This letter is in response to the recent editorial “Concentrate.”
There are many points of debate in the editorial authored by Kimberly Dijkstra. The editorial was full of outlandish comparisons and exaggerations such as the statement that the United States government is engaging in genocide. The fact that Congress just approved (June 25, 2019) 4.5 million humanitarian aid money completely disputes this accusation. The unprecedented influxes of people from the migrant caravans as well as the increase in illegal crossings are causing organizational systems to be overburdened. Therefore, sound managerial practices are going to be needed. The allegation of solitary confinement used as torture is untrue. That is not the intent of its use at all. It is a necessary tool to ensure the safety of the staff and the other migrants, being used for disciplinary reasons on an overall small percentage of the people across the various facilities.
More and more children are being sent off to make the harrowing trek to the United States with or without parents. It is more than 1,500 miles depending on where they leave from. According to the human-rights group Amnesty International website, as many as 20,000 migrants are kidnapped every year by criminal gangs who are trying to collect ransom.
They also say as many as 60 percent of the migrant women and girls are raped during their journey. There are also loopholes that give parents in Central America an incentive to send their children to the U.S. This puts thousands of children into the hands of smugglers, endangering the children and padding the pockets of dangerous criminals. This is the actual trauma that they will be exposed to.
While it is true that the detention centers are operating by government contacts awarded to private companies, they are far from being inhumane profiteers. Similar to the Humanitarian Aid package the American taxpayers finance, we have no choice, but to pay the money so they can fulfill their obligations to assist the continually growing population at the facilities. We used to have Ellis Island equipped with a hospital to assist with medical screenings and stopping the spread of communicable diseases. Even with all that, people still died there. Unfortunately, just like then, people have died now. Each death is certainly tragic. One of the other benefits from the new aid package, not only will it have money to get the temporarily housed migrants items such as clothing, diapers and baby formula and more beds, but should be able to help the people who arrive in poor health to curtail further loss of life.
Other loopholes as the editorial pointed out allow migrant parents to be deported while the illegal minors are handled through foster care. The parents can ask for the children to go back with them, but many do not. In addition, taxpayers must bear the full costs of the administration, interpreters, medical expenses and other costs when the children stay. Plus welfare benefits paid to the children of illegal aliens such as assisted housing add a further burden on public outlays. It must be made clear that most asylum seekers are sighting economic reasons, which does not qualify them as refugees, and the reason of fleeing “gang violence” was just recently determined would not provide ground for asylum either. Instead of blaming all the people of America for the current situations in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, a more focus critique would show the blame is on the Neo–Conservatives. Their policies lead our country away from being a Constitutional Republic limited government into the globalist oligarchy with the United Nations as the origin of the refugee disaster we have now. Not much information is given to the public and no one knows what is happening in communities where the asylum seekers are placed.
The detention centers crowded or not, are needed if we are going to continue to have control of our borders and be a sovereign nation. The solution is that illegal and legal immigration need to be reined in. Without limits on the number of immigrants and refugees allowed into the country, migrants will continue to believe there will be no consequences for breaking immigration law.
—Chris Wales
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