Why do Mexico’s children seek US ‘social justice’?

2^nd in a series on US border security and immigration

Border Patrol agents honor fellow agents killed in the line of duty. [Photo by US Border Patrol; May, 2010; Barry Bahler.] In the U.S., there’s a constant stream of foreign citizens pouring across the border as Mexico’s children seek social justice in the U.S. simply because there isn’t much justice at all in their own country. The government pegged the number of [Mexican] illegals in the U.S. at 6.5 million in 2010. The number is a best guess estimate because there’s no way to tell for sure.

The Government Accountability Office said there’s an average number of 8 arrests per “undocumented alien,” said Newsmax.

Politicians don't talk about costs. Nor do they hold Mexico accountable. There is data available and it suggests a completely wrong-headed approach to solving issues related to the millions who flee Mexico.

The U.S. exerts no pressure on Mexico to address this matter. I’ve called it an epic foreign policy failure because it is and it did not begin with the current administration.

As a result, the cost of taking care of those citizens in the US illegally is pegged around $113 billion total for local, state and national costs*.

The Center for Immigration Studies said:

• Households headed by illegal aliens imposed more than $26.3 billion in costs on the federal government in 2002 and paid only $16 billion in taxes, creating a net fiscal deficit of almost $10.4 billion, or $2,700 per illegal household.
• Among the largest costs are Medicaid ($2.5 billion); treatment for the uninsured ($2.2 billion); food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches ($1.9 billion); the federal prison and court systems ($1.6 billion); and federal aid to schools ($1.4 billion).

These are arguably low estimates simply because there’s no viable way to know a person’s status—it’s all based on self-reportage.

Recently the GAO, according to Newsmax, said, “The United States…can only prevent or interrupt illegal entry along 129 miles of its 1,954 mile southern border.”

Why do Mexico’s children flee? Some cross the border to perform their roles in drug cartels, human trafficking and other illegal enterprises like financial fraud. Others are drawn by the magnet of US welfare. Some come for jobs in carpentry, construction, agriculture, retail and various other fields.

There are opportunities in Mexico, as long as you’re connected. Newsmax said, “The net wealth of the 10 richest people in Mexico accounts for about 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product—this in a country where roughly 40 percent of the population lives in abject poverty.”

The US government’s approach, rather than engaging in a productive discussion with Mexico, is to push class warfare and higher taxes within the US under the banner of social justice to continue to provide entitlements not only for US citizens but also for foreign nationals.

A land without borders is no country, as history as repeatedly proved. (Commentary by Kay B. Day/June 7, 2011)

*Print source: Newsmax magazine; June, 2011, pgs. 53-66

Read the first story in our series on US border security and immigration:
Could Bennett’s immigration amendment protect terrorists?

Ed. Note: This article has been edited to add the word 'Mexican' to the second sentence in the first paragraph.

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