The Truth about Separating Kids

Rich Lowry

Some economic migrants are using children as chits, but the problem is fixable — if Congress acts.

 "The latest furor over Trump immigration policy involves the separation of children from parents at the border.

"As usual, the outrage obscures more than it illuminates, so it’s worth walking through what’s happening here.

"For the longest time, illegal immigration was driven by single males from Mexico. Over the last decade, the flow has shifted to women, children, and family units from Central America. This poses challenges we haven’t confronted before and has made what once were relatively minor wrinkles in the law loom very large.
. . . 

. . . 3) There is a significant moral cost to not enforcing the border.There is obviously a moral cost to separating a parent from a child and almost everyone would prefer not to do it. But, under current policy and with the current resources, the only practical alternative is letting family units who show up at the border live in the country for the duration. Not only does this make a mockery of our laws, it creates an incentive for people to keep bringing children with them.Needless to say, children should not be making this journey that is fraught with peril. But there is now a premium on bringing children because of how we have handled these cases. They are considered chits. . . .

DHS Secretary Nielsen slams 'irresponsible' media, says no 'policy of separating families at the border'  . . . "The head of the Department of Homeland Security bashed the media Sunday for their reporting on the increasingly volatile immigration controversy, writing in a string of tweets: “We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period.”

"Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen added: “This misreporting by Members, press & advocacy groups must stop. It is irresponsible and unproductive. As I have said many times before, if you are seeking asylum for your family, there is no reason to break the law and illegally cross between ports of entry.' ”

Let’s get serious about school safety

"The knee-jerk answer by many liberals is ‘ban guns.’ But I think the questions we face are just too complex to be resolved by two little words." Kay Coles James, President, The Heritage Foundation

Heritage  "Nearly 20 years separate the horrible tragedies at Columbine High School in Colorado and Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

"In that time, too little has been done to make our schools safer. That’s why our grieving nation is again searching for a solution.

"If America is ready to get serious about school safety, we need to focus on a range of pressing issues—including mental health, family breakdown, culture, media, and more.

"Our children and grandchildren deserve to be safe at school. We can’t allow another tragedy to occur.

"It’s time to set aside political agendas and get serious about school safety. Here are 10 questions we should start asking."

Another Father's Day, and so many kids without fathers around

Tom Stiglich at Townhall

We regularly watch Wheel of Fortune and find the contestant interviews interesting, but troubling in one major way: many women tell about their "amazing children" yet there is - too often - no mention of a husband. TD

Silvio Canto, Jr.  "As we celebrate Father's Day, I thank God that I had a mentor in my life, the kind of man who understood what it means to be a father.  Not everyone is so lucky.  So let's chat about the "father crisis" in many communities in the U.S.

"Ten years ago, I cut out this article from the Wall Street Journal paper edition.  I saved it and look at it from time.  It was written by Juan Williams, author and Fox News contributor.  It is "The Tragedy of America's Disappearing Fathers":

The extent of the problem is clear.

The nation's out-of-wedlock birth rate is 38%.

Among white children, 28% are now born to a single mother; among Hispanic children it is 50% and reaches a chilling, disorienting peak of 71% for black children.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, nearly a quarter of America's white children (22%) do not have any male in their homes; nearly a third (31%) of Hispanic children and over half of black children (56%) are fatherless.
This represents a dramatic shift in American life.

In the early 1960's, only 2.3% of white children and 24% of black children were born to a single mom.

Having a dad, in short, is now a privilege, a ticket to middle-class status on par with getting into a good college.

"Kids suffer without a father, no matter their color or last name.

"Father's Day is here.  Let's remember a simple truth: we need men to be responsible fathers."

The ACLU’s move from the neutral protector of civil liberties to a partisan advocate of hard-left politics is both a symptom and consequence of it's changes.

By Alan Dershowitz in the Jerusalem Post

"If America is to remain strong, its major institutions must move closer to the center and reject the extremes of both sides. If the ACLU does not return to its core values, a new organization must be created to champion those values."

"The director of the American Civil Liberties Union has now acknowledged what should have been obvious to everybody over the past several years: that the ACLU is no longer a neutral defender of everyone’s civil liberties; it has morphed into a hyper-partisan, hard-left political advocacy group. The final nail in its coffin was the announcement that for the first time in its history the ACLU would become involved in partisan electoral politics, supporting candidates, referenda and other agenda-driven political goals.

"The headline in the June 8 2018 edition of the New Yorker tells it all: “The ACLU is getting involved in elections – and reinventing itself for the Trump Era.” The article continues: In this midterm year, however, as progressive groups have mushroomed and grown more active, and as liberal billionaires such as Howard Schultz and Tom Steyer have begun to imagine themselves as political heroes and eye Presidential runs, the ACLU, itself newly flush, has begun to move in step with the times." . . .

Watching your back in Clintonville: Full article

Richard Jack Rail  "I've long held that the left pencils up a black-and-white caricature of us not-lefties and hangs the silliest possible kinds of thoughts on it, imagining that they have a handle on what we think and who we are.  Quotes from the I.G. report on the FBI confirm my thinking.  These are FBI people's words: "Trump's supporters are all poor to middle class, uneducated, lazy POS that think he will magically grant them jobs for doing nothing.  They probably didn't watch the debates, aren't fully educated on his policies, and are stupidly wrapped up in his unmerited enthusiasm."  Then this gem: "I honestly feel like there is going to be a lot more gun issues, too, the crazies won finally."

"How many Trumpers do you know who are poor, uneducated, and lazy?  The jobs reports destroy that last one; apart from the sneering tone, unemployment is at all-time lows for just about everybody and every category.  Every Trump-follower I know, and that's quite a few, watched the debates intently and knew every nuance of Trump's platform.  Gun issues are about where they've been the last 20 years or so under both Dem and Pub presidents.

"In other words, the caricature could hardly be more wrong.

"Now that they've seen the error of their thinking, we can expect these smarties to update their mental maps.  Right?  Last time they did that was maybe 1992, and their information then was no better than it is now.  Nor was the caricature.  Lefties see us as cartoon characters, a basket of deplorables, and it's they who are too lazy to refocus their lens.

"On the other hand, it's sort of reassuring to have your judgment validated in black and white by an inspector general of something, even if it's not so reassuring that that same I.G. found no reason to believe that any of the FBI's bias leaked over into investigations or reports or interrogations or other FBI work.  From Mr. Horowitz's comments, we can rest assured that these guys and gals are the soul of honesty, discretion, generosity of spirit, magnanimity, and goodwill.  That much is obvious from their words about us in unguarded moments.

"Mr. Horowitz, too, has to watch his back in Clintonville." 

The president meets the press – in a most unusual way

Peter Barry Chowka  "A unique encounter between the president of the United States and the press took place outside the White House on Friday morning, June 15.  It immediately made news for being both a historic first and for what was said.

"At 8:25 A.M. E.T., President Trump strolled out of the West Wing and over to the Fox News camera position a hundred or so yards away on the North Lawn, whereFox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy was doing live reports for his and his colleagues' morning show that was being produced back at Fox News HQ in New York.  The Secret Service kept the mob of White House press back as Doocy attached a lapel microphone to the president and then, standing next to him in the morning sun, proceeded to question him uninterrupted for the next half-hour.  The rest of the press, one-upped by Fox, was struggling to listen as its members were corralled in a pack several yards away.

"At 9 A.M. Doocy had to sign off when Fox & Friends ended, but the fun wasn't quite over.  President Trump sidled over to the press gaggle and proceeded to submit to a wide variety of questions shouted at him for the next twenty minutes.  That encounter was broadcast live by CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC.  According to the instant analysis, nothing like it had ever been seen before in the history of the White House.  President Trump was in classic form as he parried challenging questions from the same folks who have been giving his press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, an especially hard time this week during the daily press briefings." . . .

• With approximately 95% of the mainstream media opposed to the president and his policies, the following headlines were typical:
• 7 absolutely bonkers moments from Donald Trump's impromptu White House lawn press conference – Salon
• There's an Elderly Man on the White House Lawn and He May Not Be Well – Esquire
• Donald Trump's Friday morning proves the massive danger of sitting down with Robert Mueller – CNN

Transcript available via The White House; video of the President's Q&A with the White House press.