Immigration Law

SEND THE LITTLEST ONES HOME FIRST

By Greg Siskind

This story in the Raleigh News and Observer would probably have not caught my attention since it was just talking about the opening of a new immigration court. But there's a passage about halfway where the subject of unaccompanied children in immigration custody is discussed. This passage really tells a lot about how cruel the antis can be and why their message is not resonating with the majority of Americans:

Those who want a crackdown on illegal immigration say most of those children should be sent home.

Mark Krikorian, head of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., which advocates tougher immigration laws, said that asylum should be allowed only in extreme cases and that making exceptions for children encourages lawless immigration. And, Krikorian said, many children falsely claim that their parents are dead or their lives are threatened.

Krikorian acknowledged that many foreign children come from terrible circumstances, but he said that doesn't justify their sneaking into the country.

"Coming to the United States is not the solution for backwardness around the world," he said.

Immigrant advocates say the United States should shelter the world's most desperate children.

Attracta Kelly, head of the N.C. Justice Center's Immigrants Legal Assistance Project, said she gets frequent requests to represent children who have been singled out by gangs in their home countries that want them to join. The penalty for not joining can be death, she said.

Full post as published by Greg Siskind's Blog on February 13, 2008 (boomark / email).