The Lost Dream
July 1, 2010
 

The Lost Dream

The National Geographic Channel {NGC} has a program called 'Border Wars'.

The show follows the officers and agents of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as they scour the inhospitable landscape of the US/Mexican border, seeking to fight terrorism and intercept illegal entrants from the air, on the ground and at the ports of entry.
NGC cameras are given special access to go on duty with CBP agents and officers as they use every means at their disposal — from high-tech stealth planes to basic wilderness skills — to track, catch and deport illegal immigrants. The show allows you to be there as officers and agents race to save illegal immigrants from possible death in desert heat, uncover a shocking smuggling strategy involving children and find a cache of narcotics that sets a new record for a single seizure.

This week's episode was particularly troubling.

After catching 13 illegals in the Tucson sector of the Arizona/Mexico border, it was discovered that a man was traveling with two twin girls. The border agent began to question the man about the girls. He said he was their father and he had entered America to find work. He had no identification papers on him. In fact, he had nothing, no wallet, no money. When asked the age of the girls, he was unsure, then said they were eight. He was asked their names and went silent.

The border agent separated the man from the girls and began questioning them.

They said they were eight years old. They said they did not know who their parents were. The man was a 'friend'. He had promised to take them to New York City to meet their parents.

The US State Department estimates that more than 20,000 young women and children are trafficked across the border from Mexico each year. Human trafficking is the third most profitable criminal activity, following only drug and arms trafficking. An estimated 9.5 billion is generated in annual revenue from all trafficking activities, with at least $4 billion attributed to the worldwide brothel industry. Trafficking in children is a global problem affecting large numbers of children. Some estimates have as many as 1.2 million children being trafficked every year.

Note: This is an estimate.

What we have here is a problem that transcends politics.

This is not about Conservatives vs. Liberals.

This is not about Red States vs. Blue States.

This is not about States Rights vs. the Federal Government or Democrats vs. Republicans.

This is about human beings and the lost dream.

If there is one and only one single issue that we as Americans....
that we as human beings....
can agree on....
in order to secure our border...

let it be this issue.