The U.S. Border Control Crisis continues to worsen. Republican politicians are standing in opposition to a measure that President Obama wishes to pass as soon as possible. The current Mexican border crisis has children of immigrants sleeping in tent cities along the border waiting for word on their status. The human crisis is getting worse every day, and something must be done. However, the GOP opposes the President’s plan as it stands.
The GOP’s Position on the Border Crisis
The Republican opposition to the plan is quite simple. Republican lawmakers do not want to send nearly $4 billion dollars to illegal immigrants who passed into this country without the proper paperwork. Each of those immigrants has to be put through an immigration hearing, and Republican lawmakers would prefer to spend less money by sending out the National Guard to aid the Border Patrol.
Accordingly, the GOP wishes to use the National Guard only until more border agents are trained. This is simply a measure to keep more illegal immigrants out of the United States as GOP lawmakers plan to send illegal immigrants back to their home countries. The Republicans claim that using extra money on non-citizens is a waste of federal tax dollars that the government cannot afford. Some political analysts state that the GOP will continue to loose support from the latino community by not supporting aid to immigrants. To read more about the recent developments in the relationship between the hispanic community and the GOP, check out the article, “GOP is Losing Support from U.S. Hispanic Population“.
Why Obama’s Plan Is Necessary
Obama and Border Control Aid has received significant attention on this issue in recent weeks. President Obama’s plan is necessary because of the mounting human crisis along the border. There is a law in place that allows the children of immigrants to stay in the United States. While adult immigrants are being deported or held in different facilities, the children are supposed to stay in the States under the law. These children, however, are not being given accommodations that would seem to meet the spirit of the law.
If President Obama does not want to change the law, he must send funds to help these children begin their lives here in America. The plan is to send nearly $4 billion in aid to help with legal counsel for deportation hearings, education, food and shelter for the children of immigrants.
Immigrant Children and the Border Crisis
If these children are not given funding, they will continue to live in squalor that could go unchecked for quite some time. Border Patrol agents are not trained to help children live in a detention facility, and the legal system can only move so quickly. The massive number of immigrants who need hearings could clog up the system for years. The children who are forced to live in these camps for years could die from malnutrition, suffer emotional trauma or lose their parents.
The plan offered by the Republicans to send everyone back to their home country is a plan that is fraught with problems. The children who are allowed to stay here legally will lose their families, live in destitution and have nowhere to go once their immigration status is finalized. Blocking funds to help these children is like signing a death warrant for many of them. If America accepts these children, they must be given a fair chance at a good life. Their families deserve that same opportunity, and the planned presented by President Obama will help to solve a major human crisis as quickly as possible.
