One might think the websites of various federal agencies
tasked with protecting America’s borders would be information resources
about how the Obama Administration is handling the now crisis-level
situation at the border. Curiously, however, the “newsroom” sections of
websites for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Department of Health and Human
Services post no information about the Administration’s current policies
or plans for dealing with the “surge” of illegal immigrants flooding
across our border with Mexico.
The reason for this deafening silence is clear to anyone following
the Administration’s confusing and frequently contradictory response:
Neither Obama nor Vice President Biden have a firm grasp on the
situation. In a press release issued June 5th (and
proudly touted on the DHS homepage),
Homeland Secretary Jeh Johnson exclaimed after a veiled crack at
Republicans, “Almost all of us agree that a child who crossed our border
illegally with a parent, or in search of a parent or a better life . . .
should be treated differently than adult law-breakers.” Two weeks later
after the surge accelerated, making the front page of newspapers across
the nation, the Administration announced it would start increasing
deportations, going against its previous, pro-amnesty messaging. Even
this turn-around was wrapped in confusion, when Biden even more recently
implied publicly that at least some of the illegals would
not be deported.
This Administration points to scapegoats in every direction at every opportunity. The director of
White House Domestic Policy Council
went so far as to blame “misinformation that is being deliberately
planted by criminal organizations” for creating a false perception about
amnesty in the U.S. Contrary to all the Administration’s
finger-pointing, much of the blame for the current crisis rests squarely
within its own ranks.
Years of loose talk about amnesty has precipitated this latest flood of illegal immigrants cascading across our border, and Obama is leaving U.S. citizens to pick up the tab as he scrambles to clean up his mess.
Obama is burning through millions of taxpayer dollars (the true cost
will likely not be known for years) with his spit-and-duct-tape “fixes”
to the border crisis. Despite
knowing for years about the looming crisis,
the Feds had only a single detention facility outfitted for families
with children. This utter lack of planning has resulted in Uncle Sam
daily flying planeloads of illegals across the country to makeshift
detention facilities for “processing” in whatever sites authorities are
able to outfit for housing them; such as abandoned nursing homes,
colleges and even monasteries. They even attempted to use what they
thought to be an abandoned hotel in Grand Island, New York,
only to find it renovated as an upscale resort, occupied by its lawful, paying guests.
This is Keystone Kops being played out at a dangerous, national scale.
The situation could be considered comical if not for the extremely
serious health, economic and security implications of the border
overload. The U.S. Border Patrol already was badly outmatched by the
sheer volume of illegal immigrants -- including an unprecedented number
of unaccompanied babies, toddlers, children and teenagers -- forcing
them to play nanny rather than do their jobs, like actually protecting
the border.
“Smugglers wait on the southern banks of the Rio Grande as migrant
groups as large as 250 wade across at dusk and turn themselves in to the
Border Patrol,” reports
The Washington Post,
talking to Border Patrol union representative Chris Cabrera. “Then
groups of single men proceed to cross under cover of darkness, hoping to
slip through” with drugs and other illicit contraband.
It is anybody’s guess as to what else “slips through” while our
Border Patrol agents change diapers; but it is safe to say, it is
nothing good.
For all the “Amnesty Now” hoopla before the situation at the border
hit critical mass, Democrats now are oddly silent. That is, when they
are not blaming Republicans for a lack of “comprehensive immigration
reform,” as if that would help at this point. However, the acrimonious
attacks from Democrats -- in lieu of actually taking action to help
protect our borders -- is more than simply another attempt to shift
blame onto Republicans. Democrats are intentionally trying to create
gridlock in Congress.
Contrary to their inflammatory interviews with
HuffPo,
Slate
and other liberal outlets, Democrats love gridlock. Not only do they
try to exploit the crisis for political gain in elections and
fundraising letters, but gridlock creates a “leadership vacuum” in which
Obama then can justify acting on his own without Congress. Based on
past lethargy by the Congress, Democrats know that Obama
has no hesitancy to defy constitutional boundaries.
So long as Democrats can keep Republicans on the ropes in the press and
on the floor of Congress, it opens wide a window for Obama to enact his
liberal, pro-amnesty agenda without the political liability of having
their names recorded in the
Congressional Record as supporters of these disastrous policies.
If Republicans truly want to stop Obama, they must refuse to keep
playing the Democrats’ game. For example, rather than battling in the
press regarding hypotheticals about a comprehensive immigration package,
the Republican-controlled House should pass simple, basic measures such
as beefing-up border security. The GOP also should immediately employ
its one, true “Big Stick” – the power to deny funding for the
Administration’s immigration game-playing.
Engaging in such hard-nosed, but necessary actions would throw the
ball directly into Senate Majority Leader Reid’s lap, and stop Obama’s
“one man immigration show” dead in its tracks. This also would afford
the GOP time to develop a longer-term legislative package on the heels
of those smaller, but crucial, measures to secure the border.
