As thousands of immigrants gather in Tijuana after a months-long march through poverty-stricken countries to reach the Calexico border, it appears the Guatemalan, Salvadoran, and Honduran wannabe refugees are receiving an unhealthy dose of reality.
Their promised America — mostly advertised as a life replete with bountiful resources, including unending welfare, free child care, and high-paying jobs for the uneducated — refuses to process the entire lot. And as a government scale-back and standoff over border security tediously plods along, legal immigration into the United States is held in perpetual limbo.
What could possibly go wrong?
As Host Cities Go
Tijuana is fed up with playing host-city to some 6,200 migrants bringing illness, creating fear for businesses and residents, and financially burdening the busy border town. In an interview with Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum, pent-up frustrations were obvious, as he said the caravan is “hitting us hard. It’s costing us 550,000 pesos a day.” That figure approximates $28,000, but is widely disputed by other officials as nearing an unmanageable $40,000 per day.
Tijuana City Delegate Genaro Lopez Moreno added details about the city’s migrant caravan-induced crisis on Fox News’ program Tucker Carlson Tonight:
“Things got out of hand because they kept growing and growing .… But we’re carrying the financial load of keeping these people with medicine, food, shelter, blankets, and whatever. There’s a lot of trash because the 360 grew to 6,200, and that’s when it got out of hand …. There’s like 1,500 people here, there’s 2,200 people there, and there’s 2,000 people that are not accounted for.”
The situation is overwhelming the town’s mental, physical, and financial resources. And one wonders where the organizers and assistance givers along the route, Pueblo Sin Fronteras, have gone. If you ask Mayor Gastelum, he is quite clear on the fate of the organizers: “This person who say he’s from Pueblo Sin Fronteras, he say that he’s one of the leaders of the caravan, well, why don’t the federal police say, ‘Hey, hey, come over here.’” .[perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”24″]..Mexico and the United States have reached the end of their collective rope on the public relations stunt …[/perfectpullquote]
The mayor, and most of the migrants, believe Pueblo Sin Fronteras lied about the caravan and how long the asylum process would take. The mayor indicated that representatives of the anti-borders group should be charged with “putting people at risk.”
And then there is the uptick in criminals now living in Tijuana, which accounts for almost 300 arrests for drug possession, intoxication, and breaking and entering. During the journey, the Department of Homeland Security identified the most pressing concerns for Mexico and the United States:
“… over 270 individuals along the caravan route have criminal histories, including known gang membership. Those include a number of violent criminals – examples include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, sexual assault on a child, and assault on a female. Mexican officials have also publicly stated that criminal groups have infiltrated the caravan. We also continue to see individuals from over 20 countries in this flow from countries such as Somalia, India, Haiti, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.”
Liberals can squawk about the bedraggled masses of women and children seeking asylum, but Department of Homeland Security reports warned us that “50 percent are single adults …. Guatemalan Intel Minister said that the caravan is employing tactics to push women and children to the front to act as human shields ….”
Of course, what Americans in their right minds would buy what today’s alt-left Democrats are attempting to sell?
No Mas Caravanas
The people of Tijuana have taken to the streets to rid their city of the unwanted burden of an additional 6,200-plus people roaming around, depleting charity and city resources, with no assistance from the federales in the works.
Carrying handmade signs demanding “no more caravans,” people are speaking to their country and to Americans across the border in solidarity.
Does this sentiment sound familiar? Fidel Ernesto Gonzalez, of Tijuana, demanded the Mexican government secure his country’s southern border with Guatemala, requiring any asylum seeker enter the country legally, with passport and legal paperwork.
“It’s the same thing that Donald Trump is dealing with in the United States. If you want to enter the United States, you can enter, but you have to do so legally.”
Both Mexico and the United States have reached the end of their collective rope on the public relations stunt created and executed by the Democrats. It is obvious they care not for the people involved; they seek only the optics. But the line between humanity and hysteria, legal and illegal, and the safety and welfare of thousands is beginning to blur.
Build the wall, Mr. Trump, and take no political prisoners in the process.
As Gastelum said, “Tijuana is a city of immigrants, but we don’t want them in this way. It was different with the Haitians; they carried papers, they were in order. It wasn’t a horde, pardon the expression.”
And that is precisely how the majority of Americans feel, Mr. Mayor.
