By David Samuel
Most decent Americans do not want to see innocent children separated from their parents. Americans do not want to see legitimate asylum seekers returned to be mistreated in their home countries. We do not want to see the rule of law break down and chaos erupt in our streets, or terrorists, murderers, rapists, and drug dealers threaten the population’s security.
Most decent Americans do not want to see America sink in debilitating debt and abandon its already massive social commitments. Although Christians know that all of mankind’s problems will not be solved until Jesus returns, they still want to prevent as much suffering and injustice as possible.
To keep families together, the government cannot release immigrant children without also releasing their parents. But the government, for security reasons, cannot release the parents until it is certain that they are legitimate asylum seekers and not lawbreakers.
The 1997 Flores settlement was intended to protect immigrant children, but an unintended result was that it diminished the government’s ability to faithfully manage its other responsibilities. What is more, post-911 America necessarily became more concerned about national security, including the growing problem of gangs and illegal drugs. The nation’s security, the concerns of legitimate asylum seekers, the importance of maintaining a society based on the rule of law, and the needs of children became competing int