Having heard all the complex arguments about the immigrant kids, IMO we should let them stay

[Armstead]

They're kids. They are coming from horrific circumstances. We should give them asylum on humanitarian grounds.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. t would be the right thing to do.

[mbperrin]

18. Yes, and it's what I'd like to do.

Which seems to be the trigger for exactly the opposite to happen.

You've heard of the Midas Touch? Yeah, I've got the other one.

[Anansi1171]

2. Folks, we have a winner!!

Someone will actually be along to ask how we can afford them in 5...4...3....

[FreakinDJ]

3. Wrong

I don't have any compassion for corrupt governments dumping their poor hungry uneducated masses on the US border

And this problem needs to be delt with President to President and stop taking it out on bus loads of frieghtened children

Suspend their precious Free Trade Agreements until they can clean up their mess and take care of their children

[roody]

4. Yes, stop dumping Monsanto on them,

and things will improve.

[FreakinDJ]

5. Difficulty formulating a semi-intelligent rebuttal

[MisterP]

6. you do realize this is exactly what Canadians feel about their neighbours

[FreakinDJ]

7. EXACTLY

When this corrupt Supreme Court finishes the Corporate take over of this country we may be looking to send our children/grandchildren away

The purpose of a Government is to SERVE its people

ALL the people young and old

[pipoman]

8. You do realize that was the circumstances that most of our ancestors came?

[FreakinDJ]

10. Mine were Sold to the Sweat-shops of New York

When their parents were sentanced to the Penal Colony of Australia

Oh geez - look how far we've come in 175 years

[pipoman]

12. we all have a story. ..how is this one different?

[FreakinDJ]

14. It never ends until you address it at a government level

Suspending Trade Agreements would get their attention

But of course OUR own homegrown Wall St profitiers would never allow that. Profits before People and all

[pipoman]

19. U don't disagree that standard of living should have been a

Requirement for participating in every trade agreement. ..without it the standard we are destined to fall to their standard. Thank you democratic party....I expect this from the thugs....not from the "labor party"...the labor party is dead.

That said, we should be treating and giving the refugees refuge.

[kentuck]

9. I would like to see Obama issue an executive order...

declaring these kids as refugees seeking asylum and do not pose a threat to our nation. Take a moral stand and stick with it.

[FreakinDJ]

13. Immoral solution

While the real perpetrators of the mess - the corrupt ruling elite of these countries continue to rake in profits at the demise of their children

Completely Immoral

[egduj]

11. Absolutely! And I really don't think simple asylum is enough.

Shelter them, feed them, and provide them an education up through the university level. It would be a wonderful investment on the future for this country, if not the world.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

15. I wonder how Central America would have turned out if U.S. hadn't interfered in their revolutions

I'm talking about the 1980s in particular when ultra leftists in Nicaragua and El Salvador for example sought takeovers and redistributions of wealth. Reagan was supporting ultra right wing counter-revolutionaries like the Contras. In Guatemala where most of the kids come from, the country has one of the largest segments of people in poverty (57%) and an extremely unfair distribution of land and resources. The U.S. was involved in coups and interference since the Eisenhower administration, fearing a communist take over and always backing military dictators of the bloodiest kind, like Rios Montt. The imposition of a socialist system in these countries might have made life hard for the drug cartels and might also have moderated the influence of the Catholic Church. Guatemala has an exploding population of 15 million in a tiny place. A socialist government providing healthcare and universal education might have provided birth control. They say that in countries where women have access to education, their populations stabilize and their economies improve.

I think there's blame to go around here. However, I don't think the U.S. can ignore the fact we have repeatedly interfered in the politics and economic systems of these countries since the Cold War.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

17. In some cases it was right wing assholes wiping out the last native populations to steal their land.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

16. Or watch Cuba do it.

[bklyncowgirl]

20. There are no good answers--or at least ones that this country is going to adopt any time soon.

I agree with you that letting these kids stay is the humane thing to do. We both know that this is politically a non-starter.

Central America is a mess. It's a mess for a large part because American policy has kept corrupt oligarchies in place and kept the masses poor and desperate. It's a mess because Americans' insatiable appetite for illegal drugs and cheap labor and our steadfast unwillingness to curb the flow of guns from American gun manufactures into the hands of drug cartels has made illegal trafficking in drugs and in people a major industry.

Our abject national refusal to see these problems for what they and create a national policy which makes sense in today's world has forced us into a piecemeal approach where well-intentioned policies lead to unintended consequences.

Here's a few things that might help but are unlikely to happen.

Adopt comprehensive immigration reform--not bloody likely--at least under a Democratic president.

Once that is done:

Enforce the existing laws on employers who hire illegal immigrants. Big Ag will scream bloody blue murder but a few big fines and better yet a CEO or two spending quality time in a federal prison would do wonders to stem the tide. The problem with this is that food prices would undoubtedly rise making it politically unpalatable.

Actually enforce the workers rights provisions in NAFTA, CAFTA etc. giving workers in these countries a chance to organize and better their lives at home. Sadly I don't think that the powers that be would ever let that happen in a million years.

Stem the flow of guns. Not going to happen if the NRA has anything to say about it.

Recognize that the war on drugs has been an abject failure. Adopt a public health approach to addiction. This probably has the best chance of happening as states begin to slowly legalize pot.