The Caravan of Migrants Is Not America’s Problem

Over a thousand migrants from Central America are currently making their way toward the United States southern border.

Their goal? By all accounts it is to enter the U.S. illegally and seek asylum.

Let’s be clear, while we are certainly sympathetic to the security crisis plaguing many in Honduras, El Salvador, and other parts of Central America, allowing them to violate our immigration laws and create chaos on our border is not the answer.

Often ignored in the immigration debate is how these governments have failed to provide safe and prosperous countries for their own people. A great irony here is that the Trump administration has shown far more willingness to work with these Central American countries than previous administrations.

So why the caravan now and who is behind it?

A group taking credit is Pueblo Sin Fronteras—People Without Borders. They are openly urging these migrants to break the law. But while their organization may not have borders, our country does.

And just as the mayor of Oakland doesn’t have the right to give illegal immigrants a heads up that law enforcement is about to conduct a raid, neither do such groups have the right to encourage and help people violate our laws and cross our borders illegally.

This is a crass political move by those who want to force more illegal immigration into the U.S. and who disavow American sovereignty.

Currently, this caravan is hundreds of miles from our border and this should not become America’s problem. We need to support and encourage our neighbor Mexico in its law enforcement efforts to stop this caravan before it reaches the U.S.

Mexico is stepping up to the plate, but more can always be done. We also need members of Congress to do their job on this issue.

Protecting our national security requires securing our borders. That is the responsibility of the federal government and it is the first step in ensuring we have an immigration system that rewards legal immigrants, not those who break our laws.