AP: Tough Immigration Laws to Blame for Infant Death

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You're in a country illegally, and your infant child is very ill. Waddya do? Well, being the person that I am, I'd do anything to ensure the well-being and life of my child. Possibly being deported would be a distant concern when compared to my child. Guess I'm just weird like that:

Edgar Castorena had diarrhea for 10 days(!) and counting, and the illegal immigrant parents of the 2-month-old didn't know what to do about it. They were afraid they would be deported under a new Oklahoma law if they took him to a major hospital. By the time they took him to a clinic, it was too late. (Link.)

And, of course, the AP blames a new Oklahoma law for the child's demise:

A ruptured intestine that might have been treatable instead killed the U.S.-born infant, making him a poster child for opponents of House Bill 1804 months before it was enacted as the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007. "The sad part of it was the child didn't have to die if House Bill 1804 didn't ever come around," said Laurie Paul, who runs the clinic where Edgar was finally taken. "It was a total tragedy because the bill was there to create the myths and untruths and the fear."

But wait -- it gets better. People here illegally who're worried about being deported compare the Oklahoma law to -- you guessed it -- Nazi Germany:

"I feel like I'm in some kind of Nazi country where if they see your color, you'll be stopped," said Maria Sanchez, a 22-year-old student who is looking to leave Oklahoma rather than risk waiting the seven years it will take to get her papers. "I can't work, I can't study, I can't go out, there's no point of me staying here."

"Risk" is exactly what you took, Ms. Sanchez, when you decided to break the law and take up residence in the U.S. illegally. And the same thing goes for the Castorenas. They are responsible for what happened to their child, not Oklahoma, and not those who support the law, no matter what the AP would have you believe. (And of course, the AP doesn't mention until almost the end of the article that the Castorena's predicament occurred before the new law took effect, and even so, the law has an exception for emergency medical care, as is the case everywhere.)

"Responsibility"? What's that? Especially when it's easier to blame the big, bad United States (and the individual states), compare them to Nazis, and you've got a willing big media on your side?

(h/t to NB reader Bob G.)