The Quote Below: More Misinformation from the Media
As thousands of Honduran migrants seeking asylum in the United States trek northward through Mexico, President Trump has pledged to stop them at the border by militarizing it with armed federal troops, under the guise of protecting Americans from “criminals” and an “invasion.” What he fails to recognize is that cruelty won’t solve the current refugee crisis. Neither will buddying up with authoritarian leaders in Central America. Instead, those two strategies only deepen the crisis, because criminality and misrule are exactly what the caravan is fleeing. . . .
This dark picture of what Central Americans seek to escape is not a new experience in American immigration. It recalls other horrors that forced human waves — Irish, Italian, Greek, Jewish, Hungarian, German, Polish and more – to flee [to America]. Did America lose by welcoming them? . . . The Honduran caravan is a call for help in ending the violence . . . and replacing it with the rule of law.” – ‘Criminals?’ Hardly. That’s Who the Caravan Flees, The New York Times, Victoria Sanford, 11/9/18 [Link]
Fact Check of Quote: President Trump’s action is no “guise” at all. It is an appropriate response to a growing mass of foreign people who threaten the security of our border. Contrary to the author’s claim, the caravan isn’t just a group of people fleeing crime. Among them, according to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, are 600 convicted criminals.
The criminal intent of many in the caravan was evident when they tried to storm our border while throwing rocks and other projectiles at Border Patrol officers—who properly responded with tear gas to stop the onrushing crowd. Most of the caravan members are young males, which belies the media’s carefully crafted image of women and children being a large share of the migrants.
Perhaps some of them are fleeing violence, but as a study done in Honduras—home of many or most of the caravan people, found that most Hondurans leave for better employment and other improvements to their standard of living. Bad jobs and a high crime rate are not pleasant, but they are not legitimate grounds for claiming asylum. Genuine asylum claims involve a “well founded” fear of personal persecution, usually by government, and not just unpleasant social and economic conditions.
If the Central American migrants were truly interested in asylum, they could have requested at U.S. consulates in their countries or in Mexico. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that claiming amnesty is simply a scam to overwhelm our immigration system and make open borders the de facto law of the land.
Some Americans who support this scam have sinister intentions, others are irresponsible people who think it is “moral” for America to play the savior of the world. They are totally indifferent to the practical consequences of their fervid generosity. Allowing the migrants to crash our border will end a message to the world that everyone is welcome to come. The consequence will be America overwhelmed—just another failed society among others in the world.
It is true that America took in the immigrants the author mentions. The difference from the current situation on the border is that these were legal immigrants that our society admitted to our country to serve its national interests. More than a century ago, large-scale immigration made some sense as a way to develop an undeveloped land. It doesn’t make sense today.
Even a hundred years ago, it was becoming evident that mass immigration was weakening rather than strengthening our country. Wisely foreseeing more negative consequences, Congress began moving to restrict immigration. That decision worked out well for our country. Unfortunately, much of our leadership class today lacks wisdom. They think that goodness means ignoring what will happen to future generations of Americans. That is neither wise, not good.