Horowitz: Are We Strangers in Our Own Land?

As we near the 238th anniversary of U.S. independence, many Americans are wondering if we are indeed an independent nation with sovereign borders, given that tens of thousands of unaccompanied children are streaming across the southern border. Have we become strangers in our own land?

On Tuesday, two very disturbing stories concerning our border crisis surfaced in the news. These stories should put goose bumps on all Americans.

Fox News’ Todd Starnes broke the news Tuesday that a private security force contracted by the government had threatened doctors working at a refugee camp to keep them from disclosing information about the rampant illness among the illegal immigrants. Starnes reported:

“There were several of us who wanted to talk about the camps, but the agents made it clear we would be arrested,” a psychiatric counselor told Starnes. “We were under orders not to say anything.”

The sources said workers were guarded by a security force from the Baptist Family & Children’s Services, which the Department of Health and Human Services hired to run the Lackland Camp.

The sources say security forces called themselves the “Brown Shirts.”

“It was a very submissive atmosphere,” the counselor said. “Once you stepped onto the grounds, you abided by their laws – the Brown Shirt laws.”

She said the workers were stripped of their cellphones and other communication devices. Anyone caught with a phone was immediately fired.

So now we have the HHS hiring a charity group, which somehow has access to its own security force?

What is the government hiding and why don’t they want the public to know about the contagious diseases that were let through our porous borders?

With this in mind, let’s move onto the second story from Tuesday. Congressman Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) attempted to visit the HHS refugee camp set up at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma and was completely rebuffed by agents of the department. Bridenstine said in a press release:

I approached a security guard and asked to speak with the manager of the facility. The guard called his supervisor, who said no visitors were allowed. I asked if they were aware that I am a Member of Congress. Eventually the manager came out and said that I would have to go through HHS legislative affairs and that the first chance to visit would be July 21st. 

What are they trying to hide? Do they not want the children to speak with Members of Congress? As a Navy pilot, I have been involved in operations countering illicit human trafficking. I would like to know to whom these children are being released.

We now have a situation in which the Obama administration’s policies engendered a new wave of illegal immigration. They clearly knew about the wave for months, and are in complete control over how taxpayer dollars are spent dealing with this man-made crisis. There is something wrong with this picture. Why is Congress being shut out of the process? Is this what our Founders envisioned when they declared independence from a king in 1776?

Thankfully, the American people are fighting back. On Tuesday, a group of patriotic Americans blocked the path of a bus attempting to drop off 140 illegal aliens in Murrieta, California. Now it’s time for Congress to fight back and reassert its constitutional mandate against an imperial president who has already promised to exacerbate his open border policy.

Here are some immediate steps Republicans in the House can take:

• Pass Rep. Randy Weber’s (R-TX) bill, the Illegal Entry Accountability Act of 2014, which would suspend aid to Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador until Congress determines that sufficient action is taken to keep their citizens from flooding into the U.S.

• Change the statutes regarding children of illegal immigrants from Central America and treat them like migrants from Mexico who must be returned to their country of origin within 48 hours. Congress should bar DHS from transferring them to HHS and instead proceed immediately to repatriation.

• Bar DHS or HHS from using commercial transportation to transport illegal aliens to reduce risk of spread of contagious diseases. Congress should also demand an immediate report from CDC on the public health threat posed by the new influx of illegals over the border.

• Most importantly, Congress must reassert control over the power of the purse and use the budget process, particularly the bills appropriating funds for DHS and the HHS, to stop Obama’s lawlessness. They should cut salaries of top DHS officials until the double-layered fence is complete, pursuant to the Secure Fence Act of 2006.

It’s high time for “We the People” to take back our government and our sovereignty from a small group of elites in Washington. It is these elites and their unconstitutional ideas that should feel foreign in this great land, not law-abiding Americans. What better way to celebrate Independence Day?