If Democrats had true compassion, they would tackle the border crisis

Bodies floating in storm drains and canals in Texas. A Guatemalan woman found dead in the desert near Yuma after she was left behind by a group of undocumented immigrants. A man wanted for rape caught living in Arizona arrested and transferred over to the Mexican Federal Police. His victim? A seven year old girl that he left with visible signs of assault.

Democrats claim to care about women and children, yet they refuse to work with President Trump to close loopholes in our immigration laws exploited by criminals every day. Even the New York Times has asked, “When will Congress get serious about the suffering at the border?” This month alone, Border Patrol agents have encountered numerous prior violators seeking to blend in with large groups making asylum claims.

One was convicted of sexual assault who had been deported after serving time in Colorado. Another was convicted of “carnal knowledge of a child” in Virginia more than a decade ago and was apprehended with a migrant group in New Mexico. Another raped a child in Oklahoma in 1999 then was deported, and now apprehended in Texas just last month. “We are in a full blown emergency,” acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner John Sanders said. “I cannot say this stronger. The system is broken.”

President Trump has responded swiftly. While he will not unilaterally rewrite our immigration law like his predecessor did, President Trump will use his every legal authority to fix this crisis any way he can. One way is by tariffs. President Trump skillfully forced Mexican officials to the negotiating table by threatening to impose across the board tariffs unless they backed up their talk with successful action to stem the flow of migrants passing through their southern border from Central America.

Mexican officials took the threat seriously. In just days, Mexico agreed to do more than it ever has, deploying 6,000 members of its National Guard to the border with Guatemala and expanding the “Remain in Mexico” policy whereby migrants wait while their asylum claims are processed, rather than released into the United States, where 90 percent disappear and never show up for their own hearings. These steps alone are historic.

How did Democrats respond? Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer mocked the deal, stating the border crisis is solved. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lashed out at President Trump, accusing him of throwing a temper tantrum. Pardon us if the horrific situation and suffering at the southern border makes us rather upset. “Congress will continue to hold the Trump administration accountable for its failures to address the humanitarian situation at our southern border,” Pelosi declared with a straight face.

If the Democrats truly cared about the humanitarian crisis, they would close the asylum law loopholes, which are a magnet for illegal immigrants from across the world. But for members of the party of open borders, that suits them just fine. This crisis was never manufactured. Nearly a third of women are assaulted on the journey. Seven in 10 migrants face violence. Border Patrol agents apprehended 14,000 illegal immigrants back in May.

Around 60,000 children have crossed the border in almost two months. In a single day, around 5,800 people were arrested. In one stop, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials seized an alarming 500 pounds of methamphetamine valued at over $7 million, almost 15 pounds of high grade marijuana, and an assault style rifle. More than 100 undocumented immigrants from eight different countries were smuggled to a “human stash house” in Texas. Worst of all, cartels are profiting from a practice known as “recycling” children. Kids are rented and used for admittance into the country, then forced to undergo the thousand mile journey again.

The Flores Agreement, a settlement made by the liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, prevents federal authorities from holding children for longer than 20 days. Agents end up seeing many of these children at the border again. Authorities have encountered up to 4,000 children who have been “recycled,” according to a senior administration official. They even identified one child in Texas who has been “recycled” in at least two earlier instances. Democrats could put an end to this right now. Instead, they obstruct and mock the only person in Washington working to stop it.

Elizabeth Harrington is the national spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee. You can follow her updates on Twitter @LizRNC.