It is heartbreaking to see the images of children being separated from their parents after their family has crossed the border illegally. I cannot bear to see any child suffer. And suffer they do under the current broken immigration system. Contrary to the mainstream media’s current outrage, the problem is hardly new.

Where was the outcry four years ago? Why isn’t the media weeping for the 80% of the girls and women sexually assaulted on the journey from Central America to the U.S.? Where are the tears for the boys whose innocence is stolen when recruited into gangs like MS-13? Or for the young victims like Kayla Cuevas, who was slashed to pieces. Or the girls in our nation’s classrooms who are preyed on by adults that posed as children (and are now getting a free education on our dime)?

Our immigration system is both dangerous and dysfunctional. Since 1995, ten thousand people have died while trying to sneak into our country. Those are just the people that we know about. There are likely thousands more. And increasingly, those losing their lives are children. So this is a life or death issue.

Unfortunately, too many in Washington are happy to leave it as a campaign issue. They’re happy to share pictures of kids crying in a shelter, but unwilling to take the necessary steps to stop kids from dying in the Rio Grande. Or — arguably worse than dying — becoming prey to sex traffickers.

It must stop. Our immigration system must be fixed.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration

Two writers at The Stream, John Zmirak and Al Perrotta, have just come out with a book that is an important read for anyone who wants to understand how we got into this immigration mess — and how we can get out of it.

The book is called The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration.

John and Al bring wisdom and heart to the problem. They aim to do right by America and those yearning to follow the legal path to citizenship. The safe path. A path that doesn’t lead to the separation of families, but to their integration into the American Dream. Their solution is called MISSION America. It contains 15 vital building blocks.

The Fifteen Building Blocks to MISSION America

1. Build the Wall.
2. Track those who enter the United States on visas and immediately remove those who overstay them.
3. Strip sanctuary cities of discretionary federal funding and use other means to exert pressure on them.
4. Remove criminal aliens first, including those who commit ID theft.
5. Check the right of new applicants to work legally in America via E-Verify, which must be mandatory for every business with five or more employees.
6. Create a federal hotline, like the IRS hotline, allowing citizens to report illegal immigrants to ICE for removal.
7. Pass a federal law that ends birthright citizenship to children of illegal immigrants, then fight for it in the courts.
8. Stop Chain Migration.
9. End the “Diversity Visa” lottery.
10. Fix legal immigration. We should favor highly skilled workers, with lower overall totals.
11. Shrink immigration admissions from high-risk countries, getting to as close to zero as possible.
12. Update our citizenship oath to require renouncing “religious laws or systems of laws” that are contrary to the U.S. Constitution. Then pass laws revoking citizenship for any naturalized person who took this oath and goes on to break it.
13. Honor the “first safe country” rule for refugees. Help resettle genuine refugees in compatible nearby countries. Require refugees to return home once their countries become safe.
14. Enforce the financial promises made by sponsors to prevent immigrants from becoming a public charge.
15. Boost broad-based public and private efforts to assimilate and Americanize immigrants. You can’t make America great again if you aren’t making great Americans.

The book convincingly explains why each of these building blocks is crucial for building a stronger America — for today’s Americans and for those who yearn to join our great nation.

It Can Be Done

John and Al write that “MISSION America is not mission impossible.” Nothing they suggest will require any radical changes of the law or any Constitutional amendments. “What they do demand is the courage to stand up against the moralizing demagogues who bully anyone who dares to point out the problems in the broken immigration system.”

If you’ve turned on the TV in the past two or three days, you know exactly what they mean.

We cannot allow ourselves to be bullied. Vitriol and propaganda are no substitute for wisdom and discernment.

The children are waiting.

You can buy The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration right now at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Christianbook.com or through your favorite bookstore.