U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, fresh off a trip to Texas she organized to expect the U.S.-Mexico border, said on Saturday that the majority of immigrants entering the country illegally are teenage boys.
“Prior to my visit there yesterday I was under the impression that most of these children were very young. In fact, most of them are teenage boys between the ages of 14 and 17,” Collins told me on WGAN’s Inside Maine this weekend. “That doesn’t mean that it isn’t still a huge problem — it is. But it changes the complexion of the problem and what our approach needs to be. It suggests to me that many of these boys are coming to this country in search of work… There were some very young children that we saw as well, they were usually accompanied by their mothers.”
“But the vast majority of the children who coming in are teenage boys,” she said.
The reality Collins reports differs sharply from the narrative in the mainstream media — a narrative which has frequently portrayed the older, job-seeking male immigrants as children between the ages of 5 and 10. In fact, Collins said she was moved to go to the border because of sensationalized and inaccurate reports in the media.
And, contrary to claims by some other elected officials (e.g. Harry Reid), Collins disputed the notion that the U.S.-Mexico border is secure.
“Obviously the border is not secure or we would not have this enormous influx of people into our country,” she said.
Collins said the U.S. should return illegal immigrants to their home countries unless they have a “credible claim to asylum” — noting that “most do not.”
“They are under the impression — an impression that has several causes but that the President has been very slow to counter — that if they make it to the border they’re going to be allowed into our country and they’re going to be allowed to stay here. And that’s why I think it is so important for us to act very quickly to return these children to their home country unless they have a credible claim to asylum, and most of them do not,” she said.
Listen to my entire interview with Sen. Collins here:
Steve Robinson
Editor, The Maine Wire
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="8730 http://www.themainewire.com/?p=8730">11 Comments
Sure they’re in search of work Susan. The work they’re looking for is “where do I get all the free stuff”?
Hmmmmmm…..imagine that….. Senator Collins realizes she’s been lied to by the regime of Barack Obama and his liberal media puppets…just like the rest of us. And where is King Angus on this issue…nothing but crickets from him.
Thank you, Senator Collins for setting the record straight. I’ll disagree about the ‘media’ being untrustworthy: The legacy media can be depended on to take the anti-American, anti-capitalist view and willfully distort their reporting to either tear apart the country or advance Democrat agendas. The unfortunate truth is that is all too often a distinction without a difference.
Susan Collins= RHINO
How many of these ‘young lads’ gang members eh ? !
Even if they were really looking for work, they still need to go home. (Although we all know they aren’t). There are 11 million fewer people in the work force since Sir Golfsalot took office. Our citizens need work and they aren’t illegally entering another country. They are here.
No amnesty. The illegals have and are breaking the law.
Collins is right and many of them were motivated to migrate through State department ‘education’ programs.
The White House cut the appropriation as the angst of the State dept. rose, which apparently triggered a response on the Hill:
“Committee Chairman Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said the only way to stop that flood for good is to increase funding to Central American countries to improve their economies and control the security situations. Violence has exploded in recent years, leading to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala all having murder rates that rank in the top six in the world.
“I have complained strongly and argued forcefully that the years of cuts to the region would come at our own peril,” Menendez said. “Unfortunately … we are seeing that.”
He used the example of the Central America Regional Security Initiative, which helps those countries combat organized crime and strengthen government institutions. The current year’s budget allocates $160 million for that initiative, but the White House budget for next year only requests $130 million – a nearly 20% reduction.”
Why would cutting a program which strengthened ‘security’ influence teen migration; or maybe the teens most susceptible to drug warring were ‘encouraged’ to migrate; or maybe State also promoted the U.S. as a better career choice?
What does Menendez know about this teen migration that Collins doesn’t?
The average age for joining a gang is 13. Gang membership is familial. 61% of gang members have family members also in the gang. Criminal activity increases by 71% for each gang member once they join the gang. These are statistical figures on gangs.
jooouli
Collins: Most illegal immigrants are teenage boys
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