Immigration crisis just getting worse

How bad does the refugee invasion of the southern border have to get before the U.S. government responds with more than the status quo of an entirely broken immigration system?

The Border Patrol has been rendered from a law enforcement agency into a social services agency as more than 52,000 unaccompanied children have flocked across the border from Mexico since last October, a stunning 99 percent increase compared to the same period a year before.

It’s estimated that by this October, the number of children caught trying to illegally enter the country will rise to 90,000. 

These children are generating shocking stories on a daily basis that add up to one reason after another for the federal government to do more than more of the same.

Human trafficking. People dying in the desert. A risk of proliferating diseases. People being stored in sprawling detention centers like cattle. Criminals or even terrorists crossing the border. Untold impacts on health-care facilities, schools, law enforcement agencies and local governments.

Whether it’s for humanitarian, national security or economic reasons, the border must be secured and a signal must be sent to Central America and Mexico that U.S. immigration laws will be enforced.

Tragically, the opposite message has been telegraphed to Latin American countries by the Obama administration, spawning the waves of people flocking to the U.S. There is a widespread belief that women and children can surrender themselves to U.S. authorities when they arrive on American soil, and that they will eventually be allowed to stay.

Clearly, the refugees are also motivated by a desire to escape crime and poverty in their own countries even if it involves great dangers and costs to get to America.

Unfortunately, the U.S. is notin a position to deal with gangs in Guatamala or to alleviate poverty in El Salvador. But the United States IS in a position to protect its border, even it involves deployment of the National Guard and increased deportations, and it is in a position to deal harshly with Mexico, which is obviously facilitating the movement of people from countries in South America.

If the U.S. does not take bold action, sending a strong signal that will discourage people from making the dangerous journey north, the illegal immigration crisis will only worsen. And we ask again, how bad does it have to get before more of the same simply will not do?

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.