Border Crisis: Fictions v. Facts (Part 2 of “Children from Central America”)

Despite extensive media coverage, there is probably much that you don’t know about the history of the border crisis—and what we can or should do in response. Too often the headlines are designed to stir passions, rather than inform. At the end of next week, Congress will leave for its five-week August Recess. Between now and then legislators will be debating the issues, and no doubt many of your friends will be taking positions. Here are the facts you need when weighing what you hear–whether on television or at a neighbor’s barbecue.  Are you aware that since President Obama took office, it has become harder for illegal immigrants to cross our Southwestern border? This is something Fox News doesn’t usually mention.   Did you know that in many cases, parents in Central America are not “sending” their children here? In over one-third of all cases, at least one parent is already in the U.S.  When that parent came he or she didn’t dare risk taking a young child on a harrowing journey that often meant crossing a desert. But now, the horrors are escalating to a point that grandmothers, fathers and uncles are urging kids to flee to the U.S. They know that they can’t protect them, and that the police won’t .Leslie Velez, senior protection officer at the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, reports that gangs are operating “with significant impunity and targeting children at a younger and younger age. Recently there was a very public massacre a...
Source: Health Beat - Category: American Health Authors: Tags: unaccompanied children border Border Crisis Central America illegal immigrants Immigration Reform National Guard Obama and border crisis refugees August recess Congress El Salvador Guatemala Honduras rape Vox Source Type: blogs