As new reports indicate that Iowa families are caring for more than 100 unaccompanied immigrant children who have entered the U.S. illegally during the past year, Governor Terry Branstad stands by his cold shoulder to the kids, while leading Iowa Democrats have called for a more welcoming stance.
I enclose below some recent news and commentary about how Iowans should react to the humanitarian crisis.
Martha Stoddard reported for the Omaha World-Herald on July 22,
Iowa received 122 unaccompanied illegal immigrant children during the first six months of this year, according to a federal official.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Kenneth Wolfe said the children were released to relatives or other sponsors. None was placed in a shelter.
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad’s spokesman said the governor had not been notified of any placements and could not get confirmation from the federal government about the home countries and circumstances of the 122 children.
“If the Obama administration placed illegal immigrant children in Iowa, it would come as a surprise,” said spokesman Jimmy Centers.
In a July 22 report, Radio Iowa put the number a bit higher:
“There’s a number of Latino families who have extended family members who are in those three countries, so they have been driving down to Texas and elsewhere to pick up those children and bring them back,” Joe Henry, state director of the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa, told Radio Iowa today. “But they’re keeping this kind of secret right now because our governor has not embraced this effort.”[…]
State and federal officials now confirm up to 139 undocumented children from Central America were relocated to Iowa in the past six and a half months. According to Henry, many of the children need mental health counseling because of the violence they were subjected to before they got to the U.S., but he said the governor’s stand makes that difficult.
“Actually what the governor’s been doing is he has been creating a chilling effect on the whole process, so things are being done behind the scenes,” Henry said.
After Branstad’s comments last week, emphasizing that he did not want any unaccompanied immigrant children placed in Iowa, the governor’s Democratic opponent, State Senator Jack Hatch, proposed a nonpartisan coalition to consider how to help the kids in need.
Hatch, a state senator from Des Moines, called for a nonpartisan “Iowa Coalition of Mercy” that would involve Iowa stakeholders in formulating an appropriate response to thousands of immigrant children from Central American countries who arrived in his country separated from their families.
“This shouldn’t be about party, politics or dividing up voters,” Hatch said in a statement. “This is a moment in which all Iowans should come together, driven by the best in our faith traditions to do the right thing for children who desperately need our help.”
Hatch proposed a meeting of stakeholders, including local governments, business, labor and nonprofit groups, to assess Iowa resources and determine what can be done to help. The Democrat noted Iowa has a tradition of being welcoming to refugee populations as symbolized by former Gov. Robert Ray’s action in bringing 25,000 Southeast Asian refugees to Iowa in 1975. […]
Hatch said he hoped Iowa would determine what resources could be delivered to keep the children healthy and safe during this process, which could include housing the children in Iowa or providing food, medicine and supplies to other locations.
“I want to give the governor a chance to rethink this, and maybe conclude mercy and justice are more important than political points,” Hatch said in his statement. “Iowans expect executive leadership from a governor even when the initiative is a public-private partnership.”
U.S. Senator Tom Harkin spoke more harshly last week of Branstad’s reaction to the crisis.
“I’m just upset at this harshness – this harshness – that seems to be pervading our politics these days,” Harkin says. “Even in a terrible situation like this, even the [Obama] administration says we’ve gotta’ change the law to send them back quicker. No we don’t.”
The mayor of Davenport is offering to create a refuge for some of the children. Mayor Bill Gluba says he’s working with hospitals, churches and other groups to make a haven for the refuges in the Mississippi River town. Harkin applauds Gluba’s effort. “What we need to do is make sure the kids are safe, well-fed, housed, clothed and that we do our utmost to make sure they are not returned to dangerous situations,” Harkin says. “Then we can be talking about how we work with Central American governments to crack down on the gangs and the violence in their own countries.” […]
“Governor Branstad said don’t send immigrant children to Iowa,” Harkin says. “You know, why not? Why can’t we help protect these kids too? Open up our arms to keep them safe and to give them every reasonable opportunity to apply for asylum.”
Harkin notes a contrast between Branstad and another Iowa Republican. “What a departure from Governor Bob Ray, back in the ’70s, when he was governor and we took all the boat people from Vietnam and the Hmong from Laos,” Harkin says. “They didn’t go through proper channels. They were refugees and we took them in and they have become a wonderful part of the Iowa community.”
On Monday of this week, Branstad stood by his position, which amounts to feeling compassion without wanting to do anything about it.
“I am one that believes very much in welcoming people,” Branstad told his weekly news conference. “But I also believe in the rule of law.”
Here’s the longer version:
Branstad told reporters that the circumstances of the Central American children and Southeast Asians aren’t comparable. More than 57,000 children have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border since Oct. 1, mostly from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. The governor said the Central American children have entered the U.S. illegally, often based on erroneous information from criminals who have smuggled them into this country.
“They told them lies that if they could get here, they could stay. That is not true,” Branstad said. “The federal government needs to secure the border and expedite the process to send them back as quickly as possible.”
Iowa has always welcomed legal immigrants, Branstad said, including Southeast Asians who faced death or persecution in their native countries. He said they came as intact families, and formal efforts were made to resettle them.
Asked about the fact that some Central American children are fleeing violence, forced prostitution and other threats, Branstad said, “I think their countries need to deal with their problems. We can’t accept every child in the world who has problems.”
He added, “We are very empathetic and willing to help, but it would not be wise for us to say, ‘If you come here illegally, you can stay.’ ” That would send the wrong signal and make the situation worse, he said.
Hatch is standing by his position as well.
“The humanitarian need at the border is paramount,” Hatch told reporters Monday. “The moral sentiment of Iowans is to let them in.” […]
Hatch said the Central American children who are victims of human trafficking and violence should be granted refuge in this country under a 2008 law signed by President George W. Bush. Last week he called on Branstad to join him in establishing an “Iowa Coalition of Mercy” to offer humanitarian aid.
“This is not a political issue,” said Hatch, who offered to remove himself from the effort to avoid partisan entanglements. “We have never turned our back on that kind of humanitarian aid because of a political environment. Gov. Ray set the standard. He created a legacy for us to live up to and Gov. Branstad has fallen far short of that.”
I struggled to find words to convey my feelings about Branstad’s refusal to welcome any of these kids to Iowa. Fortunately, other commentators were able to express themselves well.
From the Des Moines Register’s unsigned editorial on July 18:
Iowans have always welcomed people in need – slaves sneaking north to freedom on the Underground Railroad, Norwegians who came to find the farmland that wasn’t available back home and Asians who fled the chaos after wars in Vietnam and Cambodia. […]
Gov. Terry Branstad turned his back on that heritage with his statement this week that the border kids are not welcome in Iowa. That distresses many of us because Branstad was lieutenant governor under Robert Ray, who is a heroic figure for many Southeast Asians now living in Iowa. […]
Those Southeast Asia refugees who ended up in Iowa thanks to Ray’s invitation and the generosity and hospitality of churches, community organizations and kindhearted Iowans have made this state a better place. That’s what the relatives of the border kids from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala want for those children – a better place.
We in the United States shouldn’t be surprised that families contending with the seemingly endless grip of poverty, with violence and never-ending fear in those poor nations might see the U.S. as beckoning with hopes for a better life. The “boat people” were a byproduct of wars in Southeast Asia. The border kids are a byproduct of Central America’s war-like conditions.
The U.S. cannot accommodate every poor person on Earth. The politicians in Washington certainly need to focus on long-term strategies to stem the refugee tide that is showing up on our southern border.
While the politicians work on that, and while the border kids wait for their deportation hearings, we can’t keep the kids confined indefinitely in warehouse-like conditions.
Some Iowa hospitality is in order.
From Todd Dorman’s latest column in the Cedar Rapids Gazette:
Think of a teenage girl forced into prostitution by a drug cartel, or a boy facing all but certain death in some Honduran gang, and Branstad’s not-really-refugees routine rings very, very hollow. Picture for a moment your own kids sitting, frightened and confused, in a crowded detention center, and consider whether you’d want them to have a decent place to stay and a fair hearing, and the governor’s rigid stand becomes more and more callous, and un-Iowa.
Individuals, I read someplace, are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. So let’s not treat these kids like a shipment of bad fruit that can swiftly and simply be returned to sender.
Branstad could have acknowledged that although many should be returned to their home countries, some of these kids have endured the sort of dire circumstances that allow them to stay here legally. He could have, at least, welcomed those kids, if shelter in Iowa is needed.
Instead, he chose the least he could do. Nothing. Instead of leading and doing the right thing, he stuck his finger into the air and followed an ill wind.
From the Mason City Globe-Gazette’s unsigned editorial:
Across Iowa, more people appear ready to help the unaccompanied Central American minors languishing in holding facilities along the southwest border. We wish Gov. Terry Branstad would lead that effort. Yet he refuses, and for that he should be ashamed. […]
We look at pictures of kids sleeping on mats in chained rooms and wonder how a leader boasting true Iowa values can reject helping these kids, even though a spokesman says the former North Iowans has empathy for those who seek a better life in this country. […]
Please share any relevant thoughts in this thread.
UPDATE: U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley weighed in on July 23:
Grassley, in his weekly conference call with reporters, said legislation he has co-sponsored requires the Department of Health and Human Services to inform governors 48 hours before children are placed, but does not give governors the means to object.
“I don’t think that, since immigration law is federal law, that you give governors that authority,” Grassley said. […]
Grassley said he’s merely seeking transparency from HHS, considering states may have to foot part of the bill for placements through Medicaid. “And they also need to know about it from a public health standpoint,” he said. He also questioned who is investigating the conditions of homes where children are being placed, including the immigration status of any adult relatives or guardians. He said HHS is not doing that.
SECOND UPDATE: In a conference call with Iowa reporters on July 24,
“These kids need to be protected, housed and kept safe. They don’t need to be made public objects,” Harkin told Iowa reporters Thursday in a weekly telephone conference call.
Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, noted a recent incident in California where angry protesters turned away three Homeland Security buses transporting undocumented immigrants from Texas to be processed in Murrieta. The buses were redirected to Border Patrol stations in the San Diego area. […]
“There is a reason for the privacy. There is a reason to protect these kids,” Harkin said. “Keep in mind these kids are not criminals. They are refugees. They are kids who are escaping murder and violence and rape and all kinds of bad things. We have a process to examine these kids and find out if they really qualify for asylum.”
Harkin also said he and other senators met Wednesday with ambassadors from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala and they provided assurances that efforts were being made to stem the exodus of children from the three countries.