Over 321 immigration protests were held July 18 ad 19 according to the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, including one held yesterday in Hillsborough County. The Eye was there to cover the action where a number of groups, veterans and concerned citizens gathered at the overpass of I-4 on US 301.
We saw and heard lots of support from those passing by on 301 and I-4 with honks, waves and thumbs up. This issue is now in our living rooms as we watch the pictures and videos of tens of thousands of minors and others crossing our southern border.
How is this impacting Florida? According to this recent Miami Herald article:
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's administration expressed concern in a letter Friday about reports that the federal government planned to send unaccompanied immigrant children from the Southwest border to Miami this weekend, seeming to be unaware that it is a regular practice and asking for any health information the government had for the minors. The letter seemed unusual to immigration attorneys who say the practice has been going on for years (emphasis mine).
In the letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Friday, state Health Secretary John Armstrong wrote: "The Florida Department of Health has received unconfirmed reports that the federal government is bringing unaccompanied minors from the border to Florida today."Did Floridians know this has been occurring for years?
Miami immigration attorney Cheryl Little said she was confused by the letter since the federal government has for years housed unaccompanied children who have crossed the U.S.-Mexican border in South Florida shelters. She said her organization, Americans for Immigrant Justice, meets with dozens of these youth each week.
Little said the number of youth her organization has provided services to has increased drastically in the last year — up from about 1,600 in 2013 to that many as of July of this year (emphasis mine).
She said the two main youth shelters in Miami together house about 200 youth and are adding another 24 beds. She said minors are sent there as they await their legal cases, often for asylum or to reunite with parents in the country. They tend to stay in the shelters from a week to a month, depending on the case.According to Steven Hayward's Powerlineblog post
“Nothing happens for no good reason.”
It is a curious thing that the Obama administration apparently put out for bid a contract to process 65,000 children some months before they started showing up in large numbers. Why was this done? What was the information that led the administration to take this step? It’s almost as though someone knew what was coming.We wonder if Cheryl Little's Americans for Immigrant Justice organization applied to provide these services.
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| Immigration Protest at US-301 and I-4 |
In the absence of political leadership, the public is jumping out of the pot on its own. A new Gallup poll shows that immigration now tops the list of most important issues facing the country, higher than dissatisfaction with government, the economy, jobs or health care.
As of now, not a single illegal-alien detainee seems to have been sent to Louisiana or Arkansas, the states bordering Texas that are closest to the site of the border deluge. This is no accident. Those two states have Democratic senators up for re-election who are vulnerable enough to lose, but who might still be able to prevail. The White House appears to have decided not to send any illegals there to avoid the potential for political damage.Has Obama finally eroded the previous passivity on the immigration issue with Americans?
Will we see more of these Overpass protests like the one yesterday in Hillsborough County?
Will this become an election issue?
Take care of our US children before we accept illegals.
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