Political Quotes

“whether the administration wants to call it a challenge or a mess--or pick your word--a calculated word choice does not change the magnitude of what is currently happening on our southern border. Hundreds of unaccompanied children are being detained on a daily basis, completely overwhelming the capacity of the Border Patrol and Health and Human Services to deal with it--witness the two new centers opened up in Midland, TX, in West Texas, and a new one at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas that will house approximately 300,000 young men. At one point, there were more than 4,200 children in custody, nearly 3,000 of them held beyond the 72-hour time limit set by the Flores Settlement. For comparison, there were about 2,600 children in custody at any given time during the peak in 2019, so 2,600 now to 4,200. In many cases, these children don't make the dangerous journey north with their parents but in the care of human smugglers--coyotes, as they are called. Parents pay these smugglers thousands of dollars to bring their children to the United States. In some cases, along that long, treacherous journey, whether it is from Central America or from Mexico or anywhere else--because these children are not just limited to Mexico and Central America--these children are kidnapped by the smugglers on their way to the border because they know having a child in their custody will give them preferential treatment and allow them to stay in the country.…”