Elephant in the Room

            I have been avoiding a post about the “elephant in the room” for too long, but the beast has become too large to sidestep any longer.  While going through my email feed, I came across six different articles about a serious problem in America. I have to admit that illegal border crossings and the fight over the border wall are consuming the news cycle, so I should go with it.

            In the early morning hours of New Year’s Day, agents of the U.S. Border Patrol sent canisters of tear gas at approximately 150 people who were attempting to enter the United States illegally. The migrants in the “violent mob” were “climbing over and crawling under [the] border fence in San Diego Sector.” About 45 migrants turned back towards Mexico because of the agents’ efforts, but other “began throwing rocks over the fence at the CBP agents and officers.” 

            At the same time that agents were fighting the mob, other migrants were attempting to lift “toddler-sized children over the concertina wire and having difficulty doing so safely.” The agents were busy with the rock throwers and could not intervene with the other illegal border crossers. Most of the people attempting to enter the United States illegally turned back to Mexico, but agents apprehended about 25 migrants that included some teenagers.

            It is obvious to most Americans that too many people are attempting and often succeeding in crossing the border into the United States illegally. It is also obvious that Democrat representatives do not care. Democrat talk and actions about controlling the border are speaking loudly, and it is becoming all too clear that their “opposition to border wall funding is rooted in politics and not in reason.”

            

            Democrats appear to want President Donald Trump to lose more than they want to secure our nation.  Pelosi even says that it is “immoral” for the United States to build a wall in order to secure sovereignty. Democrats do not seem to understand that Americans have eyes to see and ears to hear and are not stupid. Blacks and other Democrats are walking away from the party steadily because they can see what is taking place. Latinos and Hispanics may also turn their backs on the Democrats because they do not “want the job and wage competition from more illegals flooding in from Mexico and Central America.” The Democrats may be stuck with no supporters if they continue to fight against national security.

            President Trump is attempting to secure the border, while Democrats want to leave it wide open to gain more liberal voters. “The president wants a wall to help secure the southern borderto protect citizens from criminal illegal aliens and to impede the flow of drugs that are killing too many Americans.” This says nothing about the human trafficking that takes place across the porous border. Democrats do not care how many Americans are killed by illegal aliens who are deported numerous or by the drugs that are doing so much damage!

            The Trump administration is doing all that they can to solve at least some of the problems caused by the lack of border security. The military is on the border to support the Border Patrol in protecting the border. Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of Homeland Security, announced recently that a “significant policy change” has been made to stop migrants from coming illegally. The department is plugging some of the loop holes in the U.S.immigration system, particularly the asylum system. 

One of the most serious problems the U.S. faces in its immigration system is that when illegal immigrants cross the border, they can claim asylum in order to avoid quick deportation. This is an especially common tactic with illegal immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and the Honduras.

            Most of these “asylum seekers” are not actually seeking asylum because less than ten percent of those seeking it actually receive it. The illegal aliens understand that their chances are not good, but they just want to get into the country where they can disappear into the sanctuary cities and states.

            The Trump administration sought ways to legally change the policies, and it appears that they have been successful. The old policy was “catch and release” with slight hope that the migrants show up for their court dates. The new policy is “catch and return” to Mexico to await their hearing in the immigration court. The fact that they are not allowed into the U.S. until after proving their asylum claim may eliminate “one of the major incentives driving illegal immigration.”    Mexico is also offering “humanitarian visas, work authorizations, and other protections to those waiting in Mexico.” Could this be the way that Mexico will pay for the border? This policy change is a good start, but Congress needs to permanently close the loopholes.

            In addition to the policy change, President Trump is threatening to close the entire border if Congress does not fund a wall. This could be the reason why Mexico is helping with the illegal immigrant situation. It would be financially devastating to Mexico and probably millions of Americans for the border to be closed. 

The U.S. runs a trade deficit with Mexico, but outside observers have said that closing the border could cause economic chaos given the amount of trade and people who legally cross the border every day.

According to a report earlier this month by CBS News, about $558 billion in goods flowed across the border in both directions last year. It found that the U.S. exported $243.3 billion in goods across the border along with $58 billion in services.

Nearly a half million people enter the U.S. each day at various entry points on the southern border, according to a Wilson Center report cited by CBS.

Duncan Wood, director of the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute, told CBS MoneyWatch that shutting down the border would cost “hundreds of millions of dollars a day” or “maybe a billion.”

            It does not sound like shutting the entire border is a good thing to do. However, it may be the only thing that will get the attention of the Democrat leaders in Congress and compel them to work with Trump.

             Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador appears to be stepping up to help the immigration problem. One of his ideas is to create economic “free zones”  along the U.S.-Mexico border from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Coast and about 15 miles wide. Taxes would be slashed and minimum wage would be increased in the free zones. The United States and Mexico are also working together to develop economic growth in southern Mexico and Central America.