Twice in recent days, I've blogged about the lawless atmosphere that infects the border regions between the United States and Mexico, with specific reference to the smuggling of minors attempting to cross into our country illegally – and the policies the Obama administration has put into place which have actually encouraged minors and their parents in these smuggling ventures, often leading to their victimization or abandonment by smugglers. (See "The Reality of Childhood Arrivals: Seamy, not Dreamy", and "Uncle Sam, Coyote Extraordinaire".)
Now, as if there were really any reason to doubt the perilous nature of such attempts – particularly for women – we have a news story out of Nogales, Ariz., laying out the brutal rape of a 14-year-old girl by the man who was supposed to guide her from Mexico into the United States.
What makes this story remarkable is not that it happened; as the article makes clear, rape of illegal border crossers by their smugglers is a sad commonplace. The journalist who wrote the story details four other cases in Santa Cruz County alone. The story is remarkable only because the perpetrator was caught, and is now being prosecuted. This is the reality of our borders today, which the administration would have us believe they are more secure than ever. It is also a statement about the impunity with which smugglers, who are nothing better than criminals and opportunists, operate.
Although the administration has come out with a declaration that recent border crossers will not be permitted to avail themselves of any amnesty under omnibus immigration "reform", the statement smacks of hubris, in presuming Congress will pass some sort of amnesty.
It also rings hollow, for a number of reasons:
- The administration has repeatedly done end-arounds of Congress through executive policies and memoranda which eviscerate immigration law enforcement, including its administrative version of the Dream Act.
- It insists on perfecting the smuggling schemes of illegal alien parents intent on putting their children in peril through the type of border crossings which led to the rape of the young lady in the instant story.
- The United States is a nation awash in a sea of phony documents. They can be procured easily and cheaply throughout the country. Given the predilection of present Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leaders to force applications and petitions into the approval stream, no matter how questionable the facts and circumstances of any individual case, how can we possibly vest confidence in DHS examiners to weed out recent border crossers who present fake evidence of having been in the U.S. for whatever period of time necessary to meet the requirements of an amnesty?
The result will almost certainly be a continued stream of news for the indefinite future outlining stories of violence, tragedy, injury, and death for adults and children, as the administration and certain congressional leaders such as Nancy Pelosi downplay the importance of enforcing the nation's immigration laws. After all, prospective border crossers are smart enough to know an exercise in smoke and mirrors (such as the administration's recent declaration) when they see it.