Wednesday, January 30, 2019

On “The Caravan(s)”


On “The Caravan(s)”



Well researched article on the “caravan” of some 10,000 migrants advancing on the U.S. through Mexico, which cuts past both the left and right wing rhetoric, and focuses on the facts.  Commenting on the 800 U.S. military troops being sent to the border, 



“The soldiers aren't going to the border to stop the caravan. They're going to assist Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Health and Human Services, and other authorities as they take in the newcomers. There is little the government can do to turn back the tide. Why? Because the same rule of law challenged by illegal immigration also incentivizes and protects the illegal immigrants within the caravan. It's a paradox—one inflaming this most polarizing of issues at a moment of political decision.”



Also – “The military can't solve the problem. But Congress can. Only the legislative branch has the authority to close the loopholes through which the most recent illegal migration has passed: a portion of the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act that limits the ability of law enforcement to repatriate swiftly unaccompanied children from noncontiguous (read: Central American) nations; the 1997 Flores settlement that put a ceiling on how long the government can detain these children; and the "credible fear" standard by which illegal immigrants may request asylum proceedings simply by saying they are afraid to return to Tegucigalpa or Quetzaltenango.”












Why don’t we first express our feelings of compassion and do something for our own American citizens who are suffering, for example multitudes of homeless American war veterans, who are suffering in our cities?  A mobile mob organized by leftist activists in Central America or Venezuela demanding illegal entry into our country and fueled by a political agenda can only be called an invasion.  The Mexicans tried to process them legally, and they broke down the barriers at the Guatemala border, breached the river, and continued North in mob-like fashion.



One cannot fail to be touched by the suffering humanity inherent in such an exodus.  The leftist organizers and unfortunately, the mainstream media, know this, and take advantage, particularly by putting pregnant women and children in front of the mob, to elicit maximum howls from well-meaning, but ill-informed people.



We are a country of immigrants whose ancestors got here legally, within the systems and by obeying the immigration laws.  Millions have recently come here legally after studying and meeting our citizenship requirements.  I’ve seen numbers like 1.8 million people in Central America who want to immigrate to this country.  We simply cannot just allow them to come in illegally because they form a mobile mob and prey on our sympathies.



I have seen in my travels, atrocities beyond belief.  In the Far East, children are purposefully maimed so that they can be more effective beggers by appealing to the kind natures of wealthier westerners.  The unprincipled coyotes organizing these “caravans” use similar tactics to ensure that our heart-felt sympathies are engaged.  They don’t maim kids, but they take advantage of every heart-tugging device they can think of.



In this particular situation, I don’t think that we should close the border.  I think that we should appeal to Mexico and the U.N. to provide humane temporary living conditions for this crowd, until they can be processed either as refugees, allowed to immigrate to the U.S. (or Mexico), or returned to their countries of origin.  It seems that they are being sustained so far, by well-meaning Mexican citizens.  The Red Cross and other humane organizations will probably be required if they spend weeks and months on the road.



Ray Gruszecki

October 27, 2018

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