American Elephants

There is a Caravan of migrants coming up from Central America aimed at the southern border of the United States. The media are having a bit of trouble describing it, or even understanding what is happening. They are a growing bunch that is reaching nearly 1,000 people, 2,000 people, and 4,000 people depending on the page you find. They are variously walking, marching, driving, hiking, or riding a train, whatever, making their way across Central America and up through Mexico. President Trump has announced that  if this group is not stopped by the Central American countries, the United States will promptly end the financial assistance extended to these countries. It is a 2,000 mile trek.

President Trump has announced that if the caravan is not stopped, he will call out the military to man the southern border. Fox reports that the U.S. and Mexico have agreed on a plan to handle the caravan from Central America.

Reuters says the San Ysidro port of entry has allowed eight women and children from a caravan of Central American migrants, who have sought asylum in the United States  after officials allowed them entry from Mexico, fueling hope among their companions who remain camped outside the border crossing. Are you properly confused? Welcome to the club.

I turned to The Daily Signal at the Heritage Foundation, which solves much of the confusion.  Ana Quintana is a senior policy analyst for Latin America and the Western Hemisphere in The Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies. She said the caravan started of as a few hundreds and has grown to around 4,000 people.

This latest migrant caravan is another example of leftist groups grandstanding off of desperation and poverty. The Northern Triangle region of Central America where El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are located is one of the most violent areas of the world. Transnational organized criminal groups and violent street gangs destabilize these impoverished countries. This leaves massive parts of the population vulnerable and with little means to survive.

Just like the migrant caravan earlier this March, organizers of this march are weaponizing poor Central Americans. This caravan was organized by Bartolo Fuentes, a former Honduran legislator and member of the radical leftist Libre party. He was detained by Guatemalan authorities on Tuesday for illegally entering the country.

Libre is not a political party but a destabilizing movement. It was founded in 2011 by former President Manuel (Mel) Zelaya. In 2009, Zelaya was removed from power after repeated attempts to undermine the constitutional order and rule of law. Zelaya is an ally of socialist governments in Latin America like the Castro and Maduro regimes in Cuba and Venezuela.

Following Libre’s losses in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections, Libre’s turned to a public campaign of generating turmoil and instability.

Ana Quintano has travelled to Honduras many times. She adds that the U.S. must take action to secure its borders and faithfully enforce its law. Loopholes are a problem.Security can be done in a humane manner while protecting those who truly qualify for asylum.

I include a map in case you are as confused by Central American geography as I am. Democrats claim to be the party of compassion and want open borders as we are a “nation of immigrants,”which is nonsense. The California DHS is automatically registering every applicant for a driver’s license as a voter. That’s why there is a drive to require a citizenship question on the census and require that voters show identification and proof of citizenship in order to vote. Democrats swear that there is no vote fraud. They are wrong.

ADDENDUM: Breitbart has a Mexican video of the caravan breaking through the fence at Mexico’s southern border, and they will be updating.