IMMIGRATION: A Pawn in the Bigger Political Game | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publishers note: This post appears here courtesy of our sister site - Jefferson Rising.

    Mr. Darby is an embedded journalist, unlike so-called journalists from the mainstream media, unlike members of Hollywierd, unlike most of DC's Democratic members of Congress, and unlike almost every progressive/liberal/Democratic opponent of immigration laws. He spends at least 10 days every month at the border in Texas, at the ICE detention centers, and also in Mexican territory, including areas controlled by the vicious and violent drug cartels.

I don't know about you, but I'll put more credence in the articles and reports written by Darby and Breitbart Texas, as well as their posts, than on anything put out by the mainstream media or any misleading comments and false accusations hurled by Democratic legislators. I'll listen to those who use facts rather than those who project on mere emotion. Laws are emotion-free; laws are neutral and serve the nation's best interests (rather than the interests of foreigners). And of course, we are a nation of laws. That, in the end, is what separates us from Mexico and what separates us from the countries and regimes of South and Central America. Europe is finally beginning to understand what President Trump means when he says that a nation that can't control its borders is not a nation at all, or won't be for very long.

Brandon Darby and Breitbart Texas posted pictures of children being packed into a cement room at one of the detention centers ("holding facilities") back in 2014, during the Obama administration. No one cared. It was not worthy of being mentioned by the mainstream media. That picture, by the way, just happens to be the one being circulated as being taken currently at the Texas detention center, hoping to trick Americans into believing this is what Trump is doing. Back in 2014, Brandon Darby and Breitbart Texas posted pics of the chainlink partitions in the holding facilities at the border (ie "the cages") with children of illegals inside them. Again, no one cared. And again, it was not worthy of being mentioned by the mainstream media. These "cage" pictures all of a sudden are now the top priority of the mainstream media.

All of a sudden, US journalists – and Democrats – decide that they care about what migrants experience at the border after not giving a shit for many years.

But Democrats and the mainstream media would have you believe – they WANT you to believe, they NEED you to believe – that the "separation" issue (the separation of children from their illegal parents) is a unique consequence caused by President Trump's horribly inhumane immigration policy. They trust that an ignorant American population will be moved by emotion rather than use their God-given brains. They know that liberals, progressives, and Democrats ignore facts when heartstrings can be manipulated instead.... which, quite frankly, is almost all the time.

But we Americans are NOT stupid, we're not gullible, we know that facts matter (they aren't the "pesky little things" despised by Democrats), and we believe very strongly in the Rule of Law. After all, since we are all documented and tracked by the government (and have been, most of us, since we were born), anytime WE break the law, we surely pay the consequences and we suffer the blemish on our records.

I wanted to give a short overview of the "Separations" issue that all-of-a-sudden has everyone up in a roar, has Hollywood actors calling for Barron Trump to be ripped up from Melania's arms and thrown into a cage with pedophiles, has Hollywood and the mainstream media vilifying Ivanka for posting pictures on social media of her children, and has everyone blaming President Trump.

This is NOT a new issue and this is NOT a situation created or caused by President Trump. The problem is the result of following the very laws and court mandates that govern illegal entry into this country. The difference between the Obama administration and the Trump administration is that the Obama administration let illegals free into the country after 20 days (to get around the child separations issue) while making them promise to report back to ICE for their detention hearing (which NO ONE ever did.; they simply "disappeared," undocumented, into our country). President Trump has refused to allow that situation to continue.

The current problem, and the issue the media is focused on (obviously), is the "Separation" problem, as I've mentioned. The "Separation" problem stems from the Trump administration's ZERO TOLERANCE immigration policy which, pursuant to federal law [Title 8. Section 1325 of the US Code, as well as Section 275 of the immigration & Naturalization Act – the two have the same exact language) requires ICE to detain and prosecute every person (regardless of asylum claim) who makes an "improper entry into the United States." The laws make it a misdemeanor (crime) to enter illegally and also provide for civil violations as well. President Trump is merely enforcing the law and making sure everyone who enters illegally is prosecuted. To be clear, there are several "legal" ways to enter the country, as well as legal avenues to seek asylum, but the border issue is one of "illegal entry." The ZERO TOLERANCE policy aims to prosecute, and prosecute as quickly as possible, ALL illegal border crossers. But, because of a 1997 Court order (Flores v. Reno (aka, the Flores Settlement Agreement), children cannot be detained for longer than 20 days with their parents. Under the Flores Settlement agreement, children are to be detained along with their parents, but after 20 days, they have to be removed from their parents and given to a relative or a caregiver or agent or to some licensed facility (such as the shelters run by the Dept. of Health & Human Services, HHS), OR the entire family unit is released – which we saw a lot of during the Obama administration. During the Obama administration, the family unit would be kept in detention (a detention facility) for 20 days and then released – but with a court order to appear at some later date for a hearing on their detention (their prosecution of their illegal entry). Unfortunately, records show that only 3% of the detained and released illegals ever returned for their hearing during the Obama years. So, they didn't just break the law once (illegal entry); they broke it a second time by ignoring the court order. They are repeat criminal offenders. This is the loophole that President Trump has been talking about; this is the loophole that allows illegals to escape prosecution and evade our laws.... because of the Flores detainment limit for children. This is why he instituted the ZERO TOLERANCE program.

Anyway, it should be noted that children cannot be prosecuted for illegal entry (as their parents can) because they are children and have not come here of their own volition. So "Separation" has been the US policy with respect to the prosecution of illegal crossers. Add to the Flores decision a law that was passed in 2008 by Democrats in a Democratic Congress (and signed by President Bush) designed to combat human trafficking. The law is called the 2008 William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. Section 235 (g) of that act states that unaccompanied minors (unaccompanied by their parents, that is) entering the US must be transferred to the custody of the Department of Health & Human Services Offices of Refugee Resettlement (rather than to the Department of Homeland Security). The law was expanded to include minors brought into the country illegally (human trafficking, sex slave trade, etc). The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals expanded the 1997 Flores Settlement in 2016 to include children brought into the country illegally. What does this mean?? It means that children suspected of being brought here illegally (being brought by adults not being their parents or having a custodial relationship) are separated and put into a separate detention center (Dept. HHS). If illegal crossers cannot prove, thru documentation, that the children they are bringing are biological or are under the legal custody of the adults, then those children are separated until verification can be made.

Trump's ZERO TOLERANCE policy ends the separation of children from their parents, but it also calls for the ignoring of the Flores settlement. When 20 days comes, if the illegal crossers have not yet been prosecuted, the children continue to be detained with their parents. I'm sure Trump's Executive Order will be challenged in court, but it won't be by Republicans. If Democrats challenge it, we'll quickly see how much they care about the welfare of the children because President Trump is NOT going to release illegals into our country UNTIL they have first been prosecuted, and he is not going to fall for the guise that "we should do that for the sake of the children."

Yesterday, President Trump signed an Executive Order temporarily closing the loophole and ending the requirement that children be separated from their parents. As it stands now – until Congress acts, which is should, but which Democrats have obstructed for many years – illegal children will remain with their illegal parents through the prosecution period. He is seeking, at the very minimum, a stand-alone Loophole bill to quickly address the problem and fix the "Separation" situation.

The only reason the separation of children from their parents at the border is an issue at this time is because the Russian investigation has turned out to be a bust (there was no collusion, but the FBI and DOJ sure have a lot of 'splaining to do !!), the Inspector General's Report came out (and doesn't look good at all for the Dems), the gun control marches didn't work, no one cared a bit about Stormy Daniels and her sex allegation, and Trump is about to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering a much-needed peace on the Korean peninsula and for the denuclearization of that seemingly rogue nation. The Democrats, and their bed-partners – the left-wing media (mainstream media), need something to distract from the success of President Trump and from their own high-level crimes.

Hope this helps.