Playing the children card

As the number of work site raids increases so do the complaints. Chertoff has vowed to step up enforcement efforts in response to the public’s outcry about amnesty. He has also put us on notice that “advocacy groups” will complain.

Well, the raid activity has picked up considerably this year. It is a step in the right direction. I would like to see more prosecution of the employers as well. There have been some byproducts of the raids that also are part of the solution, such as finding and prosecuting those who deal in fake documents.

After raiding the McDonalds restaurants in and around Reno, protests followed. The photo ops were of children left without their parents as a result of the raids.

In the Chicago Tribune yesterday there was an article about a “report” regarding the impact of these raids on the children. The opening line of the article reads, “The federal government's escalating enforcement against illegal immigration is taking a heavy toll on children.”

And it is peppered with phrases like these:

Children “left without proper care or psychological support, creating lingering trauma with potentially broader social effects.”

“The potential impact on children carries broader social repercussions.”

“Several children expressed feelings of depression or abandonment that could later lead to deeper problems in school or elsewhere.”

The report was written by La Raza, so I’m certain it is an unbiased look at the problem. NOT. And the Urban Institute.

Now, ICE is being as sensitive as they can with these folks. They get phone calls, opportunities for appeal, and hardship releases all the time. But they are not entitled to apologies. They have committed crimes, they know they have, and they are subject to the consequences just like anyone else who is arrested.

Latino activists try to paint these arrests as a violent blitz on a job site, followed by isolation, with an immediate trip to the border in the middle of the night.

Not so! ICE coordinates the raids with local social service agencies so people are on hand to take care of child-care details. The arrestees are entitled to phone calls and legal representation. Only the few who are fugitives of prior deportation orders are actually subject to immediate deportation. The rest are processed and released, usually the same day.

I’m really sorry that they weren’t able to be home in time to pick up the kids from school, but that’s the price you pay.

Society will not be held accountable for those who father children, then lead criminal lives. Those kids are at risk only because of the actions of the parents.

I’m not buying La Raza’s pity campaign, and neither should you.