While we understand that there are many nuances in the ongoing illegal immigrant debate, and there are certainly two sides to every story, we can't help but wonder if the US government granting a $50 million award to BCFS Health and Human Services to house "young illegal immigrants at the site of the current Palm Aire Hotel and Suites" in Weslaco, Texas is the best use of government funding. As KRGV reported, " A center for unaccompanied minors set to open in Weslaco later this year will be the first of its kind in the nation, officials with a network of non-profits said. ARepresentatives with BCFS said the Palm Aire will undergo a multi-million dollar transformation."
Perhaps the reason why the public's attention has not only been picqued by this news, but has led to a broad wave of outrage, is that a cursory scan of the Hotel complex reveals accomodations which are inaccessible to millions of Americans, let alone "unaccompanied minor immigrants."
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Perhaps it is true that the BCFS was overdue an expansion, but that does not explain the need for tens of millions for its purported relocation into what is effectively a resort that has tennis courts, swimming pools, and saunas? Because a quick glimpse at the website of the Palm Aire Hotel indeed reveals accomodation conditions that many Americans - the kind that actually pay taxes - would be delighted to spend the rest of their lives in:
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Because when there is no strings attached money sloshing around the system, and when there is a sudden crisis that should certainly not be put to waste, what is assured is that the vast bulk of the funds will be almost certainly misappropriated, potentially making gentlemen like Dinnin exorbitantly rich (perhaps as reward for his years of service at DHHS), and at worst it will be misallocted with zero regard for the consequences: after all it is taxpayers who are paying for it.
And the last point is perhaps critical: because as noted above, the most disturbing revelation in this story is how painfully - for many - inequitable US public policy is and will be in the coming months and years as America's immigrant problem is addressed. Because while one may argue that children, illegal immigrants or otherwise deserve amenities, one can also understand why, rightfully, many honest, taxpaying Americans ask: "why don't we get comparable treatment by the government, at least we pay our taxes."
That, and also the fundamental question nobody has addressed: if immigrants know they can expect such white glove treatment, will it make them more or less likely to cross the border?
