parents sit in jail? In fact,
once law makers realized the ball was going to be back in their court and they
were actually going to have to do something about it like, you know, make a
law, they freaked out and began accusing the President of “sewing chaos.”
I
think they’re right. I think asking the
human detritus representing us in Congress and The Senate to do their jobs is
exactly sewing chaos these days because those losers are spectacular
underachievers in their efforts to avoid any real responsibility for anything.
Why
does Congress think they are allowed to stand on the sideline and criticize the
President for enforcing a law put into effect by their predecessors? Can you
disagree with Kellyanne Conway when she says that when the people who make the
laws ask the people who are supposed to enforce the laws not to enforce them we
have entered a realm that is more than a little bit strange?
The
Rasmussen poll of likely voters released on Friday held that 54% of Americans
blamed the parents crossing our border illegally for their children’s plight.
Only 35% blamed the government. You wouldn’t have guessed that from the fake
media coverage, would you?
And
what of the 12,000 children being held? Only 2,000 of them were actually the
children of the adults they were with. According to the Department of Homeland
Security 85% of those kids had dna that was not a match for their accompanying
adults. Does anyone but me find that a little creepy or at least strange?
All
10,000 of the other kids were probably not human trafficking victims. I’ve read
that one of the tactics used to get into the country and get to stay under
Obama was simply an appeal to rejoin your children who were already here. Well, ok, but it doesn’t seem like a real
loving, caring parental practice to me.
I’m
already at 1,000 words and I haven’t made most of the points I wanted to make
or discuss about a really emotional subject with complicated possible solutions
and ramifications. Maybe we can do that later. Some of you may have noticed my
summer rant schedule is going to be subject to me being indoors long enough to
write these.
For
now I will say this: We are watching you Congress. Do your jobs. There are
dozens of reasons President Trump’s approval rating has soared to 52% (eat your
heart out Obama) in an AP poll, no less. There is one really big reason
Congress continues to consistently rack up an approval rating of 18% or
lower.
If
you need an explanation you just have to quit watching CNN. I’m sorry.
