The current crisis at the border is unparalleled in our history. Every day hundreds, if not thousands, of unaccompanied migrant children cross our southern border. Over 50,000 have crossed the border so far this year. The tide shows no sign of stopping with the Department of Homeland Security projecting a total of 100,000 unaccompanied children crossing the border for the fiscal year on September 30.  Texas, my home state, has borne the brunt of this flood of immigration, having detained over 37,000 illegal immigrants since the year began.

Time and time again, Texas Governor Rick Perry and the people of Texas have called upon President Obama and his administration to send the National Guard to the border. My colleagues in Congress and I have repeatedly exhorted him to enforce existing laws, protect our border, and prevent illegal immigration. He has failed to do so. It is this failure that has created and encouraged the current crisis at the border. In addition to ignoring existing laws, President Obama has taken it upon himself to create new ones. Among the numerous executive orders issues is the Executive Order of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which creates a false impression of leniency among immigrants. The President’s flouting of the United States’ immigration laws, coupled with his repeated executive overreach, has created a crisis at the border for both these children and the American people.

Strikingly, President Obama refused to see the crisis at our border for himself during his visit to Texas this week. Though he has found time to play pool while in Colorado and attend fundraisers in Dallas, he is somehow unable to accept Governor Perry’s offer to visit the border while in Texas. The President can no longer turn a blind eye to the catastrophe in Texas and many other border states. America cannot afford to spend billions of tax dollars on caring for those here illegally, nor can it allow the humanitarian crisis at the border to continue unchecked. The children who risk the journey from their home countries to the United States travel through hundreds of miles of hostile terrain, alone, and without any kind of protection to keep them safe.

Due to the inaction of President Obama and his administration, I have recently introduced a bill in Congress that would address the problem at its source. The Illegal Entry Accountability Act would immediately suspend all foreign aid to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico until those countries and their authorities take sufficient measures to prevent their citizens from illegally entering our nation. My bill would hold these countries accountable for their refusal to enforce the law, and their willingness to look the other way as children and other migrants pour across our border. President Obama’s porous border policies have created this disaster, but it is time to take care of our citizens who were born here or came here legally.  It is time to put America first.

###

Congressman Randy Weber represents the 14^th District of Texas, serving Brazoria, Galveston and Jefferson Counties.

You can find the article at http://thepostnewspaper.net