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 Editorials | Issues | March 2007 
Children of Immigrants: Tiny Prisoners of War
 Susan Hanley Lane - HendersonvilleNews.com
As the war over immigration policies gets uglier and more politicized, its victims become more and more vulnerable. Perhaps nowhere is this more clearly seen than the recent story about the children of illegal immigrants who were left behind to fend for themselves when 361 undocumented workers were rounded up for deportation.
As the war over immigration policies gets uglier and more politicized, its victims become more and more vulnerable.
Perhaps nowhere is this more clearly seen than the recent story about the children of illegal immigrants who were left behind to fend for themselves when 361 undocumented workers in a New Bedford, Mass., leather factory were rounded up for deportation.
This story should not have happened, but it serves to underscore the sticky dilemma of dealing with illegal immigrants fairly. It also points to the desperate need for politicians who can think before they act.
When immigration raids leave innocent children hanging in limbo, what are Americans supposed to feel? The first and most natural reaction is to feel sorry for these children who are left to fend for themselves.
But hard on the heels of our self-accusatory, moral indignation should come some sober reflection about the kind of politicians we are electing. Look at it this way: the border between Texas and Mexico is 1,254 miles long. Because the entire border between Mexico and the U.S. is only 1,951 miles long, that means Texas has the lion's share of the border to deal with.
Before he became president of the entire country, George Bush was the governor of (do we really need to remind ourselves?) Texas. This means that Bush has had at least one or two run-ins with border disputes and illegal immigrants. Surely by now there must be someone in the Bush administration who understands that illegal immigrants continue to have babies, even when they cross our borders illegally.
Whenever a nation takes a collective action, as in the mass deportation of illegal aliens, it must plan carefully how to do it. It must find leaders who will impartially view the whole landscape, without regard to political factions and agendas, and propose solutions based on experience, not wishful thinking or swashbuckling heroic acts that fail to take into consideration something as elementary as what to do with the children who are left behind.
Another thing it is critical for Americans to remember is that as tragic as this situation is, it is not the American people who have put these children in this kind of situation. It is their parents. We may not have acted as well as we could have in this instance, but the sad truth is, we have reacted more mercifully than most others in the world would have.
We are not obligated to spend American tax dollars to support the rest of the world who want to cash in on our kindness and collective humane ethos. We are, on the other hand, duty bound to care for those who actually pay the taxes, i.e. Americans and their children.
Another thing to take into consideration is the idea of having your cake and eating it too. ABC News ran the story of the children of illegal immigrants being left behind on March 11. Ironically, on March 13 the New York Times ran a story on page one about the chilling of the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico.
This story reported that mere days before President Bush was scheduled to visit Mexico, the Mexican Foreign Ministry sent an angry note to the United States complaining that "U.S. Border Patrol agents had crossed the border and ventured a couple of dozen feet into Mexico to put out a rapidly spreading brush fire. 'Even in emergency situations, the Mexican authorities must be notified immediately, without exception,' the note said."
Question: If the Mexican authorities must be notified when American Border Patrol agents need to go a few dozen feet into Mexico to put out a fire that could become a blazing inferno on both sides of the border, why don't American authorities need to be notified when illegal aliens place their innocent children in danger of abandonment when they are caught and returned home to Mexico?
It is important to remember that many of these illegal immigrants had friends and relatives who were caring for their children, who obviously knew that their parents were here illegally. For them to stand up indignantly now and demand that America take responsibility for these children takes a lot of gall, especially when you consider the fact that they were perfectly willing to use the American system to their benefit as long as it was working in their favor.
But as soon as the same system caught up with them and tried to right the illegal actions of these immigrants by returning them to the country they came from, suddenly those same friends and relatives found their voices and began speaking up for their children.
Excuse us if we, as Americans, decide to speak up for our children too. We too have an obligation to care for the welfare of our children, and refusing to accommodate the poor planning of parents of illegal immigrants to the detriment of our own children is the legitimate right of the Americans who have worked hard to pay taxes for services that they have a right to expect for their own children.
The bottom line is that it is wrong for any adult - American, Mexican, or any other nationality, creed, or color - to act without taking the welfare of their children into account. Unfair as it is, it's always the children who are caught in the crossfire. That's what makes it so sad.
The old song is so poignant because it is so true, "Bless the beasts and the children, for in this world they have no say." It is children, innocent children, who suffer the consequences of the selfishness and stupidity of the adults on both sides of the border.
Susan Hanley Lane, a Times-News community columnist, lives in Naples. |
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