Border Patrol Detains Hundreds Of Babies Because Of Our B.S. War On Drugs
According to Fusion.net, there are hundreds of toddlers and babies, sans parents, among the people being apprehended attempting to cross the U.S. border from Mexico. How desperate must these parents be to give their children a better future if they’re willingly sending them to a foreign country alone? Which begs the question, why are we still arguing about immigration? These folks are no longer immigrants, they are refugees fleeing the drug war that WE helped to create.
According to unconfirmed reports obtained by Fusion, from October of 2013 to June of this year, 378 unaccompanied children age two or younger were detailed by Border Patrol. Of those kids, 95 were infants younger than age one. Fusion attempted to have these reports confirmed or denied by U.S. Customs and/or Border Patrol, but of course, they’re not talking. The only thing Omar Zamora, the spokesperson for the Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley sector would say is “We are receiving children of all ages.’
Immigration is a hot-button, divisive issue in America right now. Despite the fact that we’re a nation built on the backs of immigrants, many people feel that we need to close our borders and make it harder for foreigners to come here. Especially the ‘wrong” kind of foreigners, aka brown people. You just don’t see the same vitriol spewed about European immigrants. Folks love to scream about Mexican and Central American immigrants stealing ‘our jobs’ regardless of the fact that Americans don’t actually want to perform these jobs. Areas where laws have been put in place forcing companies to hire Americans have seen businesses struggling to fill these undesirable positions. Fact of the matter is, immigrants actually help the economy. The U.S. actually depends on the tax dollars it receives from immigrants (and yes, if you live here and buy things you pay taxes, it’s called sales tax) to keep social services solvent.
But this isn’t really about immigration. Not anymore. These people are desperate, trying to escape from a horrifying and dangerous life in a country where many areas are rife with drug cartels and gangs. Think for a moment about your children. What would it take for you to be desperate enough to send them off on their own with strangers? What kind of existence must these parents be facing to make that choice? Why are we treating these children, these babies, like criminals? Even Sarah Palin is frustrated and disgusted.
Bottom line is, we helped to create the situation in Mexico with our useless “War on Drugs.” WE are at least partially responsible. There is blood on our hands and we, as a country, need to shut up about “our jobs” and pressing one for English and actually do something so these children are taken care of and their parents can have a chance at a safe life.
(Photo: Floridamemory/Flickr)
