“Go to America with your child, you won’t be turned away.” That advice, according to ABC affiliate KRGV, is being broadcast on news stations throughout Central America.
Nora Griselda Bercian Diaz, a native of Guatemala, told reporters that “the message in her country is that America’s borders are open to all families.”
That message is accurate up to a point, but not in the way the newscasts appear to be portraying it. And certainly not in the way that Bercian Diaz, who has a 6-year-old daughter, interpreted it. She and the child, Delmi Griselda Paul Bercian, made the long trek so that her daughter, who hopes to become a doctor someday, could receive an education. KRGV’s crew intercepted the pair three hours after they crossed the border illegally. Bercian Diaz said they were lost and searching for U.S. Border Patrol agents.
Bercian Diaz said she has no family in the United States. Her hope of staying here relies on her little girl. She said the message in her country is that America’s borders are open to all families.
Bercian Diaz was already deported once, a year ago. She came here alone and worked in restaurants in California until she was caught. She would send money back to help her daughter.
Bercian Diaz’s story is a sad one. She talks about the corruption of the Mexican government, of how immigration officers there demanded “500, 600 pesos” to “turn the other way” as she and her daughter edged toward the U.S. border.
It’s the sort of story Barack Obama is fond of reciting to ratchet up the emotions of his base. It is why, the president insists, he signed an executive order in 2011 that would ensure illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children are accorded “particular care.” Some call the order “DREAM Act lite.”
Who wouldn’t be moved by Bercian Diaz’s plight? That question, which seems rhetorical, has an answer. It boils down unfortunately to raw numbers — specifically, to how many Bercian Diazes there are and, more importantly, to how many the U.S. can accommodate. Our resources here are not inexhaustible. To embrace these cold realities makes one heartless and lacking in compassion, according to Obama and his ilk, who have no use for facts and figures.
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