The migration of at least 2,800 young illegals immigrants from Central America into Maryland has started a gold rush by roughly 1,300 non-government agencies, many of which are funded by federal taxpayers.
The rush is being led by Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley, who is considering a run for the Democratic nomination in 2016, and wants to boost his support among Hispanic advocacy groups.
“Our response [to the migrants] has been driven by the spirit and creativity of Marylanders who honor our state’s tradition of welcoming people of all backgrounds and lending a hand to some of our most vulnerable neighbors,” O’Malley claimed at a Sept. 16 press event.
“Individuals and organizations have come forward with offers of support [for migrants], allowing the State of Maryland to aggregate more than 1,300 organizations available to meet high-priority needs including clothing, food, legal assistance, physical and mental healthcare, and transportation services,” read a statement from Maryland’s Department of Human Resources.
“These children… will now be able to find many of the resources they need,” said Maria Martinez, chairwoman of the Governor’s Commission on Hispanic Affairs.
“Our next challenge is to spread the word throughout the state that something as daunting as connecting with competent pro-bono legal services is just a few seconds away,” she said.
O’Malley and other officials describe the migrants as innocent children, and suggest that organizations which aid the “children” deserve the public’s trust, taxes and votes.
But more than 75 percent of migrant youths are older than 15, and many have already joined the workforce in their home countries. Most are being brought north from Central American by parents or relatives who are already living illegally in the United States during a period when the federal government has largely stopped enforcing immigration law against illegals settled in the United States.
The youths are smuggled through Mexico to the border by so-called coyotes. At the border, the paid coyotes transfer custody of the illegals to federal agencies, who then transport them to their parents in Maryland and other states. The transport costs for the illegals are paid by taxpayers.
Since last October, the coyotes have transferred at least 60,000 “unaccompanied alien children,” to federal agencies.
The administration also welcomed an additional 60,000 Central Americans who crossed the border in so-called “family units,” complete with at least one parent. Officials have not revealed where the “family units” are settling. However, most settle in communities of Central Americans living in California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Maryland and other states.
Since 2009, President Barack Obama and his deputies have allowed more than 200,000 Central Americans to settle in the United States. The migrants are drawn from populations in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador that are among the most violent, least-educated and poorest in the world.
Obama chose to let nearly all of the 200,000 unskilled migrants apply for asylum and Green Cards, instead of using his legal authority to repatriate the unskilled migrants. That total is roughly equal to the annual number of high-school graduates from Illinois.
Until migrants lose their court cases — each of which can be extended by lawyers to several years — they are allowed to compete for jobs, and get free education services and other aid originally intended for poor Americans.
In Maryland, roughly 9.5 percent of the population live below the poverty line. Decades of anti-poverty efforts haven’t fixed the problem, and the unskilled migrants provide a new and apparently uplifting task for the anti-poverty groups.
Nationally, the median household income for the least-skilled group of Americans — people who never completed high school — was $25,672 in 2013, down by 20 percent from their median income of $30,699 in 2000.
After years of deficit spending, the state’s government debt is roughly $16,000 per person.
14 percent of Maryland’s population of 6 million was born overseas, and 16 percent of the state’s resident speak a language other than English at home, according to a Census report. The state’s education scores dropped sharply in 2014-2014.
At the Sept 16 event, O’Malley introduced a new booklet that touts the variety of taxpayer-funded services offered to the foreign migrants.
“The State of Maryland is helping to connect sponsor families with basic needs such as food and clothing, health care and legal assistance to service providers who are able to help,” says the state-funded booklet, which is distributed in both Spanish and English.
“Is the child in my care eligible for public benefits? In some cases, children seeking refuge may qualify for some public benefits like Medical Assistance. Please call 410-558-3175 for more information,” reads the booklet.
“Can the child in my care be enrolled in school? Yes. According to the United States Department of Education, all children are entitled to equal access to a public elementary and secondary education,” the booklet says.
O’Malley also touted an easy-to-use phone service where migrants can get directed to free services.
Once people call the 2-1-1 Maryland telephone service “we can help walk callers through the website and provide immediate assistance to those searching for assistance,” said Jim Macgill, the executive director for the state’s United Way, which runs the phone service. “We are pleased to be joining thousands of Marylanders in lending our expertise to meet the needs of children seeking refuge and their families.”
O’Malley also touted a new website that highlights providers, including places where migrants can get free or cheap legal services that they need to win green cards.