(The cartoon image above is by Pat Bagley in the Salt Lake Tribune.)Much has been made in the media recently about the 50,000 or so children from Central America who have turned themselves in to Border Patrol in the last 9 months. And right-wingers have seized upon this story as "proof" that there is a massive invasion of illegal immigrants flooding into this country -- encouraged by the "lax policies" of President Obama. It is not the truth, but then truth has never meant much to these right-wingers. They're much more interested in propaganda that supports their hard-hearted approach to immigration.
And their propaganda attempts seem to be working with a large segment of the American population -- in spite of the fact that undocumented immigrants are at the lowest point of growth in many years (including the growth during all Republican administrations. This is due to a lack of jobs in this country and increased border security. President Obama has put more agents on the border than any previous administration -- and in spite of right-wing claims, President Obama has deported more undocumented immigrants than any previous administration (of either party).
The right-wing fear-mongers have demanded these border children be deported as quickly as possible. They have ignored the pleas from these children that their lives would be in danger if deported -- or they just don't care. And sadly, president Obama is giving in to their mean-spirited demands and beginning to deport these children. And even more sadly, it is turning out that these children were telling the truth -- that their lives really were in danger. Here is part of a Los Angeles Times article on the subject:
"There are many youngsters who only three days after they've been deported are killed, shot by a firearm," said Hector Hernandez, who runs the morgue in San Pedro Sula. "They return just to die."
At least five, perhaps as many as 10, of the 42 children slain here since February had been recently deported from the U.S., Hernandez said.
Immigrant aid groups and human rights organizers say the Honduran government is ill-equipped to assist children at high risk after they have been returned.
San Pedro Sula had 187 killings per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Honduras' overall homicide rate was 90 per 100,000 in 2012, the highest in the world, much of it fueled by gang and drug-trafficking violence.
Unaccompanied children from Honduras "come from extremely violent regions where they probably perceive the risk of traveling alone to the U.S. preferable to staying at home," the report said. . .
Valdete Wileman, a nun who runs the Center for Returned Migrants in San Pedro Sula, said about 80% of the children who had been returned from the U.S. had been seeking to escape the gang violence.
Wileman said she was particularly concerned about children who once served as gang lookouts.
"Some of these children are threatened with their lives," she said. "And now they are being forced to return to the same place."
Other children head for the U.S. after the rest of their families have been killed. Although some of these deportees move to other neighborhoods here, many don't have the money to relocate. And the gangs, with ties throughout the country, could track them down anyway.
Wileman said she has neither the resources nor the means to help, because the government barely funds the center.
Frankly, I am shocked that in a country filled with immigrants and the descendants of immigrants, so many Americans are willing to send these children to their deaths. And even more amazing is the fact that most of these people claim to be christians. Do they think Jesus was just joking when he gave the Sermon on the Mount? Was he just auditioning for a comedy club when he said to love your neighbor and take care of the poor and underprivileged?
These children came here to save their lives -- and we are sending them to their deaths. All Americans should be ashamed. The blood of these children are on our hands.
