Young Migrants Risk All to Reach U.S.

The Washington Post ^ | 2 August 2006 | N.C. Aizenman

[Kitten Festival]

QUETZALTENANGO, Guatemala -- Across Central America, growing numbers of impoverished children appear to be setting out for the United States on their own, risking robbery, rape and death as they try to sneak illegally through Mexico and across the U.S. border.

Last year, 6,460 underage illegal immigrants from Central America were detained in the United States while traveling without their parents and sent to government shelters, a 35 percent increase over the previous year. Many others likely slipped in undetected.

[Kitten Festival]

I'm pretty hard nosed about this sort of thing but this story was a tear-jerker. I melted. Poor little kids, God gives so little to some people. They didn't do anything to deserve this. Guatemalans are such sweet honorable people, you never hear of them committing crimes. I wish we could do something for them.

[kinoxi]

If this is a tear jerker, then who should be excluded from undocumented entry into this country? Are you saying latinos are the only ones who matter?

[Kitten Festival]

No.

Just what I said. Poor little kids.

[stm]

And if they go through all the legal requirements to become a US citizen, we should embrace them with enthusiasm.

[dennisw]

Their job is to get in here, illegally of course. Our job is to keep them out. If we didn't have 20+ million illegal aliens I might be more sympathetic. As it is I would ship every single one back

[msnimje]

Young thieves risk all to rob banks.

Young rapists risk all to attack other human beings.

Young terrorists risk all to get into the United States (Uh Oh!)

[ckilmer]

This is the fruits CAFTA. Just as the fruits of NAFTA were millions of Mexicans driven off the farm.

[A CA Guy]

They need to do the hard work of making their own places homes rather than move into ours.

[kinoxi]

So oriental children are excluded? How about European children? African children are obviously out of the question.

[lonestar67]

I know I will likely get hammered for this but I still wish we had a more concerted pro immigration policy.

The most urgent thought existing in the world today is ' I must get to america.'

We should be pursuing every creative policy to drain the global tyrannies of the human capital they need by bringing people here in an orderly legal process.

If thugs presided over empty prairies and vacant villages there would be little basis for global struggles against the US.

Immigration could be a more powerful weapon in our arsenal against tyranny.

[Kitten Festival]

Where you getting this? Have you read the article?

[Kitten Festival]

Not from me. I agree with you.

[kinoxi]

Where do you draw the line?

[butternut_squash_bisque]

Me too, usually. But not this time, K. I feel sorry for them and their stupidity. But if they had done this *legally*, they wouldn't put their children in danger, in the first place.

Prayers for their innocent childrens' souls.

[CondiRice08]

What kind of parent just abandons their children? Of course their driven to such lengths - they've been left in a country with nothing, they've no opportunities to succeed in life. If a wall was on the border and they knew that their chances of getting in were about 5% instead of the current 95% that might change these parents and kids minds and convince them to stay at home and build up their own country

[Kitten Festival]

At the law.

[Vision]

That's what the story is designed to do. It could be written about most countries in the world.

We have legal immigration. Let them apply or let them develop their own country. We can't a handle them all. Hell a decent amount of the ones we already have are trying to take over or kill us.

[monkeywrench]

I agree with your assessment of Guatemalans.

[Kitten Festival]

Probably desperate ones. That's why it's so sad.

[axes_of_weezles]

Post your address, and I will gladly go down to Nogales and post it on a flyer as an address that will give illegal aliens , criminals and degenerates sanctuary.

Put your money where your mouth is.