Then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry demanded military troops be rushed to the border. Georgia Rep. Phil Gingrey warned that invaders might be carrying an Ebola epidemic across the border. CNN warned of "an invasion."

There were no enemy troops trampling across what is a heavily armed, if not militarized, US border.

These "invaders" were, in fact, tens of thousands of children. Many walked unaccompanied, sometimes with a mother or adult relative, peacefully turning themselves into Border Patrol agents if confronted. More than 68,500 such unaccompanied kids were detained in fiscal year 2014, the Congressional Research Service reported.