Why would the Obama Administration allow huge numbers of unaccompanied immigrant children to not only stay in the country, but be shipped to various spots around the country, rather than putting them on buses or planes and sending them back to Central America? That's the question that was asked the other day by Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama (not to be confused with Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan), and he was told the law requires that the children be turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Ha! The law requires all kinds of things that Obama simply decides not to do via executive order.
The White House has manufactured this crisis intentionally, as a distraction from the IRS, Iraq, the VA, Benghazi, the collapsing economy . . . you get the idea. It's a news story they're hoping can accrue more to their benefit. Maybe they can sell a narrative in which Republicans are mean, nasty jerks who want to toss out innocent kids, while the loving, caring Democrats want to feed, clothe and house them.
If you don't think that's how this White House operates, you haven't been paying attention. For them, all governing decisions come down to the managing of political narratives. Spinning storylines, influencing polls and winning the news cycle - these are the priorities behind every choice they make.
For all the reasons
I laid out the other day, it's in everyone's best interests - especially the children themselves - to send them home. They should not be separated from their parents, and the people of the nations from which they come don't benefit when we enable their governments not to maintain policies that lead to liveable conditions.
The sheer numbers of children involved here make for a difficult challenge, and we shouldn't ignore that. And the fact that they are here without their parents or guardians does put a responsibility on us to make sure they're OK - that they're well fed, that they're not being abused, etc. But these basic humanitarian actions still need to be precursors to sending them home. The administration is not doing that simply because the political strategists in the White House think it's more in their best interests to keep them here. That's what drives everything they do, and in this case you're toying with the lives of young people who belong in their homes with their families.
This is a manufactured crisis if there ever was one, and that needs to stop immediately.
