No one likes to hear about children separated from their parents — even at illegal border crossings into the United States.

That occurrence pulls at the heartstrings of every person with a pulse, no matter what one’s station, occupation, political persuasion, or party affiliation.

And liberals are counting on that.

Add in the angst about the issue shared by former first lady Laura Bush, and people listen. When images of exhausted children greet Americans, they are impacted. Those who support President Donald Trump’s border policies aren’t heartless — they “feel” those images as much as anyone else. But they’re also discerning enough to understand the pain of terrorism, and anguish over American citizens lost to their loved ones through gang violence, drug deaths from products smuggled across the border, and too much more.

Violent events like these fundamentally change our country. Although “This is not who we are as a nation” is a familiar liberal battle cry, the lack of solid, substantive action on illegal immigration brings its own brand of heartbreak.

Two issues inform a personal assessment of current border separations: fact and prejudice.

The president has faced more judgment absent of the facts, and more prejudice, than any modern president, and objective truths fly out the window as liberal outrage takes on a life of its own. (No wonder American writer E.B. White once said, “Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.”)

And Mark Twain, the prolific American writer and humorist, also noted, “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” That’s exactly what the media, liberal lawmakers, and celebrities with big social media followers are counting on — that heartstrings will hamstring reason.

Liberals don’t want you to know about the devastation some illegals have wrought on this country — enough devastation that we must do something now to stem the flow.

Illegal entry attempts with children have skyrocketed, since kids are a convenient “tool” to gain entry in the U.S. “In the first five months of fiscal year ’18, CBP saw a 315 percent increase in individuals using children to pose as family units to gain entry into the country compared to fiscal year ’17,” said Jonathan Hoffman, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to CNS.com.

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“Smugglers and drug traffickers know the loopholes well,” Hoffman continued, “and they know that if they reach our borders, they will be released into our country and evade the consequences of their criminal action.”

Children are often used twice — first by the adult trying to get into the U.S., and again in the media and in the halls of Congress by those who fight against border control and insist this nation’s arms fling wide open, with very little hard information about just whom we’re embracing.

Only the discerning understand that the mainstream media and leftist politicians aren’t served by transparency. “Unfortunately, almost every public official not named Jeff Sessions guards against disclosure of illegal-immigrant crime data more tenaciously than disclosure of nuclear launch codes,” noted National Review.

Prescient facts are routinely withheld from the public about why it is critical to stop those who willfully seek entry to the U.S. — even those with a child in tow.

DHS reported a total of 58,766 “known or suspected” aliens in the custody of federal authorities last year, reported the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).

The Federal Bureau of Prisons notes that there are 184,379 total federal inmates — meaning that almost 32 percent of all federal inmates are illegals. The number of aliens in federal custody has risen since the last report: At that time, the Justice Department estimated there were 42,000 aliens, representing 24 percent of the federal prison population.

Of the 58,766 “known or suspected” aliens, ICE confirmed that 37,557 (64 percent) are confirmed aliens, defined as meaning that they are: 1) noncitizens, and 2) foreign-born. From that group of 37,557 aliens, an astonishing 35,334 (or 94 percent) were illegally residing in the United States.

Judging by the numbers in federal prisons alone, noncitizens commit federal crimes at three times the rate of citizens.

The facts dispute the hysteria for anyone willing to follow them. Here’s another fact: U.S. Border Patrol officers at non-port-of-entry points detain illegals and separate them from the children who might be with them in three cases: When the adult has been referred for prosecution for entering illegally; when authorities determine the children are at risk; or when authorities suspect the adult with a child is lying about the parental relationship, as LifeZette has previously reported.

The decisions from there are made in the child’s best long-term interest — even considering a noncitizen as a sponsor for a child here illegally.

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“Immigration status information, however, is not used to disqualify potential sponsors,” the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in Washington, D.C., notes. “Instead, it is used to ensure the safety and well-being of the child by making sure that there is an adequate care plan in place that takes all relevant aspects of the sponsor’s situation into consideration.”

Is the current situation optimal? No. Is it short-lived? One hopes so. In times like this, when prejudgment and our own heartstrings beckon, it’s critical to know the facts and to add a giant grain of salt to our personal moral considerations.

It is only then we can truly “have a heart” — for every single child’s future.