OPINION:
The spirit of independence is alive in Murrieta, Calif., where townspeople heard that the federal government was about to send 170 illegal-alien children flooding across the border to their town in Riverside County. Three hundred residents stood in front of the buses, blocking the way. The federales withdrew, rerouting the buses to San Diego.
But soon, the federales were on their way back. Allowing a crowd to block a public highway can’t be tolerated, but “the humanitarian crisis” on the border is the work of President Obama. The wishes of Murrieta are of no concern to this administration. No one can be allowed to say “no” to the president’s agenda. The border chaos is the inevitable result of the president’s dangling the promise of amnesty before millions of the desperate in Central America and Mexico, longing for a better life.
The Democratic campaign playbook is about demonizing dissenters. Mr. Obama speaks loudly of a “path to citizenship” to paint anyone who opposes the scheme as a racist. The huddled masses south of the border were listening, and the children, encouraged by their parents, set out to find this “path.”
Some 90,000 illegals, mostly children, are crossing each month, overwhelming a broken system. America’s immigration agents are no longer protecting the border; they’re running the world’s largest day care center. Many are released after “processing” without health examinations or checking to see whether they have criminal backgrounds. Border Patrol agents say illegals with gang tattoos are released, regardless of what they may have done back home because they have not committed crimes north of the Rio Grande.
Not until Wednesday did the Obama administration make even a half-hearted effort to tell other nations to quit dumping their citizens over the border. The Department of Homeland Security finally began running Spanish-language television commercials, quoting a parent saying: “I thought it would be easy for my son to get his papers in the North. That wasn’t true.”
This is the advertising that should have been done months ago, but wasn’t. The new campaign doesn’t say children won’t be granted amnesty, just that it won’t be “easy.” The administration dare not say what it should: “We will deport anyone who enters the country illegally.” Instead, the “don’t come here” message comes with a nudge and a wink that will encourage more of the desperate to head our way.
Through their negligence, Mr. Obama and his administration are responsible for every child who is injured, raped or killed on the long and perilous journey at the mercy of unscrupulous “coyotes” they pay to guide the way.
The people of Murrieta and other border towns shouldn’t have to bear the burden of the health care, education and security costs of busloads of illegals lured over the border by the careless words of a president who takes pride in his use of the language. Rep. Ken Calvert, the Republican who represents Murrieta, wants to stop the buses in the name of public safety. Democrats, such as Rep. Juan Vargas of San Diego, want the police to arrest Americans, not illegal aliens. “I have never seen a group of people prevent federal officers from doing their job and not get arrested,” Mr. Vargas told The Los Angeles Times. It’s true that public streets must be kept open, but it’s important to keep in mind who caused the obstruction, and who stands in the way of authentic immigration reform.
Democrats boast of their concern for the poor, but putting thousands of young lives in danger reflects only a dead conscience. It’s probably too late for radio and television commercials to stop the madness at the border. The way to send the correct message is to send these children back home to their parents.
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