It has finally come to this. People have been illegally crossing into the United States from the southern Mexico Border for decades. Some come individually and most come as a group or a band organized by illegal “Coyotes”. It has always been risky. Many of the females joining these groups are raped and held captive into sex slavery once they get into the United States. Also, drug smugglers will often use them as “cover” for their contraband coming across the border. By railcar, truck and foot they have been taking this journey.
We first noticed how crazy the whole thing is when Kay and I drove from my hometown of Oxnard, Calif. to her brother’s residence in San Diego. As we entered San Diego County we noticed highway warning signs. It was like the “deer crossing” signs you see in rural areas but for one big difference. The image on the sign was an adult man and woman followed by children. All it said was “Warning!”. We thought it was extreme until a few miles down Interstate 5 there it was: A group of about 50 humans running across the freeway. Traffic came to a standstill while they ran across. 2 p.m. in the afternoon and in front of the entire world it was happening. They would run across the freeway (hopefully without incident) and into a shopping center parking lot where empty buses were waiting for them. Unbelievable you say? It was to me too until I saw it with my own two eyes.
The key for these illegals, if they get caught, is to request amnesty. If deported back they may face danger. So, we usually give in and let them stay. Hence, they keep coming knowing that luck is on their side. President Trump is tired of this game and insult to our sovereignty. I certainly agree with him. There is a proper way to seek immigration and most of the world abides by it. Why do we allow this type of “Black Market” on human beings? One of the biggest campaign promises during the 2016 elections was to build a wall on our southern border and establish integrity in our immigration process.
Well, the time has come to test the will of the promise keepers. There is a small army of immigrants assembled in Central America (Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala) and moving northward through Mexico. At the time of this writing it is believed to be over 9,000 persons. Many of them are men over 30 years old who would not qualify at all for amnesty. In fact, there are some “bad hombres” within the mass of humanity. Guatemala has claimed that they have apprehended over “100 ISIS connected Syrians” from within the Caravan.
Showtime will take place within the next few weeks (when the Caravan reaches our border). In the interim, President Trump is shutting off over $180 million according to Newsweek in normal foreign aid that we give the three highlighted nations and is warning Mexico to become more vigilant. Plus, that, he is threatened a “National Emergency” replete with deployment of the U.S. Army along our border. It is becoming a crisis. Who is going to back down?
Sympathizers have said that migrants were running from scary situations, but that is not true of this group. Journalists have been interviewing them on TV and time and time again these grown men say that they are looking for jobs and they want to send remittances home to their families. They will provide cheap labor for our companies driving wages down and increasing unemployment for US citizens.
There are many questions surrounding those in this army of migrants. Who is feeding them, clothing them, providing supplies and medical aid? Most have one small back pack if any bag at all. Where do they sleep? Who is providing the buses? What is the agenda and who organized this so-called caravan?
In the meantime, Hurricane Willa has intensified into a Category 5 in the eastern Pacific Ocean and will threaten Mexico with destructive winds, life-threatening storm surge and flooding rainfall as it makes landfall on Tuesday.
Willa is tracking northward and will turn to the northeast by Tuesday. It should approach landfall along the southwestern coast of mainland Mexico on Tuesday, which is expected to occur anywhere from near Mazatlán to the north of Puerto Vallarta. Increasing wind shear will lead to some slight weakening as Willa approaches landfall, but it will still be a strong and dangerous hurricane as it moves inland Tuesday.
Eventually the caravan will cross the path of destruction that Willa has left behind. Mexico’s resources are already strained in many places and thousands of migrants will make a bad situation worse. Either Hurricane Willa or the U.S Army will turn this caravan around.
Harry C. Alford is the co-founder, president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce ®. Kay DeBow is the co-founder, executive vice president of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Website: www.nationalbcc.org Email: halford@nationalbcc.org, kdebow@nationalbcc.org
