Wednesday, October 17, 2018

MIGRANT CARAVAN #2 HEADS NORTH; TRUMP THREATENS TO CUT AID TO HONDURAS

MIGRANT CARAVAN #2 HEADS NORTH; 
TRUMP THREATENS TO CUT AID TO HONDURAS
BY R. CORT KIRKWOOD
It appears that Jean Raspail’s dystopian immigration novel, The Camp of the Saints, is coming true. But instead of landing upon on our shores by boat, the real-life “migrants” heading for American soil are traversing over land, through Guatemala and Mexico.
Some 1,500-2,000 “migrants” are heading toward the U.S. border with Mexico. They shout “Yes, We Can” as they break laws, ignore national borders, and squat on foreign soil. They claim they flee poverty and persecution.
For now, President Trump is firm: No entry. The question is whether he’ll be able to withstand the hysterics from the Left when the migrants arrive. Or his own administration officials permitting them to apply for asylum, then releasing them into our nation’s interior.
Trump: Foreign Aid Might Stop
As with the “migrant caravan” earlier this spring, this juggernaut seeks a free pass to enter the United States, where leftist migrant resettlement groups, masquerading as Christian charities, are waiting to resettle them.
Before providing the obligatory sob stories, the Associated Press laid out the politics of the northward march. “The group estimated at 1,600 to 2,000 people fleeing poverty and violence in Honduras marched into Guatemala in sweltering heat Monday, twice pushing past outnumbered police sent to stop them — first at the border and then at a roadblock just outside Esquipulas,” the wire service reported.
But Mexico, happily, isn’t all that interested in accommodating the border-crashing horde, either:
After those encounters, Mexico’s immigration authority sent out a fresh warning late Monday that the migrants would have to satisfy Mexican officials individually and that only those meeting requirements would be allowed to enter.
But it remains unclear if governments in the region — many of whose own people are migrants — can summon the political will to physically halt the determined border-crossers. Honduras’ ability to stop the caravan also may be limited because it has already moved into Guatemala.
Trump did not follow through on a similar threat to the Central American nation in April over an earlier caravan, which eventually petered out.
For his part, Trump tweeted a threat: “The United States has strongly informed the President of Honduras that if the large Caravan of people heading to the U.S. is not stopped and brought back to Honduras, no more money or aid will be given to Honduras, effective immediately!”
The question is whether The Donald has the courage to do that, and to stop this mass of humanity from crossing the border with strict orders to his Homeland Security Department to turn them away.
Sob Stories
Then came AP’s violins: “The hundreds of people fleeing poverty and violence in Honduras bedded down wherever they could, with some sleeping on the grass in a church parking lot; others crowded the floors of a migrant shelter and a sports hall.” AP continued:
The migrants arrived at the Guatemalan border singing the Honduran national anthem, praying and chanting, “Yes, we can.” The group defied an order by the Guatemalan government that they not enter.
“We have rights,” the migrants shouted.
Keilin Umana, a 21-year-old who is two months pregnant, said she was moved to migrate to save herself and her unborn child after she was threatened with death.
Umana, a nurse, said she had been walking for four days. “We are not criminals — we are migrants,” she said.
AP, of course, provided no proof that Umana “was threatened with death,” but in any event, another “migrant” said “poverty back home made it impossible to support a family. ‘Every day I earn about $5. That isn’t enough to feed my family.’”
Amazingly, Guatemalan cops on the border surrendered and let the caravan through, even escorting them into the country. Then they were permitted past a second roadblock. Police told them they must return to the border, but “the migrants refused to budge and eventually officers again let them pass.”
Last Caravan
The last caravan that surged toward the United States this past spring also began with more than 1,500 mostly Honduran marchers. But only about 300 reached Tijuana on the U.S.-Mexico border, the Arizona Republic reported.
By about the end of the month, the Washington Times reported, the Trump Administration had let most into the country to apply for asylum, then released them on the promise to show up for an immigration hearing.
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