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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Illegal Kids a Chance to Show World-Class Compassion |
| 2014-07-02 |
| Dallas, always eager to showcase its "world-class" bona fides, has a sterling opportunity right now. Opportunity = hang on to your wallet It is an opportunity to demonstrate world-class compassion by providing temporary shelter for some of the scared, desperate kids trapped in the migrant crush at the U.S.-Mexico borders. It's a chance to show that Texans are compassionate people who can put aside their political differences to address a humanitarian emergency. It's not their fault. Sort of like the really young kids - the unborn. The blame for this mess is a big, juicy pie that can probably be split a lot of different ways. What is undeniable, however, is that these children �-- some of them as young as 3 or 4 years old, and many of them traveling alone �-- are already here. They're jammed into overcrowded border processing centers, which cannot cope with the sheer numbers of tired, dirty, hungry kids pouring in. Here's a thought question - do you really want to send a four-year old back to the parents who sent her off with a note pinned to her shirt? News photos show children and teenagers sleeping on blankets spread on bare concrete, or behind fenced partitions that resemble dog kennels. There are anecdotal stories of Border Patrol agents using their own money to buy shoes and diapers. Are these photos being broadcast to the originating countries? Instead we send Lurch to threaten them with all the kids are going back. Some of the response to this crisis, I'm sorry to say, is genuinely appalling. Meaning, in this case, any point of view other than my own. Well, anonymous online comment forums don't always bring out the best in people. But it's genuinely upsetting to note that more than a few irate Americans are referring to these refugees as "aliens," "intruders," "criminals," "asylum pests" and "subsidy-sucking illegals." Yeah, Jacquielyne, I'm upset that they're here, attracted by the notion they are going to get a free ride. And they are sucking the subsidies right out of my pocket. "They are bringing in diseases." "This is a ploy to swell our welfare rolls." "Having to feed illegals 3 meals a day plus buying diapers for illegal kids is sickening." These are a few comments I ran across during a cursory review of news stories about the growing crisis. I bet you had to dig pretty deep, Jackie. Diapers for babies is "sickening"? A meal for an exhausted, disoriented child is a political "ploy"? Dallas, let us please not be those commenters. Let's be human enough to recognize that these are kids who did not engineer this crisis, and whose need for the bare essentials required to survive is urgent. While you're at is, Ms. Floyd, how about preventing this from continuing? I say if we had any real compassion, we'll buy them all airline tickets from San Salvador. The Christian Life Commission, the ethics wing of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, adopted a resolution last week calling on its member churches to respond to the migrant crisis with compassion. I'm feeling a twinge of conscience. A small twinge. The resolution stated that the children themselves "are not at fault for the circumstances in their home countries or for the confusion created by human smugglers and American policy." |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #7 As long as they can't sponsor their biological parents or relatives Sgt. Mom. All those kiddies will be granted citizenship and the first think they will do is petition their parents, siblings, etc... Oh and since they can't afford it the taxpayers will pay for all that and it'll be discrimination to require an Affidavit of support as is required by legal immigrants. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2014-07-02 22:05 |
| #6 I say we compassionately return the imported slaves to their home and execute those engaging in slavery and sending them here. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2014-07-02 19:50 |
| #5 How about we pass a law saying that those under a certain age have been clearly abandoned by their parents, and should be wards of the court and available for immediate adoption? Those poor liddle kids, apparently abandoned at the border - why yes, they deserve permanent, loving homes with stable and middle-class families here in the USA ... and absolutely soonest. It's for the children, you see. Their birth parents obviously don't give a damn ... so let them be adopted and cared for by American families, in the spirit of our traditional American values. It's only fair, you see. For the children. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2014-07-02 19:38 |
| #4 |
| Posted by: Flineck Flusock4496 2014-07-02 17:02 |
| #3 "World-Class Compassion" Start a charity then, fund theses non-citizens costs. Pay for their green-cards, schooling, healthcare. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2014-07-02 16:53 |
| #2 These kids are being used by unscrupulous politicians to satisfy their agenda and ideology. They are also being used by slavers, drug dealers, and cartels. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2014-07-02 16:13 |
| #1 how about we pass a law that says we care for all of the kids but that they can never, ever, become citizens. At 18 they go back to their home countries and the home countries get a bill for babysitting and such at $20 an hour. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2014-07-02 14:37 |