Over 50,000 children from Central and South America have reached the US border since October 2013. Nearly 70% of US citizens agree that these refuges should be helped. Currently, 25% of American children are in poverty. Adding another 50,000 is a great inflection. That just means more children in poverty and more money for the government. But at the same time, we can’t just send these children back. Most of them will probably be harmed or even killed by criminal gangs if they are sent back. Parents have to be seriously desperate to send their young children all by themselves over thousands of miles for the chance of a better life.

The main reason there is so much crime in these countries is because of drug trafficking. There is a huge demand for drugs in the USA. Our need for drugs is causing this crisis where drug lords and gangs terrorize cities and towns in these countries. Americans are partly responsible for this problem; we should help fix it. We can’t just send these children back to their countries. All the kids divided up across the US is about 20 kids per county, which isn’t an enormous amount, but it’s not a small amount either.

On the other hand, a lot of Americans don’t want to pay extra to finance these children. They don’t want to be forced to choose between their own kids or the thousands of undocumented children. Population control is important; we’re already out of money, how much longer until we’re out of room? Besides, we don’t want America to give the wrong impression. If these children’s parents appear at the border, how can we deny a child their mother? If we let people in from one country then we have to let people in from everywhere. It would encourage others to ignore our laws and increase illegal immigration. Also, what do you say to people lawfully attempting to become US citizens? Following a recent poll on Twitter, it seems 8% don’t even care. CNN states, “This border crisis is impacting public opinion on immigration.”

Most people see these children as refugees rather than illegal immigrants. Quite a few people are okay with having some children sent to their town until the case is settled. The US law says that illegal children must stay in the US for months to wait for their case to be heard anyway.

Right now everyone is trying to find someone else to blame, someone to point fingers at. But the real problem at hand is what to do with the children. While people are blaming the government for this crisis and immigration laws, we should instead be helping these children. These children aren’t looking for jobs. They’re not going to put a whole lot of people out of work by coming here. Some of these kids are as young as seven. Others are older, but they still all want the same thing. They are just looking for a sanctuary where they know they’ll be safe. Honestly, all these children really want is a safe place to call home.