On March 28, 2019, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen sent a letter to Congress with an “urgent request” for assistance in stemming what she described as a tide of migrants overwhelming the border, and stating that the department is facing a “system-wide meltdown”.
The mainstream media is completely ignoring this story.
This latest, massive, caravan moving through Mexico may be the largest yet. Check this out, from Secretary Nielsen’s report:
Reports of violence and sexual assault along the route are now pervasive, meaning that many arriving migrants require especially focused care. In some cases, girls as young as 10 years old in DHS custody require pregnancy tests so we can be sure they get essential medical support. And with increased flows, smugglers and traffickers are forcing more people into inhumane conditions along the journey and putting lives in danger. They are preying on innocent people for profit and exploiting this crisis to line their pockets by breaking our laws.
Secretary Nielsen is not the first to have raised concerns about the humanitarian aspects of mass migration of UACs to the United States. During the Obama years, in June 2014, the House Committee on Homeland Security held hearings about this and then-Secretary Jeh Johnson sounded an alarm similar to Secretary Nielsen’s:
To be clear, we face an urgent situation in the Rio Grande Valley. Last fiscal year, CBP apprehended more than 24,000 unaccompanied children at the border. By mid-June of this year, that number has doubled to more than 52,000. Those from Guatemala … El Salvador, [and] Honduras make up three-quarters of that migration.
On Friday, I traveled to South Texas for the fourth time in 6 months in office, this time, to lead an interagency team to oversee our efforts there…While there, I spent time talking with the children again. It is a vivid reminder that this is a humanitarian issue as much as it is a matter of border security. We are talking about large numbers of children without their parents, who have arrived at our border hungry, thirsty, exhausted, scared, and vulnerable.
How we treat the children in particular is a reflection of our laws and our values. Therefore, to address this situation, our strategy is three-fold. First, process the increased tide of unaccompanied children through the system as quickly as possible; No. 2, stem the increased tide of illegal migration into the Rio Grande Valley; and No. 3, do these things in a manner consistent with our laws and values as Americans.
By allowing these caravans to continue, the Democrats are illustrating the evil side of their political intentions.
Also, calling an influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants entering illegally a “humanitarian crisis” or “a refugee crisis” is selling this situation short–it’s ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
Note: Illegal entry for whatever purpose is a crime under section 275(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
One more: the Left will tell you “there has been a significant drop in illegal entry prosecutions.” This is true, but arrests are up sharply. The problem is we’re catching and arresting the illegals, briefly holding them, and then releasing them, allowing to flow into the country.
By the way, as I tweeted (@Brian_sussman)
The Border has been “closed” before:
JFK Assassination
When DEA agent Enrique Camarena was murdered in Mexico
9/11
WE’RE BEING INVADED!