By Gary Bauer
Last week the organizers issued a list of demands to the governments of Central America, Mexico and the United States. Some made sense, like an end to corruption.
But immediately following that was a demand to end violence against "the LGBTQIA community." I wonder how many of the marching refugees could identify all the words in that acronym.
Other demands specifically to the U.S. government (or you the taxpayer) were: "That they recognize our right to dignified work" and "That they open the borders to us because we are as much citizens as the people of the countries where we are and/or travel."
In other words, they are demanding that we recognize them as citizens and provide them jobs. But what about jobs for America's actual citizens?
President Trump's strong rhetoric over the weekend got the attention of the Mexican government, which announced late yesterday that it plans to halt and disband the caravan. But the organizers are defiant. They denounced President Trump and vowed to press on.
At the White House today, President Trump said that our immigration laws "are so weak and so pathetic. It's like we have no border." Sadly, he is right. The good news is that his administration, against massive resistance from the left, is taking steps to change that.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered immigration judges to speed up deportation hearings in order to clear a backlog of cases that tripled during the Obama years. This is a big step toward ending "catch and release."
The president also announced today that he is speaking with Secretary of Defense James Mattis about "guarding our border with our military." The president has repeatedly and correctly stressed that border security is national security.
This caravan is a perfect example of everything that is wrong with our immigration policies. It is because of our lax immigration laws that thousands and thousands of people think they can enter the United States and demand rights, citizenship and jobs!
It's also a good example of why we need a serious border wall. By the way, 89% of Border Patrol agents, whose job it is to police the border, believe that a "wall system in strategic locations is necessary to securing the border."
The White House
1600 Daily
April 3, 2018
'Catch and release,' explained
"A huge caravan of Central Americans is headed for the U.S., and no one in Mexico dares to stop them," BuzzFeed News reported on Friday. A number of the caravan's participants have said they intend to cross the U.S. border illegally once they get here, hoping to slip by American authorities undetected.
An immigration system that gives everyone a fair chance—including both newcomers and longstanding American citizens—requires respect for our Nation's laws. Yet catch-and-release loopholes, which are the result of statutory and judicial obstacles, encourage illegal immigration and prevent the removal of these individuals once they arrive. That lawlessness helps no one.
President Donald J. Trump has called upon Congress to enact comprehensive reform that addresses this breakdown in the system. In the absence of lasting solutions, we can only expect the flow of illegal immigration into our country to continue in the years ahead.
Read more: What you need to know about 'catch and release'
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