Conflicted messages about – and for – illegal immigrant children

President Obama celebrated illegal immigrant children as “Champions of Change” at the White House the same day the Vice President traveled to Central America to convince – bribe? – governments and parents not to send their children here.

And yet, children entering the US illegally today are being told – sometimes by US lawyers – that they can stay if they say they are victims of abuse or refugees from violence. US Border Patrol representatives tell us that very few are returned to their country of origin.   In the meantime,  they are sent to a growing number of shelters like the Fort Worth Catholic Charities, which is celebrating the one year anniversary of its government contract.

We keep hearing from people like Rand Paul, Grover Norquist and Rupert Murdock that we must support “comprehensive immigration reform” that would allow people already here illegally to stay. Wouldn’t that just create a new incentive for more illegal immigrants?

And our heart strings are being pulled in order to convince us to change our immigration laws:

 

A January hearing featured the muffled coos of a toddler in the back row. A 2-year-old Honduran girl named Jennifer Tatiana came in the arms of her mother. The child was the respondent in the case, as those headed for a possible deportation are called. At the government’s request, a venue change was granted to Atlanta where the mother now lives.

Jennifer Tatiana sucked her thumb through the proceedings.