Thoughts on the Central American “caravan”

Some in the caravan are women and children, and depending on which cable news channel you watch, that will be the focus of the camera.  But estimates are the caravan is about 80% young males.  There are also a few criminals, and a few traffickers.  Not all, by any means.  But how many do you folks who don’t object to open borders find acceptable?  10 out of 7,000?  20?  30?  How many trafficked children (documented during the Obama years and reported by Washington Post) are OK? 10? 50? Of the 333,000 illegals deported in 2015, some 42% had criminal convictions (that doesn’t count illegal border crossing or not returning for a court date).  So don’t be so naïve to assume this caravan has no men with criminal behavior.

We actually do have a legal immigration system.  Most immigrants (76%) are in the country legally—and I wish Trump would mention that more often--while a quarter are “unauthorized,” low estimates 11-12 million.  In 2015, 44% of the legals were naturalized U.S. citizens. From 1990 to 2007, the illegal alien population tripled in size – from 3.5 million to a record high of 12.2 million. They don’t necessarily come across the border—some overstay a student visa or their H1B1 visa to work for Google and Facebook.  Again I ask you.  What is the right number for illegals to reside, work, start families with children who will be citizens, educate, use medical care, apply for college, send millions back home, etc. in the U.S.?

These people in THIS caravan of October 2018 are NOT refugees—they have not been in a war, have not spent years in a camp waiting for sponsors, they are well dressed, seem well fed, there are organizations helping them with supplies—they do have a crappy government that can’t control crime. Mexico has offered them asylum and they’ve said No which is how we know they aren’t desperate.  Mexico is not the “streets paved with gold” they seem to imagine or have been promised by various non-profits encouraging this.   But they can seek asylum in the U.S. if they go to the right place.  That isn’t walking across the border. 

Why should these people, most of whom will not come back for a court date if released into the population (catch and release), have priority over displaced people from Africa, or Asia or Iraq (including many Christians)?  There are wars going on all over the globe. Millions are moving on foot or in caravans, crossing dangerous rivers, mountains and deserts.  This group is drawing attention because of the election, and both parties are using them as bait—vote for us, vote for us! This caravan is about Trump—let’s just be honest.  Most of the illegal aliens who already are here live in the top metro areas, all controlled by Democrats.  So of course this is a political issue!  What party wouldn’t want millions more voters indebted to it?

The problem with this chart below is it doesn’t distinguish between legal immigrants and illegal aliens.  But you can pretty much tell.  It’s just tough for the Chinese and Indians to sneak in.  That said, in the next quarter century, Asians will out number Hispanics in either and both types. I don’t recall the name of the law, but the U.S. actually discourages people we might say are influenced by western civilization, or make it very difficult for them. Someone in government decided racial diversity was better than continuity, shared values and history.