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PERKINS: On Border Policy, Compassion Is Rooted in Justice

October 21, 2024

In the last few weeks, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been in the news for their response to hurricanes Helene and Milton. The Biden administration tried to dismiss the hundreds of millions of dollars that FEMA has directed to the self-made disaster at the Southern border, using those taxpayer funds to pay non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to resettle migrants. Some of that funding has gone to address unaccompanied minors who have been allowed into the country. This is a very dark and disturbing reality that is emerging from the Biden-Harris border policy. 

Perhaps this is one reason Vice President Kamala Harris evaded Fox News’ Bret Baier’s direct question on how many people had illegally crossed into the U.S. over the Southern border:

According to data compiled by the U.S. government, the number of these children let into the country who have been trafficked for forced labor or sex has more than tripled in the past three years.

The vice president and others on the Left describe their open-border, no-restrictions policies as compassionate and kind. Of course, much of the media eagerly echoes this chorus of self-adulation. But is true compassion found in the abandonment of justice and the rule of law? No — compassion is rooted in justice.

In Zechariah 7:9, God, through the prophet, instructs the people to “execute true justice” and “show mercy and compassion.” According to Scripture, justice and compassion are inseparable — justice is the foundation of true compassion.

Over the past year, nearly 140,000 unaccompanied minors have crossed the southern border. In many cases, their parents were encouraged by lax border policies to send them alone. According to a Homeland Security Inspector General report, the Biden-Harris administration has lost track of over 300,000 minors that were detained at the border and then let into the United States. According to the inspector general, no one knows where they are, who they are with, or what is being done to them. This is taxpayer-funded child exploitation. It is not an act of compassion — it is immoral and should be criminal.

This crisis has nothing to do with the dream of a better future for migrant children. It is about creating an environment of political and cultural chaos — one that benefits those seeking political power and control.

If the current administration continues to neglect immigration enforcement, history will make one thing clear: it is not about the children. It is about control. It is not about the refugees. It is about political power.

“Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion.” Uphold the law, save lives, and end the nightmare.

Tony Perkins is president of Family Research Council and executive editor of The Washington Stand.