Columnist George Will Sunday downplayed concerns about chaos at the border over the surge in underage illegal immigrants without adult guardians.

“We ought to say to these children, ‘Welcome to America. You’re going to go to school, get a job, and become Americans,’” Will said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday.



Will dismissed objections that the country can’t assimilate the 57,000 unaccompanied children from Central America who have been appearing at the U.S. border with Mexico.

“We have 3,141 counties in this country,” he said. “That would be 20 per county. The idea that we can’t assimilate these eight-year-old criminals with their teddy bears is preposterous.”

Calling the North American Free Trade Agreement “Bill Clinton’s greatest act . . . which put the Mexican economy on the road to prosperity,” Will suggested something similar for Honduras and Nicaragua, and said American needs to curtail consumption of drugs illegally imported from these countries.