U-T Sandiego.com, August 7, 2014
"Everybody, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences." – Robert Louis Stevenson
Over the past month, as a result of the border crisis created by the surge in unaccompanied minors from Central America arriving in South Texas, much has been said and written about the causes which contributed to this debacle, which has demonstrated beyond all doubt that our border is certainly not "under control." Much of this discussion has focused on conditions in Central America that supposedly caused this crisis to occur — the so-called "push" factors that cause people to want to leave their homelands to seek a better life elsewhere.
But there's another major piece of this story/dilemma that is being glossed over, both by the politicians and the media. Their focus exclusively on the " push" factors — and the complete lack of recognition of the " pull" factors that historically contribute to the immigration dynamic — misses the point of why this is all happening now.
"It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities." — Josiah Stamp
The "push" factors are universal and timeless, and have been part of the immigration story for as long as there has been a New World to come to. Poverty, political and religious repression, violence, lack of democracy and freedom, lack of opportunity, etc., are not new, and more importantly, are not going to be solved any time soon. The desire to immigrate to escape these " push" factors will continue, probably forever, given the fact that more than 4 billion of the 7 billion people alive in this world today live in abject poverty.
But the "pull" factors are totally within our control. These are things we like — democracy, freedom, free enterprise, the chance to be all that you can be — you know the list, and we do not want to change them. But that has also been true since 1620, 1776, 1789 — pick a date — when people began migrating to what is now the United States.
What is different now is the attitude expressed and the message sent by President Obama, his "open borders" supporters, and the advocates for " comprehensive immigration reform" (" I'll support your bad idea if you support mine!" ), that if you can get here, you will get to stay. Constant talk of amnesty, guest worker programs, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the president's version of the DREAM Act which he instituted by executive order), the action of states like California to grant in-state tuition, drivers licenses, and a host of other welfare benefits to illegal aliens, decisions by state and local law enforcement (led by Attorney General Kamala Harris, and supported by Sheriff Bill Gore and almost all other sheriffs in California — to refuse to honor immigration detainers), the almost total lack of interior enforcement by DHS, executive orders from the White House and from DHS management preventing their own agents from enforcing current law, the lack of any work site enforcement of current laws banning the employment of illegal aliens, releasing criminal aliens back into our communities, deferring deportation hearings for millions of illegal aliens already here — all of these and more have created a virtual nationwide sanctuary for illegal aliens, which does nothing but encourage more and more illegal immigration. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to get the message that the " pull" factors are all weighed in favor of taking the chance to immigrate illegally, and the sooner the better!
"While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions." – Stephen R. Covey
It is essential that we understand these manufactured "pull" factors, and how this administration has manipulated the law in such a way to increase these " pull" factors, resulting in what we have been seeing at the border. The conversation has to be redirected from what's happening in Central America to focus on what's happening here in the United States, under this president. He and the Democrats own this crisis, and they need to be held accountable. The president and his followers should not be allowed to escape liability for the crisis they have created, and which could be ended almost overnight through the simple expedient of returning to the Rule of Law and enforcing every aspect of our current immigration system. It's time for this president to fulfill his oath of office and ensure that the law is faithfully executed.
"Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices." – Alfred A. Montapert