Posts

The Caravan Is Making the Most Ridiculous Demand for Them to Go Home

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Newsweek. Central American asylum seekers in Mexican border town Tijuana reportedly marched to the U.S. Consulate on Tuesday to present the Trump administration with an ultimatum: Let us into the country or give us $50,000 each to turn back home.

The demand came a month after asylum seekers began to arrive in Tijuana. Many still face weeks, if not months, of waiting in the border town before their asylum claims can be processed.

Asylum seekers showed up at the consulate in two groups, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune, with one of the groups—made up of roughly 100 people—delivering the $50,000 demand.

Asked how the asylum seekers came up with the figure, organizer Alfonso Guerrero Ulloa of Honduras told the newspaper that while “it may seem like a lot of money to you…it is a small sum compared to everything that the United States has stolen from Honduras.”

In a letter outlining the ultimatum, the group reportedly criticized U.S. intervention in Central America. The U.S. intervened in numerous military coups as it sought to protect commercial interests in the region. (Read more from “The Caravan Is Making the Most Ridiculous Demand for Them to Go Home” HERE)

___________________________________________________

Students Offended by ‘Distasteful’ Sign Advertising Migrant Caravan-Themed Sandwich

By Washington Examiner. A restaurant near the campus of Clemson University has upset students. Their grave error? Naming one of its sandwiches the “Tijuana Chicken Sandwich.”

The restaurant, named “ Loose Change,” put a sign outside their establishment which read:

“Big enough to feed a caravan. Built high enough with smoked chicken, lettuce, tomato, pepperjack, bacon + guac. Bordered with a side of pub chips. So good, it should be illegal.”

(Read more from “Students Offended by ‘Distasteful’ Sign Advertising Migrant Caravan-Themed Sandwich” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

The Migrant Caravan’s Forgotten Victims

/0 Comments/in , /by

There’s been a lot of talk about compassion to the migrant caravan at America’s southern border, but what about compassion for those put at a disadvantage by specious asylum claims?

In the ongoing debate about the column of migrants, those who are skeptical of the asylum claims being made and those who simply want a more measured approach to handling those claims are told that they have no compassion for people coming from Central America looking for a better life in the United States.

But if we’re really going to have a conversation about compassion, we need to get a few things straightened out.

First, unless those looking for a better life have either suffered or have legitimate reason to believe they will suffer persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinions, they do not meet the legal baseline for refuge or asylum. Period.

Second, there is reason to believe that a majority of those claiming asylum from Central America do so with no intention of following through. According to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security regarding the migrant caravan:

The low statutory requirements and legal loopholes in our laws encourage aliens to claim credible fear at our Southern border knowing they will be promptly released into the interior with work permits pending the determination of their full claim. In recent years, data shows that more than 65 percent of asylum seekers at our border are from Central America – of those 89 percent pass their initial credible-fear interview. Yet, the harsh reality is that 31 percent of aliens who pass that initial interview do not even show up for their hearing, while a staggering 40 percent of aliens who pass their initial interview do not even file an application.

This suggests that too many of those who claim asylum while crossing the border appear to be using our asylum process as a fallback after being apprehended.

Third, having previously worked at a nonprofit that advocated for persecuted religious minorities as well as reported on the state of global religious persecution, I have seen firsthand the need for a substantive asylum process, because I have met the people it is meant to serve: Religious minorities from oppressive regimes, political dissidents, survivors of genocide.

Looking at religious persecution alone shows how bad things are worldwide. A 2018 Pew Research study shows that 28 percent of countries had “high” or “very high” restrictions on religion and 27 percent show “high” or “very high” social hostility to religion.

It is good that we have a means for people fleeing persecution to seek and find asylum on our shores. It’s awful to see the process for those legitimately in danger clogged by those who aren’t. Our asylum process should never be a plan B for those who seek to circumvent or break our immigration laws for economic benefit, especially when it puts the legitimately persecuted at a disadvantage.

It’s a simple fact (and one that both my colleague Jon Miller and I and have previously discussed) that resources are finite, and when government agents spend time sorting out frivolous asylum claims from economic migrants at the border, it takes up time and resources that could be otherwise applied to other applicants who don’t have the geographic advantage of being able to form a caravan and travel over land.

G.K. Chesteron once wrote: “The modern world is full of the old Christian virtues gone mad. The virtues have gone mad because they have been isolated from each other and are wandering alone. Thus some scientists care for truth; and their truth is pitiless. Thus some humanitarians only care for pity; and their pity (I am sorry to say) is often untruthful.”

This is apparent in our ongoing debate about immigration. Compassion is important, but it can’t be separated from the truth of who needs our compassion the most. (For more from the author of “The Migrant Caravan’s Forgotten Victims” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Watch: Migrant Caravan Leaves Bottles of Urine, Mountains of Trash Behind

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Daily Wire. Caravan migrants from Central America that are stuck in Tijuana, Mexico are reportedly trashing the area, leaving behind bottles of urine and mountains of trash.

The news comes as migrants are facing increasing backlash and negative attitudes from local Mexican residents, as the overwhelming majority of Mexican residents — 73% — hold negative views towards the migrants, according to a poll from the Mexican newspaper El Universal.

(Read more from “Watch: Migrant Caravan Leaves Bottles of Urine, Mountains of Trash Behind” HERE)

_____________________________________________________

Tijuana Shuts Down Migrant Caravan Shelter

By Washington Times. The city government of Tijuana announced Saturday that it has closed down a migrant shelter at a sports complex close to the U.S. border that once held about 6,000 Central Americans who hope to get into the U.S.

Officials said all the migrants were being moved to a former concert venue much farther from the border. The city said in a statement the sports complex shelter was closed because of “bad sanitary conditions.”

Experts had expressed concerns about unsanitary conditions that had developed at the partly flooded sports complex, where the migrants had been packed into a space adequate for half their numbers. Mud, lice infestations and respiratory infections were rampant.

The remaining migrants were taken by bus to the new shelter about 10 miles from the border crossing at Otay Mesa and 14 miles from San Ysidro, near where people line up to file applications for asylum in the United States.

Tijuana officials had said earlier that nobody would be forced to move to the new facility, a large building and concrete patio known as El Barretal that was used for concerts and other events until about six years ago. But they also warned they would stop offering food and medical services at the Benito Juarez sports complex. (Read more from “Tijuana Shuts Down Migrant Caravan Shelter” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Border Patrol Caught a Convicted Murderer From Honduras in the Caravan

/0 Comments/in , /by

Border Patrol agents in San Diego arrested an alien from Honduras earlier this week after he crossed into the United States illegally. The man was part of the caravan from Central America that is currently parked in Tijuana, Mexico.

After further investigation, it was discovered the illegal alien was in Honduran prison for nearly two decades after being convicted of murder.

“On Nov. 24th, around 11 P.M., agents detected three people crossing the border illegally approximately one-mile east of the San Ysidro port of entry. Agents responded, arrested the three men, and transported them to a nearby Border Patrol station for processing,” Customs and Border Protection released Friday afternoon. “At the station, agents discovered documents indicating one of the men, 46 year-old Miguel Angel Ramirez, was recently released from prison in Honduras. Ramirez later admitted he was arrested and convicted for murder in Honduras and was released just four months ago. The San Diego Sector Border Patrol’s Foreign Operations Branch corroborated the man’s admission with the Honduran Consulate in Los Angeles and discovered that Ramirez served 16 years in a Honduran prison for his crime. Ramirez claimed he traveled with the migrant caravan from Honduras to Guatemala and Mexico.”

One of the other men who illegally crossed into the United States after traveling in the caravan has been deported in the past. He is also from Honduras. Earlier this week, an MS-13 member was found in the caravan. (Read more from “Border Patrol Caught a Convicted Murderer From Honduras in the Caravan” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

One-Third of Migrant Caravan Sick: HIV, Tuberculosis, Chickenpox

/0 Comments/in , /by

Thousands of migrants marched from Central America to the U.S. border over the last six weeks, but many of them are suffering from respiratory infections, tuberculosis, chickenpox and other serious health issues — including HIV.

Of the 6,000 migrants gathered in Tijuana just south of the U.S. border near San Diego, more than a third of them (2,267) are being treated for health-related issues, a spokesman for Tijuana’s Health Department told Fox News. . .

Meanwhile, the mayor of Tijuana said Tuesday that the city cannot afford to help the migrants that are there. “We won’t compromise the resources of the residents of Tijuana,” Juan Manuel Gastelum said during a press conference, noting that the city is spending some $30,000 a day. ““We won’t raise taxes tomorrow to pay for today’s problem.”

Hundreds of migrants stormed the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday, and the U.S. Border Patrol’s top San Diego agent said they shoved women and children to the front of the mob to use as human shields.

“What we saw over and over yesterday was that the group – the caravan, as we call them – would push women and children to the front, and then begin, basically, rocking our agents,” Chief Patrol Agent Rodney Scott said in a CNN interview. (Read more from “One-Third of Migrant Caravan Sick: HIV, Tuberculosis, Chickenpox” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Here’s How Many Migrants Have Abandoned the Migrant Caravan

/0 Comments/in , , /by

By Washington Examiner. Nearly 3,000 migrants who had been a part of caravans moving from Central America to the United States’ southern border have abandoned the group to either stay in Mexico or return to their home countries in Central America, according to Mexican government officials.

Mexico’s Interior and Foreign Ministries reported, as of Thursday, 2,934 people originally traveling to the U.S. have stopped and applied for asylum in Mexico.

Of those, 927 have canceled their asylum claim with the Mexican government and returned to Guatemala and Honduras, where the caravans originated, according to a government news release.

The two Mexican departments said federal police and immigration officers are helping transport those who chose to return home.

For the estimated 2,000 people who remain in Mexico as they wait over the next 45 to 90 days to learn if their asylum requests have been granted, 1,553 have been put up in shelters in the southern state of Chiapas. (Read more from “Here’s How Many Migrants Have Abandoned the Migrant Caravan” HERE)

________________________________________________

Migrant Caravans Swell to 12,000, Get Some Help Along the Way

By Fox News. In the small town of Veracruz, Mexico, at a gas station and truck stop, two nuns began stopping big rigs Sunday to fill the trailers with waiting migrants from the caravan.

The caravan is trying to make 116 miles, a record for them, considering the first day walking in Mexico they traveled just 20 miles.

The Catholic nuns at the scene are from Guadalajara’s Misioneras de Christo Resuscitado, and as a big red 18-wheeler approached, they flagged down the driver, stepped on the running board on the passenger side and spoke for about 5 minutes. The driver then gave a reluctant wave of the hand, one of the nuns spoke and dozens of young men ran to the rear to open the two tall metal doors.

An organizer appeared with a bullhorn, and loaded dozens of women and children and strollers inside. As soon as that truck left, with one door tied open, another approached. And again the nuns convinced him to fill his empty trailer with migrants. (Read more from “Migrant Caravans Swell to 12,000, Get Some Help Along the Way” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.