CHILDREN WALKING TO AMERICA

My people immigrated from Italy at the turn of the century. Not the most recent turn. The one before. The year 1900.

They traveled by boat. Steerage class. The lowest deck of the ship, the bottom of the boat. It was a  cheap ticket. Conditions were poor. People crowded into one huge room. No separate quarters for women. No privacy. Packed like cattle.

They yearned to be free and the opportunity to better themselves.

The Statue of Liberty welcomed them as they entered New York harbor. The giant of a woman with a special poem emblazoned on her structure.

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

Another wave of immigrants is arriving. Almost 50,000 have arrived already this year. By year's end, it is anticipated the figure will be 90,000.

Not by ship or boat. Not by car, train or plane. They are making the trip on foot. 

They are children. Unaccompanied minors. No Pied Piper. They lead themselves. Their ages a bit confusing. No question they are minors. Initially, the average age was reported as 10-12. As low as 4. More recent reports indicate 15-17. Pictures on the internet suggest 10-12 as being the most accurate. Babies also appear in the pictures. In the laps of older children.

Their trip started from one of three Latin American countries. El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. They made their way into Mexico. Somehow got over the waters of the Rio Grande and into Texas. They crossed the Rio Grande in rubber boats or holding onto something that would float.

The story they tell about leaving their home countries is the same. To escape gang violence. Apparently the violence is pronounced. It is everywhere, including schools and neighborhoods. One of the teenagers when asked why she made  such a difficult trip answered, "Do I face possible death in immigrating or sure death in staying?"

An example of a country where violence is occurring is Honduras. The homicide rate has tripled in the last 10 years. The homicide rate is the highest in the world for a country not at war.

Texas could not handle the influx of just under 50,000 children in six months. The U.S. government decided to transfer some of the children to Nogales, Arizona. Some 700 to 1,000.

Nogales was chosen not to aggravate Arizonians who had suffered from a large foreign influx in the past 10 years. Immigration is presently down in Arizona. The manpower, facilities and technology however remain in place to assist in caring for these children. More will be sent to Ventura, California, San Antonio, Texas, and Fort Sill, Oklahoma where proper facilities either await or are being swiftly erected.

Texas was immediately overwhelmed. Not enough showers, for example. Four more were immediately added and by the time you read this an additional sixty will have been. For most of the girls, it was to be their first shower in 10 days.

Food is a problem. The kids could not eat the food first offered. Their stomachs were not accustomed to it. They experienced Montezuma's revenge.

The children are being vaccinated. Each given a medical examination. Professionals have been brought in to provide counseling and recreational activities.

Why are the children all of a sudden making the trip to the United States? They have been told in their home countries and by relatives in the United States that as children they will receive amnesty. They believe Obama has made it possible. They come looking for the better life and believing they will be able to remain.

Most have families already living in the United States. Eighty five percent of them. The other fifteen percent carry notes from relatives in their home countries asking U.S. officials to take pity and let them in.

The immigration laws are too complicated for me to get into. There is some merit to what the children and/or their relatives claim. Most however appears not to be correct.

Arizona is behaving in typical fashion. They are not pleased with the children being flown in from Texas. Governor Brewer and a local county attorney threaten the U.S. with criminal charges.

Huge numbers of people moving from one country to another to escape violence is common place throughout the world. It had to happen at some point to the United States. We got it with an extra grain of salt. Children.

The eyes of the world are upon us. Can we care for the children? Will we care for the children? Will we be the humanitarian nation everyone thinks us to be? Will we be the humanitarian nation we think we are?

It is our moment in the sun. I hope we do not screw up. For the sake of the children and for ourselves.