The story unfolding along the southern border of the United States is not new to those of us who live there. For years there has been a steady stream of undocumented workers who are here illegally. The popular chant is that they only come to work. That should explain the erosion of wages that are occurring under the Obama regime. Oh sure, they talk a good game about "living wages" that are unsustainable for most small businesses, but continue to ignore journeymen plumbers, electricians, machinists and carpenters that are simply priced out of the market by a surge of unchecked workers who may or may not be qualified to build your home. (As an aside, in the chichi upper class environs of McKinney TX a few years back, a custom builder was found to have used uncertified workers -most likely illegals-to wire houses. Only later when houses started having fires were the houses discovered to have been not up to code. This was hushed up with out of court settlements)
So those problems along with identity theft, spikes in uncompensated claims for emergency,fire, police, water, energy and housing have added to the economic burden of the region.
Even the most liberal among us were beginning to say enough is enough.
Then they sent children.
Americans are decent people. Unlike many other cultures we don't demand our children quit school and start working at an early age. Most people seek to help children as witnessed by campaigns like Feed the Children, Toys for Tots and other independent programs that do not exist anywhere else in the world. Our tenderness is our Achilles heel. Cartels-which incidentally indulge in many other crimes beyond drugs such as human trafficking, smuggling, brand encroachment as well as bringing people here illegally. So someone (I'm still reserving judgement as to whether this was precipitated to stampede Congress to make a snap decision on immigration) started and effectively spread a rumor regarding amnesty-something that our president was slow to refute. We have facilities full. If a hurricane, tornado or other disaster hits the region, Texas, Oklahoma and surrounding states will have few options for housing the survivors.
My final thoughts are these: What loving parent places their toddler in the arms of a coyote? It makes no sense. It's just too pat a story. What other criminals and even terrorists have managed to elude our grasp because the Border Patrol was changing diapers? Our softness is setting us up for failure.
