America's media is about to follow in the footsteps of Europe's as open borders advocates begin using images of children in order to guilt the nation over its own migrant crisis.
In 2015, at the peak of Europe's self-inflicted migration problem, the media plastered pictures of toddler Aylan (later 'Alan') Kurdi washed up dead on a beach in Turkey.
Kurdi was utilized as a global symbol of why Western nations were morally bound to throw open their borders to anyone and everyone apparently seeking refuge.
The media would also, in the same period, blur out pictures of children killed in Islamic terror attacks.
This, even though it became clear the Kurdi family was living relatively well in a safe country (Turkey), and had paid nearly $6,000 to try and cross illegally into Europe on their way to Canada. Around 40 per cent of Americans can't put $400 together in a crisis. The same goes for many Europeans.
The guilt trip was laid on thick, and Kurdi's father was let off the hook for using illegal means and irresponsible practices to bring his family to Europe.
Now America is being offered its own Aylan Kurdi. And America, like Europe, will be asked to "please think of the children" on the Southern Border.
Last time President Trump's administration was challenged on the "children in cages" narrative, his approval ratings sharply dropped. It will probably happen again this time.
But Americans need to remember–as Europeans forgot–who is really responsible for the deaths of young children trying to enter these countries illegally:
1. THEIR PARENTS
No one is forcing these parents to get their children together and attempt to cross in some of the most perilous terrain on the continent.
Yes, there are poor economic factors at play in Mexico and Central/Latin America, especially in places like Venezuela. But Mexico is a relatively safe country by comparison with other parts of the continent and other parts of the world. There is no grave humanitarian crisis in Mexico forcing people to urgently leave lest they perish.
It is, basically, the Turkey of the Americas in a migratory sense.
2. MEXICO
If there are problems near the border with gang, human traffickers, and drug cartels that is the fault of the Mexican government.
It is also the fault of the Mexican government to allow their country to be a conduit for masses of illegal migration come from further south on the continent.
The United States and its citizens may be keen to help, but only in order to limit the number of people entering the U.S., not by bringing them all in.
3. THE GANGS
Of course when President Trump refers to gangs south of the border as "animals", the media and the Democrat Party go collectively wild.
But they are animals. And they are responsible for much of danger and uncertainty in certain parts of Mexico and indeed the United States.
The Mexican government needs to urgently get a grip on this situation, and stop expecting the U.S. taxpayer to absorb the problems they refuse to address.
4. DEMOCRATS/NEVER TRUMPERS
If the lives of children like Aylan Kurdi mean so much to the political left and their right-leaning apologists, why do they never do anything about it?
There are plenty of measures that would stop illegal crossings and therefore stop unnecessary deaths. But those who crow loudest about "humanitarian crises" are the ones least likely to actually do anything. Think of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her bleating about the "concentration camps" on the Southern Border.
If these camps really are as bad as she says they are, why doesn't she do the one thing that would stop people having to live in such camps i.e. build the wall?
It worked for Hungary. Australia stopped the boats and stopped the deaths. So did Italy. It's America's turn.
5. OPEN BORDERS ACTIVISTS
A number of open borders activist groups and NGOs operate between the U.S. and the rest of the Americas. These are usually government or corporate sponsored groups who literally tell would-be illegal immigrants how to cross into the United States, where to go, what to say, and so forth. It happened in Europe, too.
Open borders activists are collaborators when it comes to the illegality of mass migration and groups like Pueblos Sin Fronteras should be treated as such. Their offices should be raided, their assets seized, and they should be prosecuted as accomplices to mass criminal activity.
Their corporate sponsors should also be penalized heavily.
* * * * *
So expect a new outpouring of guilt and hand-wringing over the latest, avoidable deaths of the U.S. border.
But remember: it isn't your fault, nor it is your responsibility that the above five sets of groups or people refuse the clear moral imperative and practical solutions when it comes to illegal migration.
The most humanitarian way to fix the border crisis is clear: solve the above.
Build the wall, prosecute open borders groups, and force Mexico to take real responsibility.
Raheem Kassam is the Editor-in-Chief of Human Events
