Sara Carter exclusive: El Paso residents fume at sudden cleanup for Biden visit
Fox News contributor Sara Carter joins 'Hannity' to share interviews with residents upset about border situation.
Sara Carter of Fox News Channel has been covering the southern border and a myriad of issues attached to it for many, many years — and now, she has a new illustrated children's book that stresses the importance of rules, laws and process, something she feels kids must know and that parents and families must stress.
"This book, especially for children, is really from the heart, because there are so many children who are being affected every day by illegal trafficking and the failure to follow the law and to follow rules," she told Fox News Digital in a phone interview.
Her book, "Joining the Amazing Club Awesome Sauce," is published by Brave Books on Monday, April 3.
Carter said that early on, during her coverage of the border, she really "believed" that things would get better.
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"There were periods when I saw some hope — but now, it's so tragic and horrible that it really has broken my heart," she said.
Living in Texas now, she is at the border regularly and in frequent touch with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for her investigative work on border issues, she said.
Sara Carter is the author of a new children's book, "Joining the Amazing Club Awesome Sauce," from Brave Books. It went on sale Monday, April 3, 2023. (Sara Carter/Brave Books)
"Just the amount of children who are trafficked through our border, even in just a small area" within Texas, is staggering, said Carter.
She sees the children all the time; she sees pictures of them, hears about their stories constantly, knows what is going on there, she said.
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"Just the other day, I was told about a two-year-old child who was found at the border alone — and then another young child was found in the trunk of a car. They're not with parents, they're not with anyone who is their guardian," she said.
"I really wanted this book to be about all children and protecting our children and our beautiful nation. That's really what I hope."
"So where are these children being sent?"
She said it is "by the grace of God" that some of them have been saved or rescued from harm.
So "how do you tell our children this story?" she said.
Carter is the daughter of a Cuban immigrant and is "passionate" about these issues, she said.
"I grew up in a home where English was the second language for all of the family members of my mom's side. And life was not easy, but America was amazing."
She said her mom would always say to people, "I'm not Cuban. I'm an American." She would tell them, added Carter, "'I was born in Cuba, but I'm an American now and America is my home.'"
Sara Carter told Fox News Digital that her book is "about basically teaching children that rules are OK — and that sometimes we need to have these rules to protect our clubhouse." The clubhouse is a reference to America. (Sara Carter/Brave Books)
Added Carter, "She really believed in that for herself — that was who she was. She saw this nation as an amazing place with open arms, helping her, helping her family. So it is very gut-wrenching for me when I know how desperate some people are to find a better life."
She said that the women and children today coming over the border are "being abused by a system that is working against them."
"I'm talking about the innocent lives," she said. "There are a lot of bad guys in between. And that's where we come in, and where our children come in."
So "I really wanted this book to be about all children and protecting our children and our beautiful nation. That's really what I hope."
She added, "It really should be a bipartisan message — and I don't know why it's not."
‘Beautiful tapestry’ that needs protecting
"We teach kids that rules are important, that it's OK to have boundaries, that boundaries are there to protect everyone," Carter told Fox News Digital.
"It's not about saying, ‘You can’t be a part of our club.' It's that we want this club to be for everybody, because it is for everybody," she added. "It is a beautiful tapestry of fun, cool things, and it gives you the opportunity to be everything you want to be if you work hard enough for it."
Sara Carter holds a copy of her new children's book. "How do we keep our nation safe? How do we keep you safe?" she said, referring to the children who will read her book. "By following rules, by following basic concepts," she told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. (Sara Carter/Brave Books)
She also said, "Joining the amazing club Awesome Sauce is just like joining America. We're amazing, we're awesome — and we're a part of each other, right? We're all Americans but from every part of the world, which makes us so beautiful."
She went on, referencing her children's story, "And we share those things with one another. But how do we keep our nation safe? How do we keep you safe? By following rules, by following basic concepts."
"I have rules in my home for my children. It's not because I don't love them. It's because I DO love them."
She said, "For me, I have rules in my home for my children. It's not because I don't love them. It's because I DO love them. It's because I want my 10-year-old daughter to have her friends over, and to come over and play — but they can't go in the pool unless they've told me about it and they can't go in unless we're watching them," she added, as just one example of rules at home that make sense and are in place to keep children safe.
"I'm not trying to stop them from having fun. I'm doing this to protect them and keep them safe. And that's how this book works."
It's "about basically teaching children that rules are OK — and that sometimes we need to have these rules in order to protect our clubhouse," she said.
"The clubhouse represents America — and these beautiful creatures on this beautiful island is really all of us, as Americans."
Sara Carter also said of the story line of her book, "People can hurt others" and even "hurt themselves" if they don't follow the rules that are in place. She said that, above all, "I just want to save lives." (Sara Carter/Brave Books)
She said, "And if you sneak into the club, or you try to break into it, or someone lets you in without following the rules — then bad things can happen."
For example, she said, "people can hurt others — people can hurt themselves" that way if they don't follow the rules and the proper processes.
"This is a way to teach children without exposing them to the horrors and tragedies of the border that we know as grownups," she also said.
Carter and her husband, Marty, a wounded war veteran, have six children between them.
"If we can expose what's really happening, then we can find a way to work together."
The border today "is a war zone," she also noted — that "nearly 2,000-mile strip that connects us to our neighbor in Mexico."
She said that having traveled and lived all over the world, "I've felt that now is the time for me to talk a bit about what I've experienced at the border as an expert. That's why this book is important to me."
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She also said of America, "We are more unified than we are divided, if the facts before us are the truth. People can see what's happening at the border, happening to children, by these horrific cartels and by these monsters, these human traffickers. If we can expose what's really happening, then we can find a way to work together."
Some of the children "do come in with their guardians," she said of the border crossings, though she said there are no blood tests run, so officials don't always know if the family members are related or not.
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"Other times, it's much more nefarious than that. Children are taken," she added — noting that thousands of children remain missing from Mexico.
She said this is but one of the many results of "a failed and open immigration system" in this country right now. She added that everyone — and "people on both sides of the aisle" — needs to "take responsibility and find solutions for it," referencing, too, the fentanyl that's pouring across America's border and coming into this country.
"I just want to save lives," said Carter.
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