as our economy plunges into a inflationary-depression; first people use their savings , then they abandon their homes and possessions, last stage, they start abandoning their children; we are headed into the most dangerous times in the history of our country; all the mistakes made over the last 25 years are now coming into play; no one , no congress, no president, no banking or investment group have any idea how to stop , a coming total economic collapse.

Saxon I hope you're wrong, but then again reagan's "trickle down" never amounted to much and with the neo-cons trickle up economic policy I fear you may be correct.

I live in Portland and its a very very sad story here. I moved back here after 26 years of living in Idaho. What is so sad is this is not an isolated case. There are so many homeless families here in Portland and it saddens me to no end to see it. You can donate monies, give assistance, extend a helping hand. Yet this should not be happening in the USA. I know of individuals who are friends of my brother who have children and are homeless. Fortunate for them they where able to get into a Church sponsored Homeless facility which actually teaches them how to handle finance, savings, balance your budget, paying bills, assistance in finding work. Yet we don't have enough of these facilities or enough in my opinion of Churches, Community Assistance Centers, Etc. helping in filling the gap where the government can't.

This is a true sign of the economy. When people are in this condition more and more. This is very sad and these children don't deserve this. Our children should not have to suffer. Yet unfortunate this world is going through some tough times and we need to start thinking more positive and try to become more humane and try to assist where we all can. Then we can begin to assist each other. Are we our Brother's Keeper. Well if we believe this we need to end this Endless War in Afghanistan and bring our Monies and Infrastructure to our nation. Yes I know many will say Bush started it and Obama is trying to end it. Well in my opinion we have been there 10 years too long. We need to worry about our Nation Now!

Saxon don't listen to all of these sheeple.....there is a big problem with the economy right now. And actually the congress and the banking system (Federal Reserve) are all behind it....but that is another subject......

But yes this is so sad, how could anyone just abandon these babies like that? There are places available to take them like the CPS. Although I really do not like the so called Child Protective Services, that still would have been much better than just leaving these little babies out in some shed to fend for themselves....I hope there is some family memebers that can step up and take them in.

These are beautiful children and for whatever reason, they seem to be abandoned. They don't look malnourished or mistreated as you find in situations of parents who are druggies. I'm not a parent, but it would be hard for me to leave three babies alone for any reason. You don't know that something bad may have happened to their caregiver and they can't come back for them. Maybe they were hid for their own protection. They were, after all, living either in or close to a homeless encampment.

This is heart-breaking. Those little ones are innocent and deserve better. Whatever happens, I pray that they stay together and not separate them. I hope a caring family member can be found

THIS country offers so much help for the poor- there was no need for anyone to blame the economy as a reason to abondon ones children - there is no excuse - children are not disposable - they are human beings - the mother could have went to get government assistance - she should not have had 3 kids if she could not afford them - what if the neighbor would have never called the police??

Sadly, the programs that could help these children are rapidly being attacked and defunded. While anyone that works hates to pay for those unwilling to work, there are real victims out there. The tax cuts have been in place long enough for the theory that they will produce jobs to have worked.... where are the jobs? The only thing I see is a growing income disparity, a disappearing middle class, and a growing class of people who are becoming more and more desperate.

Saxon I hope you're wrong, but then again reagan's "trickle down" never amounted to much

Facts and data to the contrary, it's clear that this economy is FAR more successful than the one over which Reagan presided.

Hasn't he been out of office for a while anyway?

@Matilda Tuscany

Your statement show ignorant of how things happen. Policies set forth by previous president actually affect how we are right now.

Take Free Trade with China for example, proposed by Bush 1, finalize with Clinton with majority of Republican's approval. We saw how it affects our economic for years, but since we are so deep into it, we can barely do anything about it.

Jessica: "THIS country offers so much help for the poor"

REALLY? Are you poor? Have you ever applied for government assistance? Please do NOT speak without knowing reality behind your assertions. If you ever are homeless and penniless, (and I hope you NEVER will be), you're in for a VERY rude awakening.

Saxon - The person you do not want on your team when the chips are down. What a poor, pathetic, doom and gloom comment based on zero material facts. Macro economics does not always follow the same path as common sense or ordinary economics. Unless a macro-economics expert, please leave conclusions to others. The good ol', can-do, American spirit will get us through, as soon as we find that once again. Too many 'entitled' minded people like Saxon out there right now. When it really gets bad, which it might, the good ol' die hard Americans will take care of business.

I agree with Saxon - I'm from the east coast and took my 2 teenage children on a vacation to the southwest and northwest. I've never seen so many homeless people - entire families on the sides of roads begging for money.

Things are much worst out there then here in the north east. I feel terrible for them. It could be that a mother or father just couldn't feed these kids any longer and thought if the authorities found them, they would be taken care of. Desperate times call for desperate measures I guess.

What if the parents lost their house because they lost their jobs, had to look for some form of shelter for their kids and had to leave to make a few bucks to buy food to feed them and have no other choices but to leave them alone. Better then killing those babies, because they seen no hope. Not saying it was right to leave them but sometimes when you are lost in despair you can't see how anyone will help. Callous comments can cloud a person's vision and understanding there is programs in place to help, many programs are too damn few and far out of reach. And on the other hand, it could have been parents that just gave up and are drug parents. I had 3 biological and 5 adopted kids and you know what, I would rather take in a baby that isn't wanted then keep reproducing..

I am in Portland, Oregon.. My heart bleeds for these babies.. I don't have family in Portland besides a brother and sister.. In extreme emergencies they will watch the kids.

A week ago I passed out and went blind, and was unable to take the kids with me in the ambulance. I had to beg a stranger with a baby off the street to watch my children because the EMTs would not leave me at home till I could get someone to sit with my younger two kids out of fear that i would die if left unattended.. You cant really feel/hear/see/understand someone else's pain/fear/plight till you are truly in their shoes.

red: "When it really gets bad, which it might, the good ol' die hard Americans will take care of business. "

REALLY??? WHEN? Exactly when will you "die hards" (aka blow hards) begin to take of biz? How much worse must it get? Your comment would be hilarious if it weren't so wrong and sad.

While the blame game is going around, IF these children ARE siblings--does NO ONE find it reprehensible that the mother and dad(s) continues to BREED when they have no way to take care of the results? I know, I know, Condoms are expensive. The word NO is not.

In my opinion, anyone who is homeless has NO excuse other than pure selfishness for having sex. Doing so is the ULTIMATE in pure *I want what I want right now and don't care who suffers as a result* behavior.

Anyone else look at those innocent eyes and just want to hug those darling little babies.. Poor babies, who cares what nationality they are, they are babies and deserve to be loved.. I hate when people want to push their agenda about illegals, do you think those eyes see discrimination are scarred by attitudes of prejudice.

CuongDNguyen ******* There may be some merit in your arguments. For that reason, I gave you a "Thumbs up!" However, it has been decades since The Gipper's time and President Obama did run on a platform of "Change. " Wha' happened ??? In any case, Presdent George Washington strongly advised no intanglements with foreign governments. A case might be made against that policy, at least some of the time, Pearl Harbor and 911 f'instance, but generally it seems to have been good advice which we should have followed. ****************** Live long and prosper !!!

"In my opinion, anyone who is homeless has NO excuse other than pure selfishness for having sex. Doing so is the ULTIMATE in pure *I want what I want right now and don't care who suffers as a result* behavior"

MOmaid, Did you ever stop to think that these parents may not have been homeless while having a family? Have you looked around to see what is going on in this country? There are homeless "middleclass" families living in cars, shelters and on the streets.

Wow. So many know so much about this family and all homeless families. So many seem to know why they are homeless and why they keep "breeding", and you know if they are illegal or not just because they have not perfectly light white skin. Judge them all...since you seem to have missed that families can go from good jobs with benefits (in which case why not have children?) to homeless very quickly. One illness, one layoff...many of us are a paycheck or a few paycheck from starting that spiral if we are honest. Not everyone has a great education or even the facilities to get great-paying jobs.

Funny how many on these threads seem to know all the facts about everything, but I don't see them actually making a difference. I guess judging people on websites is a lot easier than having compassion and making a difference in real life, or not generalizing and stereotyping people you never met. And yes, I do what I can to help, and no, I don't have a wad of savings. It isn't because I am lazy or uneducated or go around breeding tons of kids. I'm like a lot of Americans and do the best I can, and many homeless people do as well. How about backing off a bit and doing something constructive instead of judging, making up scenarios to help yourself feel superior, and really looking at the people who really do need help? They are people like you, not statistics or bad people.

Look into those children's eyes and look into the eyes of displaced and broken families and help instead of being nasty to them. Have you been homeless? Have you lost your jobs and/or had illness wipe our your savings if you had any? Do you know their real stories? If not, then I suggest politely that judging and making things up doesn't contribute to the solution. That attitude is part of the problem.

@Matilda

This is not a blaming game, it is fact. Free Trade Agreement can be google to see the majority of Republican support it and that is what took most jobs out of the US and it took us years to realize the extend of the damage. This is the most damaging policy has on ours economy.

Obama is only in for almost 4 years, most of his plan don't take affect over night, some changes take years to see the differences. The same with debt, it would take years to get out of debt. You can get in debt in matter of days, but to get out require years, that is how it works.

mike said:

Even at that very young age one of them had to understand speech..did they ask them anything in English or Spannish..if reply was "si" then the got a hint what parents were.

And if the papers report that or the police let slip that fact, people may show up who want to 'claim' the children as theirs for unscrupulous purposes. An undocumented child like this can vanish into the shadowy underworld of child sex slavery and no one would ever know because the undocumented don't exist--the majority of Americans don't understand that there IS a difference between 'undocumented' and 'illegal', and being undocumented doesn't necessarily mean they are illegal.

These children are undocumented by virtue of the fact that their parents are unknown and there is no known birth certificate. Now, if they choose to do a blood test for the presence of common childhood vaccinations and find the children have received vaccinations, then chance are good that the children are indeed legal, just undocumented.

If the child knows Spanish but doesn't recognize a lot of English, the first 'parent' who shows up might well make up a name and the child would light up like a Christmas tree just at hearing familiar language or recognizable words. A few years of supervision and monitoring by CPS, child drops from radar, by the time that baby is 10 he'll know nothing but violation and abuse.

If you found a piece of jewelry in the street and found it had real diamonds, when you put the ad in the paper you're not going to describe the item exactly; you say simply that a piece of jewelry was found, where it was found, and withhold details so that if someone does call and say it is theirs, they would have to describe it in enough detail for you to be certain it is indeed theirs. While you can't withhold the child's picture, certain details wouldn't be released such as: whether the backpacks had cartoon characters, what characters were on them, what color clothes the children wore, what language do they recognize, what color clothes they wore, even what size or brand of diaper was on the baby, what size or color or type of shoes they wore, or whether names were written on the tags of clothing.

As he police were able to leave the scene with the children NOT kicking and screaming, it is reasonable to assume the children responded to basic English, and many households in the US are multi-lingual.

So, Griff....it's wrong for everyone to blame all of the Republicans...but it's OK for you to blame it all on Obama? That's just too funny. Ignorance at its finest... it's both sides' fault. Republican politicans AND Democratic politicians. It amazes me when people try to blame everything all on ONE person...and then, of course, all the politicians on their side are perfect and have done nothing wrong.

Three olive skinned, well fed, adequately dressed children left in a shed alone on a rainy day certainly does not sound like abandonment or abuse. Sounds to me like a Hispanic mother (maybe illegal) left her kids in a safe, dry place while she looked for better shelter or a way to make some money to feed her children. Will bet the mother shows up at the police department once she realizes the kids are missing.

I would guess victims of circumstances beyond their control.

Guys, what matters is that these little ones were left behind and don't know why. We need to find out before we judge who left them harshly. Is our economy in trouble? Yes. Could that be a cause of this? I think it might be. Should we have churches and other organizations filling the gap for government cuts? Yeah, if we're all willing to fund them somehow.

One more thought; the oldest child out of them is three. My youngest child, who is autistic, didn't make sense at 3; he responded to ANYONE who spoke with a smile and a stream of gibberish that we knew was not a language--we speak English at home although my husband is Cherokee/Polish and I speak basic Spanish and French and read Latin, Spanish and French.

The only person who could translate was our oldest son, who is only 11 months older--they had their own version of 'twinspeak' that no one understood but them. And they still talk like this between them, now that they are 9 and 10, and although my youngest has gotten better at speaking English, what he says still tends not to make sense sometimes--due to his autism.

Autism isn't diagnosed until school starts. For all we know, the 3 year old might be developmentally disabled. Let's withhold judgement until we know the whole story, okay?

USMC Vet-2238128

Sadly, the programs that could help these children are rapidly being attacked and defunded. While anyone that works hates to pay for those unwilling to work, there are real victims out there. The tax cuts have been in place long enough for the theory that they will produce jobs to have worked.... where are the jobs?

Fact is- it's not just tax cuts that are necessary- it's to get rid of all the red tape that the Government- that means local, state and federal- puts in place to stall new business from happening. Some regulation is necessary- but not to this extent. Tax cuts are just half the equation- if regulations are not relaxed- no one will create new jobs or grow business! People need some sort of a guarantee, at for the near future, that they will know what to expect. Right now? The rule of the day today is "Expect the Unexpected!" And the programs you speak of are no good! There are foster parents that, in most cases, do not care for the children. There are many wonderful people out there that do a good job, but the overwhelming majority are in it for a buck- nothing more...

As far as the kids are concerned- send them to me- my wife & I will take them. At least in my home- they will be loved and protected. Not quite sure if they have/had either where they are now...

Do tell us all look EXACTLY what regulations are you referring to that are stalling new business? And EXACTLY what do you mean "to this extent"? Funny, you, and those like you whine and cry about all "those" regulations but you never name anything specific. "OMG just look at all these stiffling regulations"! then when asked for specifics, deer in headlights.

Three Children

They aren't Repuplicans

They aren't Democrats

They areen't Marxists, Socialists, Communists, Bigots, Racists....

They don't give a flip about YOUR POLITICS.

.

.

.

So stop judging

Speculationg

Insinuating

There is a HOMELESS POVERTY PROBLEM. ...and for a reason NONE OF KNOWS, "Mommy" left these three.

There are THOUSANDS of kids living in motels, cars, and in conditions that are anything but safe and cozy on the streets of major cities.

I

@ Shellie-

Simply put- have YOU ever tried opening a business? I didn't think so or you would know exactly what I am referring to!

Just local regulations and permits are ridiculous not to mention state and fed! Then there are findings that the business must pay for that are required by the EPA, State & Fed! The there are plans, inspections and codes that must be met- and paid for. And it goes on and on and on... It can take sometimes up to 2 years to get a business up and running not to mention all the $$ one must spend just to get the preliminaries & plans approved, all on the HOPE that it will pay off! If it doesn't-you're out of luck and you just lost all the money you put up to start with!

Say you actually wade through the crap and get a business up and running- then you pray for the state and the Fed to set a tax rate that is actually stable and long term, so you know what to budget for, no less what profit you MIGHT make to hire or expand- or even to draw a paycheck!

Yeah- there is a whole other world of crap a person must go through just to TRY.

Do yourself a favor- go down to the local city hall and call the state, find out what it takes to get a business going- and I mean something other than a home based business. A real Brick and Mortar place. Ask about a restaurant or a if you're in the mood- a dry cleaners, or even better- a ranch!

Not bashing- but I get the same response from people like you who go off rhetoric and have never tried before, yet somehow think they are some kind of expert. I've done it multiple times- and each is harder than the last...

@CuongDNguyen --- Of course, there is a very good reason President Obama could not get his act togather to bring about all the CHANGES he promised during his first term. Of course, he had to spend all his time and energy during his first term campaigning for his second term. BTW, no fair pointing out that most or even every president does it. It's still true that two wrongs don't make a right.

These children look of foreign descent. Just a thought...what if the parents were illegals? What if abandoning the children meant they would have a better life here? Just can not imagine a mother of children this young just leaving them without a very good reason. As stated above, they look healthy and happy.

When Saxon writes that the reason for the abandonment of these children is economic, responses pour in about how the parents could be drug addicts or just neglectful. Well, thanks for letting everyone know other possible causes.

It should not be to hard to figure out that for the first time in decades, a reason for such abandoment could be economic. Yes, these things happen to children because of drug problems, mental health issues and abandonment - and those things have always happened. The economic scenario has not always happened. Some need to quit 'burying their heads in the sand'.

Nanette-2317272

These children look of foreign descent. Just a thought...what if the parents were illegals?

I am not arguing with the rest of your post but they look a lot like my grandmother's side of the family and they were here before all the European "foreigners" showed up. Skin color is a pretty slim thread to judge nationality on in this country. Your heart is in the right place with the rest of your post but you might want to rethink your perspective on what an American looks like.

The title to the article said the mother had been found. But this is just a copy and paste of the first article. What BS.

It is most sad. There is a law in effect in California called "The Safely Surrendered Baby Law".

If you pregnant and have decided not to keep your baby after delivery, did you know that, as the parent, you can drop off your baby at Safe Surrender Sites?

The Safely Surrendered Baby Law allows parents to drop off their baby to any County fire station or hospital emergency room without fear of prosecution.

No Questions Asked, Guaranteed Confidentiality, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

For those in CA - please pass the word. For those in other States, perhaps something could be put into place that give parents the option - and protect the kids!

What we have here is the culmination of failures and a lot of people's parts: the parents are at least somewhat to blame for whatever decisions they made that led to that point (I'll not go into specifics because I do not know them), society in general carries blame (businesses not hiring, banks not giving loans, schools not giving out decent education, people lending the merest of helping hands and only when it gets to the extreme of children being apparently abandoned), and then there's the politicians...

I won't bother throwing blame on to one side or the other because the fact is, Republicans in office=bad economy and Democrats in office=bad economy. You don't win when you swing to the left or to the right. Too bad there hasn't been a recent election where someone has been in the middle.

And before I start hearing it from the Romney and Obama crowds, take a look at your positioning on the spectrum. Of course you're going to see your candidate as middle of the road because that's where you fall in as well. If you put them on the actual spectrum, you'll find that they do in fact go further one way than the other.

Is everybody really that clueless as to why the mother didn't take them to a shelter or somewhere else for public assistance?

She is illegal and so are the babies, or she is illegal and owes medical bills for having the babies in the U.S., either way the only way you are a human and treat your children like this is if you are more worried about being held responsible for your actions than you are for their well-being.

I hope this woman is prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. No woman is forced to have children they can't take care of. Birth control and abortion are legal for any and every reason. These children didn't ask to be conceived. She had the ability to prevent their conception, and after conception, she could've killed them until they were born. She made her choices (which her children couldn't). Let her now suffer the consequences. I don't care what "situation" she was in. She had the freedom to choose her sexual/reproductive circumstances. Her "wanting" to have children when she couldn't just to make her feel "fulfilled as a woman" does not stand.

Hopefully, her children will find loving homes and she'll end up in prison. Hopefully she, and other women, will learn a lesson. When they now have a Constitutionally guaranteed "right to choose" whether or not to have children, they had better make the correct choice, or else they'll end up behind bars.

You people are all presuming to know the facts without any sort of information at all in the article. There were 3 very young children left alone in a shed. There is no good excuse for it, but let's not hang the mother before we know anything. It seems as though the children's needs were taken care of up until now. The mother should absolutely face charges, but some of you are talking like this is the worst thing ever done to kids. Let's wait and hear what happened.

And the race of the children makes no difference. Why are we discussing it at all? Why is it that if it's caucasion people involved, race isn't even mentioned. But if it is anything else that becomes a huge part of the discussion.

Lots of speculation, so I'll jump in as well - there are multiple Native American reservations near that area. To me, this little ones' appearance suggest they may be connected to one of the local tribes. Bureau of Indian Affairs have a number of regional offices in the area.

Alcohol works for some who do not have anything like saxon said. By the way he makes a wonderful point and I will conclude that we pray that times will get better especial for the homeless.

I went to kptv and pulled our news on it..

Portland police said the group of homeless people staying at the property told officers the children were 3 years old, 2 years old and 8 months old, and that they were left there late Wednesday night by their mother. The group claimed the children were never alone and that a woman was in charge of babysitting them.

Calico Whispers

Killjoy! These people were already planning the hanging and now you've ruined the mood for them. But you didn't mention anything about the most important part of this story. So what nationality are they anyway? I mean really, try to focus.

Administrator's wife--I LOVE the way you try to excuse the mother of these kids for abandoning them in a shed 'because she might not have been homeless when she had them."

REALLY? She had 3 babies in THREE years, in a time when our economy was in the toilet, and it NEVER occurred to her after the FIRST one was born that having ANY more until the economy improved might NOT be a good idea? And you are saying I PERSONALLY am out of touch?

Women/couples who have babies they cannot afford, or haven't EVEN made any plans as to what you would DO if anything bad happened (think car wreck, or house fire, or cancer, or job loss, or in this case, JOB LOSS) and it becomes VERY clear that they just blithely went on breeding at will.

I have three kids, and my ex and I not only spaced their births FIVE years after we got married (so we could save up for the costs) and spaced them with about 3 years between them, but we ALSO had disability/fire/casualty/life insurance on BOTH of us, and we both had parents and siblings who were already designated as surrogate parents should either of us be incapacitated/die. That's what RESPONSIBLE people do. Irresponsible people just "do it", when ever they want to, with NO thought for birth control (or STD protection), and just drop offspring in the same way wild cats do and expect someone else to pay for them.

But being as how as this thread is on MSNBC--we will NEVER hear a word about the circumstances regarding this, ESPECIALLY if the mother was an illegal.

You obviously know nothing about the foster care system. These children are likely to be bounced from home to home to home to home to home..... feeling more and more abandoned, less and less loved. There aren't easy answers in situations like this, but to assume they'll be better off is flawed thinking at best.

They'd obviously be better off with foster care than in an abandoned shed, don't you think Watching?

1SGF....NO....not actually. The foster system is not a good loving situation, and the children are just as

abandoned.

UDunnoBro, the children could be better off. They could also be a lot worse off. Foster care should be though of as a last resort. Some foster families are wonderful, but they are not the majority. Some do it for money, which means the kids are really just being warehoused. As a retired social worker I can tell you that the horror stories kids told about being in the hands of uncaring paid parents broke my heart. Hopefully, authorities can identify loving family members willing to them in. If at all possible kids should be placed together in a safe home with family.

Hopefully, authorities can identify loving family members willing to them in.

That would be the best case scenario and I can only hope that will be the case. I'm not entirely convinced that the parents abandoned them, perhaps they just left them in what they considered a safe place for the time being. I don't know it's hard to get in the mind set when you don't have all the information. I would think that if the parents had the family or friends willing to take them in then they would have taken that opportunity before leaving them in a shed. It doesn't seem like the children where abused, thank goodness, and with the clothes and backpacks it gives the impression that they were taken care of to the best of the parents abilities. I hope the children can be given a good home without being separated.

when a child is BOUNCED from home to home to home, means the child has a problem! Do you see the pattern??

Not necessarily, Mister Whoops.

Often times a child is 'bounced' from home to home because the caretakers are no longer willing or capable of taking care of them. The assumption that it's going to always be the child that has the problem is a damaging one to a quite often innocent and unfortunate child.

MEANING ITS A PROBLEM CHILD!!!!

I have to scream it dont I for you to understand!??!?!

I fully understood you, seems you didn't understand me. Try again please.

1SGFitzsWife4ID, I didn't say the shed was a better option than foster care. I'm pointing out that the foster care system isn't the perfect answer. Depending on what is going on with the bio family, often time it is in the best interests of the child to try to work with the parents, get them support services, and monitor/guide them to better parenting. We don't know why this mother abandoned her children and her situation needs to be assessed. I am just pointing out that there is a huge misconception that foster care is a panacea and a bed of roses for children. It simply isn't.

Exactly. Why not leave them at a fire station? Most have a "no questions asked" policy.

This was a total disregard for their safety by irresponsible parents. I'll never understand how people can abandon their kids.

D-R-U-G-S

most likely children of migrants. parents may have been watching to see if the children were found and taken into protective custody / child services. the children appear hispanic and this is strange behavior-i live in san diego and most mexican women would die protecting their children and would not abandon them. more to this story.

maybe the parent put them there went out looking for food, and lost there way went coming back, you dont know this, anything could happened. Homeless?? perhaps. But homeless people or know youre going to be homeless should not have sex or have relationship til they have a roof over your head! its a burden yes, but then again, some people dont care about having a burden.

Anybody who believes that the Safe Harbor law equals 'no questions asked' is dreaming.

Almost certainly there will be some questions asked. Name, age of child? birth certificate or other documentation?

And, it's not for toddlers or older children.

Granny said:

Most likely children of migrants. parents may have been watching to see if the children were found and taken into protective custody / child services. the children appear hispanic and this is strange behavior-i live in san diego and most mexican women would die protecting their children and would not abandon them. more to this story.

If the children were the offspring migrants, migrants usually have work permits or other documentation allowing them to come here and work, then return to country of origin at the end of the season. There would be no reason not to keep them.

If the children were offspring of illegals, and if the illegals felt ICE closing in, they would have abandoned them somewhere where the children would be safe and where they would likely be found. Because if they were arrested with the children one of two things would occur:

1) If the children were born on American soil, they would be considered American citizens and the parents would be deported without them, leading to a heart-breaking scene with the children screaming and crying and traumatized, and the parents devastated, most likely never to see heir children again since they would either be barred from reentry for 10 years or not allowed re-entry at all.

2)If the children were born off American soil to non-American parents, they would be considered illegal and the family would be shuttled off to a family processing center. They would be assigned a cell and would sit there for 23 hours a day, one hour for exercise. Dad separated from Mom, Mom and kids assigned to one cell. Children who cry or fuss can be threatened with time-out--separation from Mom in solitary confinement cell (aka The Hole.) If they were unlucky enough to be sent to one of the for-profit private prisons, Mom could end up being raped in front of the children or be forced to watch them be molested by a guard conducting strip searches or body cavity searches. This could be their life for anywhere between a few weeks to up to five years (the longest ICE has reportedly held an 'illegal' was five years.)

Abandoning them now leads to two scenarios:

1) The children are too young to be able to understand the concept of 'illegal' and so they might be offered the benefit of doubt, issued new names and birth certificates and shuttled into the foster care system, where they may be lucky enough to find parents wiling to adopt all three if they are siblings or separately if they are not (DNA typing could help with that.) People generally want babies, so the baby wold probably be adopted right away but the older ones,particularly the three year old, may stay in foster care until he's 18.

2) If it's decided that being undocumented MUST mean they are illegal, and them having no way to prove they aren't, they'll be shuttled into a UAM (Unaccompanied Minors) deportation camp. They'll be in an orphanage-like setting until hitting 13, then be transferred to juvenile detention, as many UAMs are, complete with orange jumpsuit and jail cell, until such time as the US finds a country willing to accept them (as they are undocumented with no birth certificate to say where they were born, there is nowhere to deport them to.)

They will be considered 'stateless'--having no rights anywhere.

2) If someone willing to adopt them pays the money to sponsor them for the purpose of adoption, then upon successful completion of the adoption they will become citizens with parents who WANT them and love them and they'll become well-adjusted, happy children and productive adults.

How do I know all this? I was a stateless infant once.

I was lucky enough to be adopted, but spent three years as ICE's guest when USCIS lost my adoption paper 18 years later. They told me I would remain in deportation until I gave them a copy of my adoption paper--Dad and Mom died in a car accident before they told me I was adopted. It took me three years of writing letters to every courthouse in 3 states before I found the paper because Dad was in the military and we moved around a lot.

Amanda2017567,

Thank you for sharing- I am so glad you made it through ICE.

When I saw the pictures of these three little innocents, I saw members of MY race-that is, the HUMAN race.

But for the wheel of fortune/luck/grace, or whatever you want to call it, my porcelain skinned, blue eyed daughter could be one of those beautiful children in the photograph- anyone who ever forgets that should be ashamed.

Isn't it your god that denies homosexuals from marrying and adopting these children?

No, my God allows and supports gay marriage. That has absolutely nothing to do with these children. I waiting on a "I blame Obama".

I hope you're right. That's the best case scenario. So many kids get in the foster system and never get out. These children are young enough to be more desired by those looking to adopt.

Thank you, Buffaloes Roam. . .just a slice of faith can change everything. I pray that loving hands and hearts will find their way to this beautiful children.

The possibility exists that the parents leave the children there during the day when they might be working here and there and return in the evening to take care of them. Baby sitters are expensive. This may be the last resort for the parents, it did keep the children fairly safe. If the parents had been struggling for a while, I would think they wouldn't look as healthy as they do. Some parents have no other way out and don't like to ask for help and if they are illegal, won't ask for help. The police just needs to keep watch if the parents come back. It's a sad story and I hope it will be resolved soon so the children will have a home to call their own. They are beautiful children and don't really care what they are, they need to have a home.

I was thinking the same thing, Doris. The mother might be out trying to work and didn't want to leave her children amongst others in a homeless camp for fear that they might be abused or molested. They do look well loved and cared for. I just hope this story has a happy ending someday. These children are beautiful.

Doris & Kat ~~ I too thought this could be a possibility. It's always easy for people to 'ASSUME' the worst, pass judgment, and act all self rightesous. Another thought was that perhaps the parent(s) left them there (knowing they'd be found) because they have no way to feed or care for the children, and rather than see their children suffer with no home, no safe place, no food etc, they thought the state could find good homes for them. Geeeeeezzz, thats a very sad and desperate thought. Or the parents could be working during the day, leaving their children in this small shelter in hopes that they'll be safe until they return. Hopefully we'll get some answers. I just hope the best for them.

nativesocalX, talk about simple minded!

The banks along with other money grubbers have brought the country to this. Their attempts to keep wages as low as possible in order to maximize profits for investors have decimated the middle class and caused the poverty level in this country to reach records heights.

And Soros manipulating banks? Quit listening to rush and hannity, broaden your sources of information.

You troglodyte!

Rick--sorry, but no bank forced the kids parents to have sex when they had NO way of dealing with the outcome.

Blaming the banks is an 'easy' was to deal with all the crap that happens to people who have lost jobs but who were way over extended on credit.

Funny--my parents both grew up in the depression, and they raised me to save for a rainy day, to not buy stuff on credit, but to save up until I could pay for it, etc. And they ALSO taught me that responsible people do NOT have children UNTIL they can properly feed, clothe, house, educate, and provide decent medical care for them. And they don't have MORE than they can do that for.

ALL THREE of these kids were born AFTER the economy tanked. Humans are STILL the only mammals that don't quit having babies when there is not enough food.

MOmaid,

How do you know that the parents weren't able to care for their children when they had them? A lot of us nowadays are living paycheck to paycheck and losing one's job can mean disaster. I've heard of families who are doing fine one minute and then mom or dad loses their job and they're forced to sell their house because they can no longer afford it. My parents grew up during The Depression, too, but the world is a much different place today and it's a lot harder to save.

Funny--my parents both grew up in the depression, and they raised me to save for a rainy day, to not buy stuff on credit, but to save up until I could pay for it, etc.

One thing your parents apparently didn't raise you to do was to not make assumptions about people that you don't know.

MOmaid, you are woefully ill-informed on animal nature. Reproduction is a biological imperative, something most of us are driven to do. You are also being extremely judgmental and presumptive. Just because the economy "tanked" a few years ago, does not mean those who have experienced hard times did so all at the same time. The family may have been poor, but then are you insisting that poor people should not have children? Would you advocate a no-child policy for families under a certain annual income? And what would that income level be?

I recommend you get off your high horse, and stop judging people until you've walked in their shoes.

Ignore MoMaid, She spends every post on her judgemental high horse. Click her name and check her other arrogant nose in the air posts. She also seems to have a fixation on having sex since she brings it up in just about every post. Also, she has a son, daughter or some family member who has been there done that for every topic and lived in ever location that is being discussed. We have all known a MoMaid in our lives who is desperately grasping for attention by being an obnoxious know it all. This one is no different.

MOmaid

Rick--sorry, but no bank forced the kids parents to have sex when they had NO way of dealing with the outcome.

Blaming the banks is an 'easy' was to deal with all the crap that happens to people who have lost jobs but who were way over extended on credit.

Funny--my parents both grew up in the depression, and they raised me to save for a rainy day, to not buy stuff on credit, but to save up until I could pay for it, etc. And they ALSO taught me that responsible people do NOT have children UNTIL they can properly feed, clothe, house, educate, and provide decent medical care for them. And they don't have MORE than they can do that for.

ALL THREE of these kids were born AFTER the economy tanked. Humans are STILL the only mammals that don't quit having babies when there is not enough food.

A month ago yesterday my husband had a seizure and was taken by ambulance to the ER where emergency brain surgery was performed. Three days later the biopsy came back Glioblastoma Multiforma, one of the worst types of cancer and always fatal. They tell me he *may* have 5 months before the cancer returns and gradually takes his ability to function both physically and mentally. Currently he is speech impaired to some extent and needs my constant care due to physical issue but he is still himself mentally but we both know that will not last. Eventually he will lapse into a coma again and die, probably before the year is over. We have a daughter who is not quite two years old. We are lucky enough to also be older, financially comfortable and well insured. I am blessed because our situation allowed me to bring him home and care for him. In addition when my oldest son's tour of duty is up he will return home and help run our farm and businesses. Upon reading your comments I think back upon the woman I was in my early 20s struggling to go to school, work and raise my sons and wonder what would have happened if I had been struck by the same situation then.

Sorry dear, but sometimes you just can't be good enough, smart enough or fast enough to dodge the bullet. My husband is an ex Special Ops sniper and they do not come any tougher. He was a brilliant engeneer. He is an honorable man as well as a good Christian. The cancer doesn't care. It didn't ask is we had our affairs in order or if I could cope. It just came unasked, unwanted and without warning.

I am lucky. With God's help we will cope. Others are in different circumstances and no matter how hard they tried they could not. I know this because with all I have in my favor I am still struggling, exhausted and terrified.

That is my story. I am sure there are millions of other people who could explain the meaning of the phrase "There but for the grace of God go I" to you.

Some people are in rotten situations because they are foolish and some are just in a temporary fix because of circumstances beyond their control. I know you find your delusion that it can't happen to you because of your superior upbringing comforting but that isn't the way the real world works.

*That said I am not advocating abandoning children in a shed, having children you cannot or will not properly care for or any other obviously stupid ideas. I am just says as one conservative to another you are a little off base in your generalisations and you are making the rest of us look bad.

Humans are STILL the only mammals that don't quit having babies when there is not enough food.

Ever watch nature programs? They usually show harsh conditions, yet the adults are mating and raising young through it. Often, the hard times come after the young are already born. That may be the situation here. You can't put them back once the hard times hit.

La99999

Killjoy.. I thought I could return mine when i got tired of them or bored of them.. You are telling us the baby store wont take them back slightly grown? *Shakes fist at you* I have a 16 year old about ready to push my last nerve and that nerve is never the nerve you want to push (say that 10xs fast). So I was thinking about returning her for some in-store credit..

You crushed the hopes of dozens of us. :P

Joking aside with La. My heart goes out to you PJ and wish you and yours comfort during these trying times.

PJ--First, let me say that I am desperately sorry for your husband's prognosis. I lost my father to Alzheimers, and I know how frustrating it is watching someone slip away. My best wishes to you, and thank God you have family around you to comfort you in the coming years.

That said, you and your husband HAVE taken steps before he got sick to safeguard your family. I don't know how many sons you had when you were in your 20s and in school but I would assume you had a supportive extended family? And that economic times were better? Either way, I would HOPE that while you were struggling thru school, you did NOT have yet another baby? And good for you for KNOWing that getting an education was the best course for you and your family.

Regardless, I STILL say anyone who has a baby every year, and then dumps three of them off in a shed on a rainy night and still hasn't come back for them by 9 the next morning is a BAD mother, and did not give ANY thought to the future either BEFORE getting pregnant three times in 4 years (heck, for all we know, she may be pregnant AGAIN-- the younger one IS 8 months old at least!) It IS possible to say NO to having sex.

I don't claim to be any better than most, but I DO claim to NOT be one who thinks ANYONE else is responsible for cleaning up MY mess. These three babies are innocent, and I HOPE the county takes them away from the mother and throws the book at her. And I would HOPE that family services would start realizing that sometimes the worst thing to do for these kids is to keep them in foster care forever in the HOPES that their family will somehow become responsible.

CalicoWhispers

La99999

Killjoy.. I thought I could return mine when i got tired of them or bored of them.. You are telling us the baby store wont take them back slightly grown? *Shakes fist at you* I have a 16 year old about ready to push my last nerve and that nerve is never the nerve you want to push (say that 10xs fast). So I was thinking about returning her for some in-store credit..

This made me LMAO, mine is fixin to be 16, I don't want the in-store credit, heck I don't even need a refund! The terrible twos don't have anything on teenagers!

MOmaid-I agree I could never imagine having kids so close together, mine are a little over 5 years apart and that was hard enough, imagine the cost just for diapers!

If we DO reunite the family, it should be on their way OUT of the country.

Any of the kids BORN here can come back when they are 21.

MOmaid,

Any of the children BORN here can stay. They're American citizens.

@ Greg Willson

Just curious, but why would you want them to go back to the same people who stuck them in a shed and left them all alone? Anything could have happened to those poor babies, the shed could have caught fire, some pervert could have found them, anything can happen to the defenseless left to care for themselves. These children should not go back to the person who dropped them off and walked away.

Agreed... these children's parents are completely irresponsible...not to mention STUPID...I hope a new family adopts them soon. If you can't take care of your babies any more...please take them to a police station or hospital or anyplace other than a shed :(

These little kids who were treated no better than unwanted puppies. I don't care why the parents decided to put the kids in a shed and walk away. They can just keep on walking as far as I'm concerned. They gave up any rights to these babies when they decided to do what they did. I don't want to hear their hard luck story or the "reasoning" for what they did. If they do show up again and try to claim the babies, they should be immediately arrested for child endangerment. If they do get the kids back, who is to say next time they won't be leaving them in a hot car because they are inconvienient to have around.

To the three posters above....But, by the grace of God.

@slightlyold

So you can rationalize a circumstance where you would think putting your children in an abandoned shed and leaving them there along would be the right thing to do? I can't, and if you can I feel sorry for any children you may have.

Sorry alan_static, but some people can't tell a joke unless you type I'M TELLING A JOKE!!! after your comment. And even then, there are those with no sense of humor.

I'm glad they neighbors had their eyes and ears open and they were found right away.

Kim, sorry but they WEREn't found right away. They were left in the shed on Wednesday night, (during a rainstorm, btw) and weren't found until mid morning on Thursday.

They could also be Native American - Oregon has a significant Native population.

Somehow most of us knew part of the story would be ....All three have olive skin, dark hair and brown eyes

The little girl especially looks Native American, with her broad high cheek bones. Poor kids. :(

My first thought was drug problems. Maybe their mother left them and went on a bender. So sad.

But you don't know they were unwanted. I still have a feeling the mother was out looking for work or was working and had no place to leave her children.

This comment in no way justifies the decisions made by the parent, however perhaps this parent had simply (in his or her perception) run out of options and "gave up." The support system in the U.S. is negligent and oftentimes people don't know where to turn, or there are significant obstacles in their way. Based on the weights provided, it does not appear here that the children were physically neglected, and with a parent on drugs/alcohol/chronically irresponsible this would likely be mentioned, particularly with the infant. I can state that for myself, at 7 months pregnant, married to my spouse with employment, health insurance, I have been trying to find resources to pay for the approximately $5000 bill we will receive for an uncomplicated delivery (that's POST insurance charges for me/newborn) due to insurance changes. And my husband has a "good" job, "great" education, etc. I struggle to understand why there are no support resources out there for hard-working persons and limited resources for those in poverty (let's face it they are very limited). Yet we spend billions on our military might, bailing out businesses who cry wolf, etc. What about the "little people???" I think the parent here finally cracked. It is very hard to raise children in this country in present times and the stress can be overbearing.

Safe haven laws do not pertain to children over the age of a few months. In fact many states will only take infants less then a week old under the safe haven laws. If a parent leaves an older child in a hospital, fire station, etc they would be charged with child abandonment on the spot.

Remember when Nevada's law had parents dropping their teenagers off at hospitals, etc? Yea well since then people cried foul and laws were ammended to reflect what it was meant to protect: new born infants whose parents are unable to care for the baby.

Either way these parents were going to end up in jail and/or under CPS scrutiny. Not to say they don't deserve that scrutiny. What I want to know is -why- the parents dropped their kids off like that. It's clear that the kids are well cared for (well fed, clean clothes, no bruises, etc) so it's not that someone didn't -love- them... I wonder what happened... and I truly hope the parent's felt they were backed in a corner.

crossthread: Since you are from North Carolina, then I pray you never get them. The little girl would have no rights.

slightyold: You really need a reality check! You are just a mindless Lib that believes whatever you are told by other lying Libs! Crossthread, thank you for your kind jester. slightyold, go back to smoking that bong and living in your world of rose colored glasses. You just proved a point that needs to be made and that is Libs are cold, unfeeling, lying minions. And please don't use the word "pray" in any of your statements either. You know you don't believe in pray.

Struck a nerve huh Jan? The guilty dogs usually do bark the loudest.

Uh putting them in a shed where some sick pervert could find them...might be worse then death.

Jen 91, nobody has killed their children because of hard economic times. Are you completely crazy, yourself? People do get down and desperate, but people do not kill their children because they can't find a job. That is just one of the many stresses that might break a person who is already suffering from a mental disorder. The economy is not a reason why people kill their children. It's hard to believe that someone would read the news stories of the people committing infanticide and come up with the explanation that the economy or politics is to blame. Their may be many factors including post-partum depression, mental breakdowns, drugs, etc., but the economy is a stressor not a direct cause.

Orthe, you are wrong. Parents who come to the end of their ropes and don't want their kids in the foster system have indeed killed them before.

Niki, what a kind heart you seem to have. Have you adopted other children in the United States? If not, please think about it.

This same thing applies to all who said they would take them.

I, however, think that the parents were trying to keep their children safe. Most are assuming that they were abandoned. Perhaps we should wait. In the eighties, in Denver, I saw, unfortunately, parents trying to get milk from the garage for their small baby. They had no idea there was help for them with a child. Not everyone homeless wants to be and they take the day as it comes.

Stop condemning. Children have been left alone since time began while their parents had to gather food, etc. We are no further along than the actual stone age.

Ummm, NO children haven't be left alone since time began while their parents had to gather food etc. People lived in communites and they took the children WITH them when they gathered food etc. OR they left the children with a few adults while the rest went out to gather food etc. You cannot keep a 3,2 and 8 month old safe by leaving them in a shed. ANYONE with a 3,2 and 8 month old would know that. Unless that shed is locked, the 3 and 2 yr olds would be out of there before long and wandering who knows where, getting into who knows what trouble.If the shed IS locked, it's still extremely dangerous, not to mention the homeless in the area said the mother left them there the NIGHT BEFORE!! As in she was gone all night, and as of about 9:30am still hadn't come back. As a parent, if you cannot take care of your child, you have the responsbility to make sure they get taken care of somehow, even if that means you have to give them up, as sad as that is.

Great post Niki. I wish more posts on here would focus on what is important and that is these three kids and nothing else at this point.

We can debate Reagan, Obama, the homeless, the US Economy, skin tone, Mexicans, God, and two thousand other issues later.

For now lets focus on three kids that need to be safe, fed, clothed, and loved. Part of doing that is finding out who they are, and what happened with their care givers. But until the officials can get to that stage in this breaking story, lets focus on these kids and skip the political debates.

In my town, some years back, a mother took her children to the circus. Afterward, while they were waiting for the bus, several men drove up, grabbed the mother, but left the children alone on the street after dark. All of the children were older than these three so they knew enough to seek help, but it must have been absolutely terrifying until they found a telephone. The men gang raped the mother and eventually released her miles from the abduction scene. She made her way to the nearest open business, a tavern, and called the police; they had already been looking for her for several hours, so they were able to assure her immediately, that her children were safe. How do we know whether or not that the situation in Oregon was (or was not) similar? In my lifetime, I have found six children between two and four alone on the sidewalk, including two identical twin girls. I was 9-10 the first time. Two of the children I already knew. On the other three occasions, I asked around the neighborhood and found the parents within minutes.

I couldn't agree more miss. E! Only out of love for these kids would their mother hurt herself so badly as to leave them alone like this. I'm guessing she felt she had no other option. I'd adopt them if I could.

miss. E and B.positive,

I tend to agree. It isn't like she abandoned them in the middle of a forest or drove them into a lake. I would also bet that the people most condemning of this mother have never had to face her circumstances.

Some posters have condemned her for having sex or 3 kids while in such dire need. How HEARTLESS of these posters!!! They would deny this poor woman of what is probably the only solace she can afford- love! Possibly it was merely the release from stress that accompanies an orgasm with a friendly bedmate. Either way, they would deny her of that human contact at a time when I would bet she has very little else to comfort her.

I would say remember that the word "MERCY" exists for a reason, even though Americans practice it about as often as we have a centenary celebration. It may be more recommendable than dragging out the noose every time a headline sets one's blood to boiling- just like it was intended to. Maybe we should pay more attention to the reasons this mother is in such severe financial straights instead of just beating up the victims. Lets hear her side of it before the lynching.

When she had the children she could have been in a stable relationship, father or otherwise, One never thinks well I won't have children because someday their Dad may lose his job! I'm sure there is a lot more to this story, we'll just have to wait another day or two to hear it.