The immigration battle at our Southern border is quickly coming to a head. More and more families are pouring into the US illegally using kids as pawns to achieve asylum.

When illegals are arrested they are separated from the family unit. This is nothing new. It’s been happening due to the Flores Consent Decree from 1997.

The decree deals with children who cross the border illegally with their parent, guardian or other adult.

It says that unaccompanied children can be held only 20 days. A ruling by the Ninth Circuit extended this 20-day limit to children who come as part of family units.

So even if authorities wanted to hold a family unit together, by law they are forbidden from doing so.

The Big Three Criteria

No one in the current administration is changing the law. There are three ways that children are separated from their parents.

• If the adult falsely claims to be the child’s parent,
• Or the adult is a threat to the safety or well-being of the child,
• Or the adult has broken the law and is detained for prosecution.

The problem is this law was easier to ignore due to political reasons than for previous administrations to enforce it.

Adults who were part of a family unit were given a free pass into the US by past administrations.

The Trump administration has decided to enforce existing law by prosecuting all adults who enter the country illegally.

Many people also seem to forget that illegal entry into the US is a misdemeanor, however re-entry is a felony.

Illegal entry to the US dropped sharply after Trump was elected because illegals thought he would be enforcing border law and that a wall was surely coming.

When they found that was not the case then the mass exodus continued using children as emotional chits to play on the sympathies of Americans.

Some Final Thoughts

If an illegal is apprehended and wants to return home that usually is accomplished very quickly and the family is reunited.

If the illegal is requesting asylum in the US, then that separation of the family will be much longer as the wheels of justice turn more slowly in those circumstances.

The clock ticking on the time the government can hold a child will almost always run out before an asylum claim is settled.

The illegal is allowed ten days to seek an attorney, and there may be continuances or other complications.

The answer to this problem is very easily solved. Enforce the laws on the books. No one is coming if they know they will be turned away.

There is a right and wrong way to enter the US. Doing it the right way should be a bigger incentive than doing it wrong. Comments below.