Trump admin to go after relatives who smuggled in children

The Trump administration is looking to arrest parents and other relatives who authorities believe smuggled their children into the United States.

Of course immigrant advocates say this move would send fear through immigrant communities. The initiative's goal is to dismantle human smuggling operations, by identifying and arresting adult sponsors of unaccompanied minors who paid coyotes or other smugglers to bring their kids across the border.

This is a drastic departure from the way the Obama administration handled things. Remember a few years ago when tens of thousands of young people fled violence in Central America and ended up in communities across the United States.

Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, says this move by the Trump administration is wrong:

“Arresting those who come forward to sponsor unaccompanied children during their immigration proceedings, often parents, is unimaginably cruel. Without caregivers to come forward, many of these children will languish in costly detention centers or be placed in foster care at great expense to states.”

Leon Fresco, a former Obama administration Justice Department official, added:

“This sends a signal to young people who would cross the border not to cross, or your relatives will be placed in removal proceedings. This is a policy change to say a minor is no longer to be treated as a person worthy of our sympathy, but instead to be treated as another unlawful entrant whose entrance must deterred at all costs.”

Well, if the law is being broken then there are consequences. Why is that so hard for people to wrap their heads around?

Read more at the L.A. Daily News.