QUIT PLAYING POLITICS WITH KIDS

Linda Chavez


Some 50,000 unaccompanied minors have
crossed our borders in recent months, and
those capable of helping resolve the crisis
won't even talk to each other much less come
up with a decent plan. This week, President
Obama asked Congress for supplemental
appropriations to deal with processing the
minors and to discourage more from coming,
but House Republicans so far have balked at
considering the request. "We are not giving the
president a blank check," House Speaker John
Boehner declared. Republicans want the
administration to do more to stop the flow of
kids into the U.S., which is reasonable.
So why don't the two men sit down and work
it out? That's their job. Instead, both sides
seem more worried about their political bases
than they do about solving the problem.
Obama worries that if he pushes too tough of a
line by seeking changes to the law that would
allow for expedited removal of the kids, he'll
alienate Hispanic voters. And besides, GOP
recalcitrance to provide money to properly
house these kids makes Republicans look
mean, which helps Democrats with more
moderate voters, especially women, in the
months leading up to the midterm elections.
Republican leaders worry that anything that
looks like being soft on illegal immigration --
even if it means providing decent beds and
meals to little kids -- will enrage the small
fraction of the GOP base that stokes the fires
on this issue. What's more, releasing these
children to relatives in the U.S. while they
await deportation proceedings likely
encourages more kids to come.
Last year, fewer than 4,500 unaccompanied
minors were deported or allowed to leave
voluntarily after hearings before immigration
judges. Republicans argue -- not without
justification -- that the low odds that
unaccompanied minors will be sent home send
the message to families that all they have to do
is get their kids across the border to keep them
safe.
But none of these reasons justifies doing
nothing. Republicans should take up bills to
appropriate money to provide proper shelter to
the kids, as well as to hire more immigration
judges so that their cases can be adjudicated as
required by law. But the administration must
do more to close loopholes in current law that
allow unaccompanied minors from Central
America to be treated differently than Mexican
kids -- who are processed expeditiously and
sent home with the agreement of their
government.
And immigrant advocates need to step up, as
well. The huge influx of unaccompanied
minors this year virtually guaranteed that the
House would not take up sensible changes in
law to admit more immigrants legally.
Immigration opponents have been claiming for
years that our borders are not secure, and this
influx -- erroneously -- seems to prove the
point. Never mind that illegal immigration is
lower now than it has been in decades. Never
mind that the Obama administration has, in
fact, deported more illegal immigrants than
any administration in history. The kids aren't
sneaking across the border; they walk up to
border patrol agents and plead: "Apprehend
me."
Nonetheless, immigration reform advocates --
as I surely am -- need to make it clear that we
want the kids to stop coming. It is dangerous
for them and an unfair burden on American
taxpayers. And, from a purely pragmatic
position, the continued migration makes
comprehensive reform far less likely. The anti-
reform crowd couldn't have come up with a
more effective strategy to derail immigration
reform than to send a children's crusade
across our southern border.
Solving the border crisis is not rocket science.
The long-term solution requires changes to
U.S. law that would allow more immigrants
and guest workers to come here legally. We
need their skills (high and low), they boost our
economy, and it is who we are: a nation built
by immigrants.
But right now, our elected officials need to
quit playing politics. They need to feed, shelter
and care for the kids who are already here in
proper, humanitarian fashion -- as required by
U.S. law. But they must also discourage more
kids from coming, and like it or not, that
means sending the new arrivals home as
quickly (and humanely) as legally feasible.
Both of these actions require the White House
and Congress to work out their differences. It's
time to stop playing politics with the kids.