The Federal government has dumped 400 illegal alien children in the Chicagoland area at secret locations where they are being sheltered and cared for.

When Senator Mark Kirk suggested that criminal background checks on the kids would be in order, Rep. Louis Gutierrez criticized the Senator, saying "he should be ashamed of himself."

Chicago Tribune:

“Rather than exploiting and demonizing children to score political points, how about the senator works with the president to solve a national problem?” Gutierrez asked.

The House lawmaker pointed out that Kirk on Thursday also called for a crackdown on human rights abusers in Iran and in March spoke out against human traffickers, including child-sex traffickers.

Gutierrez accused Kirk of pulling a “stunt” by questioning whether the children were a threat.

“Among the children are little girls who are fleeing those who would abuse their bodies,” Gutierrez said. “Sen. Kirk, open your heart.”

In Kirk’s release Thursday, he said the State Department was unable to confirm if any of the 429 unaccompanied minors in Chicago who crossed the Mexican border had a criminal record or background.

The senator added: “If any of these individuals has a criminal record in their home country, our government owes it to the American people to facilitate the sharing of records and reassure our nation that these individuals pose no threat.”

Kirk said he had written to the U.S. ambassadors in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador asking whether their embassies have done background checks on the “unaccompanied alien children” who have entered the U.S. at its southern border.

He said 57,000 unaccompanied children from Central American countries have crossed the border since October.

Kirk, in his letter to the ambassadors, said the humanitarian crisis has the potential to pose a “serious threat to our country and communities” if the children have criminal records.

In a statement today, Kenneth Wolfe, a spokesman for HHS’s Administration for Children and Families, said the department for years has operated shelters in many states, including Illinois, for children who enter the U.S. without a parent.

The children stay in the shelters until they are placed with a sponsor or relative while awaiting an  immigration proceeding, he said.

“These shelters are consistently quiet and good neighbors in the communities where they are located,” Wolfe said.

This is astonishing myopia from Gutierrez and other immigration advocates. According to a report by Homeland Security, about half the illegal children that come across the border are young boys between 15-17 years old - a prime age for cartel recruitment. And it hardly matters where these young men would eventually be released. The people of the United States have a right to know if any of these illegal children have worked for the drug cartels or otherwise participated in a life of crime in their home countries.

When these guys say "open borders" they mean "open borders" - open to anyone regardless of whether they are murderous thugs or angelic little girls. As these kids continue to be dispersed in a secretive manner that rivals a military operation in its security, unsuspecting communities like those in Chicagoland may find themselves suddenly confronted with hundreds of kids who made a living in their home countries on the streets committing petty crimes or worse.

It would be a good idea to follow Senator Kirk's suggestion and ignore the bleating from pro-illegal immigration activists who don't care who comes over the border.