U.S. ill equipped to deal with mass migration of refugees

Since the beginning of this year, more than 50,000 children, mostly teens, but others as young as nine or 10, some younger, have swarmed across America’s southern border. Officials expect the number to exceed 70,000 by yearend.

They are escaping from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico; countries in turmoil, where drug lords terrorize neighborhoods and whole regions, bribe officials, force kids into gangs, and brutalize and kill anyone who opposes them.

The kids are escaping from terror, abuse, abject poverty and hopelessness. For all practical purposes, they are refugees. They come wi...