Threatening to deploy the National Guard, U.S. Army or any other military branch at his disposal, 72-year-old Donald Trump vowed to stop the latest 2,000-person caravan heading toward the U.S. border. Reflecting the abysmal economic conditions in Central America, thousands of Hondurans pressed ahead toward he porous Guatemala border, crossing a shallow river whose banks overflowed from recent rainstorms. While there’s something heroic about migrants looking for work in the U.S., Trump has a right to enforce U.S. border laws requiring asylum-seekers and migrants to apply for legal immigration status. “Hard to believe that with thousands of people from South of the border walking unimpeded toward our country in the form of large caravans, that the Democrats won’t allow legislation that will allow laws for the protection of our country,” Trump said yesterday.
Denis Contreras, a leader of the Hunduran caravan, looking to cross the Guatemala border, said there’s no turning back because of poverty and violence in his country. “This is the beginning of an avalanche that is coming, because we can no longer endure so much violence,” said Contreras, showing the kind of desperation driving refugees from Mexico, South and Central America. Wherever migrants come, neighboring countries put up token resistance, letting border crossings en route to the U.S. “We cannot ensure that everyone has Hunduran nationality or origin, nor that they have the destination they claim to have,” said Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales,” insisting he’s working with humanitarian group. Morales wants to make sure that none of the Honduran caravan parks in Guatemala. Contreras knows if he gets to Chiapas, Mexico, he’ll have a clear path to the U.S. border.
Trump and U.S. Immigration, Customs Enforcement [ICE] and the U.S. Border Patrol fight an uphill battle stopping migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers from sneaking across the U.S. border. While the Honduran caravan looks ominous, it’s no different that the thousands of caravans preceding it. Chiapas Gov. Manuel Velasco has watched many caravans go by headed to the U.S. border and no doubt will see many more. Working on immigration reform in Congress won’t stop the thousands of economic migrants and asylum seekers fleeing from the violence and failed states South of the border. Making the Honduran caravan an issue before the Nov. 8 Midterm elections, Trump hopes to galvanize GOP voters, battling in 2018 to keep control of the House and Senate. Raising the border issue before the election should help bring out Republican voters.
Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have some of the highest homicide rates in the hemisphere, a testament to failed states, overrun by gangs and criminals. With homicide rates at over 40 per 1,000, Central America sees sizable parts of its population in flux, moving toward the U.S. border. With the Honduran caravan heading toward the Mexican border, Mexican authorities deployed hundreds of riot police near the border with Guatemala. Mexican police have done a poor job of discouraging Central American migrants and asylum-seekers to crossing the Mexican border on the way to the U.S. border. What can reform U.S. immigration laws do to stop the hoards of migrants and asylum-seekers looking for work and stability across the U.S. border. Overwhelming shelters in the Guatemalan border town of Suchiate, asylum-seekers and migrants sleep in the streets.
Much of the U.S media focuses on the cruel separation policy that sometimes happens when children are dumped on the U.S. border. Talking about Trump’s border policies overlooks the reality that many asylum-seekers and economic migrants routinely dump children on the border, hoping to give them a better life. When it comes to family separation, it’s families dumping their children that are responsible for family separation, not ICE or U.S. Border Patrol. U.S. media wants to blame the Trump administration for the cruel practice of separating families. Many of the asylum seekers and immigrants don’t want reunification with their children. Whether Trump deploys the National Guard or military to the border, it won’t stop desperate people from escaping poverty and violence in host countries. Economic migrants and asylum seekers will continue to stream across the U.S. border.
Trump’s threats to deploy the National Guard or U.S. military to the border makes great headlines but won’t stop the flow of economic migrants and asylum-seeker streaming across the U.S. border. Congress won’t find consensus on what to do with U.S. immigration laws, with Democrats wishing to open U.S. borders, Republicans wanting to enforce border laws. Watching thousands of Hondurans head toward the U.S. border is an ominous reminder of how desperate people risk their lives for a better life. When you consider how asylum-seekers and economic migrants contribute to unskilled U.S. labor pool, it shows how today’s porous borders actually help the U.S. economy. Lawmakers must come to grips with economic benefits of migrants and asylum-seekers on the economy, helping virtually every economic sector contribute to growth of U.S.. Gross Domestic Product.
