Illegals Sue US Government for Millions over 'Emotional Distress'
Laws are meant to set consequences for unacceptable behavior and encourage people to respect the rules of a society. Reasonable people don’t break the law and expect to be rewarded, yet a group of immigrants is now demanding millions after sneaking across the border into the United States.
According to The Los Angeles Times, some Central American migrants who entered the country illegally are planning to sue the U.S. government for enforcing its immigration laws and for separating children from their families at the border in the process.
The amount that they’re seeking? Three million dollars per person, or six million per family.
Yes, foreign migrants who admit they brought children into the country illegally insist that Uncle Sam make them all millionaires for breaking the law.
They plan to use the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people to sue the federal government for negligence and misconduct. Attorneys representing about a dozen immigrants will argue that the government caused “emotional distress” by detaining border crossers and separating minors from their parents.
One of the immigrants involved in the lawsuit was named by The Times as Patricia, a woman from Honduras who did not want to be further identified. She brought her young son, who was six years old at the time, on a dangerous trek north through Mexico before illegally crossing the Rio Grande into Texas.
They were then taken into custody by Border Patrol agents and separated into different facilities while officials sorted out their case. They’ve since been reunited, and Patricia was able to stay in the United States with her son due to a family connection — but the woman still insists that the United States pay her millions.
“To have us separated was an injustice,” she said. “Everybody has the right to want a better life.”
But some people follow the legal steps to attain it, while many others do not. Liberal groups seem intent on using lawsuits to reward those who bend the rules.
“If policy doesn’t work, if lobbying doesn’t work, if press doesn’t work, oftentimes government having to pay for the wrongs it has committed is the best way to get the government’s attention,” said Erik Walsh, an attorney who represents illegal aliens, according to The Times.
“The government clearly intended to inflict emotional distress,” Walsh insisted. “There is a pretty good record out there of high-ranking government officials … saying this policy was meant to deter other immigrants.”
It’s that last statement that’s the key problem with the lawsuit. If even pro-immigrant advocates admit that the U.S. government has been trying to deter and discourage migrants from pouring over the border from Central America, how can the same government be blamed when they come anyway?
This is a bit like a homeowner being sued after a break-in. Imagine it for a second: A rumor spreads that a house up the road is a good place to stay for free. The actual owner disagrees. “We can’t take more guests right now,” they say. “We want to welcome more visitors, but you have to sign up on this waiting list.”
They put up “No Trespassing” signs and a fence. They try to tell people not to fall for the rumors. But then a parent climbs the fence and breaks a window — and the law — to enter the property, dragging their kid along with them.
What do you think might happen? The police would be called, of course. The parent would probably end up in handcuffs and the kid taken into custody by Child Protective Services while authorities sort out the case.
That’s essentially what is happening on the border, except the people who broke in are now demanding they be paid millions because they decided to trespass and they decided to bring a kid along before being caught.
To put the icing on the cake, many immigrants like Patricia are apparently having second thoughts about leaving their home nations behind — the same nations that are supposedly so dangerous that they needed to seek asylum to escape.
“She remembers regretting she even made the journey from Honduras,” The Los Angeles Times said.
If she’s re-thinking the journey, maybe the situation back home wasn’t nearly as bad as presented. Either way, it’s unclear what she actually expected after illegally crossing into a country with a well-publicized border crisis.
Uninformed and impoverished Central Americans are being sold false promises and told to flood north, sometimes in massive caravans. The fact that liberal attorneys are now using those poorly-thought out decisions to sue for millions leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth.
Suing the government for enforcing its own laws is a new level of insanity. People like Patricia and her young son, of course, are not villains. But they may be pawns, and that is what should truly bother Americans of all political backgrounds.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
