Will They Be Deported? DHS Secretary: 'We Have to Do Right by the Children' (+video)

Photo Credit: CNSNews.com / Penny StarrSpeaking to NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson carefully avoided answering multiple questions about the deportation of some 50,000 children who have come to this country illegally from Central America so far this year.

“We have to do right by the children,” Johnson said. “I have personally encountered enough of them to know that we have to do right by the children, but at the end of the day, in the final analysis, our border is not open to illegal migration, and we will stem the tide.”

It took Johnson several minutes to arrive at the suggestion that many of the unaccompanied minors flooding into the United States will never leave here.

“Are you prepared to deport these children?” NBC’s David Gregory asked Johnson near the beginning of the interview. Here’s how it went from there:

“Our message to those who come here illegally — our border is not open to illegal migration, and we are taking a number of steps to address it, including turning people around faster,” Johnson responded. “We’ve already dramatically reduced the turnaround time, the deportation time, for the adults.” Johnson also said the administration is asking Congress for more money to “bring on additional capacity,” and he said the administration is “cracking down” on the smugglers.

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