By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ
McALLEN, Texas |...The photographs are dramatic, no question about that. Any sort of unwanted mob action spurs fears in people. Who are these guys and why do they want to come here? There are answers, of course. Only, during harsh political times of the sort we are currently living, few want answers at all.
They want action.
They want someone to stop the mob.
A hurried meeting is on tap today in Mexico City between Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Again, talks will hash-out the problem and the long list of solutions - none which has ever worked.
Hordes of Migrants are on the hoof. They are coming to the southern border with great hopes of entering the country for whatever reason they carry in their pocket. It is the country's roiling socio-political issue, a burr in the national saddle so to speak.
What the hey to do? Is the federal government doing enough to stem the surge? Is that patchwork fencing even working. The courts have rid Texas of its mid-river buoys in the Rio Grande and allowed the U.S. Border Patrol to cut razor wire obstacles set in place by Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, a politician who believes he can skirt federal law at will.
He's wrong. The courts have sat him back down every time he dreams up and puts into effect another of his harsh responses. Abbott is not the ruler of an independent state. He is doing what Arizona did a dozen years ago, when the federal courts also shut that down.
Immigration is a federal responsibility, and the government sooner or later takes ownership of the mess.
Texas has done much to fend-off the migrants thanks to a hellbent approach taken by Abbott, who has followed the Far-Right Way and made political hay with the lives of migrants Texas detains and often buses to other states. That is not a solution; that is a political jab.
Abbott knows it.
But he believes Texans are dumbasses who believe he is a ruler of sorts and not an elected official. Most who follow the ways of idea becoming law know that some are challenged. Abbott has lucked into the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is sympathetic to Republican politics. The U.S. Supreme Court, ultimate decider, is another thing altogether.
Abbott keeps losing there.
States, no matter how independent and cowboyish, cannot create and enforce their own immigration laws, just like they cannot print their own money or open their own embassies. Federalism reigns. Texas cannot always get what it wants.
It is a bitter pill for Abbott to swallow, but there it is.
Texas may yet put up some more creative blocks for the migrants, but even the staunch defensive line of the Texas Longhorns would not be able to line-up and stay for any length of time.
Repeat after me: immigration is a federal responsibility.
Now, if a suddenly-energized Uncle Sam next arrives with an armada of PBRs (machine gun-armed patrol boats of the sort used in rivers during the Vietnam Conflict) or a convoy of concrete trucks to at last erect that 50-foot wall from Brownsville at the lower end of the Rio Grande to Southern California, well...
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[EDITOR'S NOTE:...By the way, the photo of the marching migrants you see atop this post was taken in 2018 and involved Hondurans, not the Colombians and Venezuelans said to be in the current convoy. The story (problem) is not new, as isn't the photography...)
If they are seeking asylum, as they say they are, they are supposed to seek it in the nearest country from their homes.
ReplyDeleteThe journey from southern Mexico to US border is 1,000 miles. Fact is, most don't make it.
ReplyDeleteEcho report.
ReplyDeleteThere is no incentive on the part of Mexico to stop this caravan. But the U.S. also has no incentive. It's cheap labor and cannon fodder for elections. Neither party did squat when they had the majorities. But they continue to play the blame game year after year.
ReplyDeleteAmerica is blessed and privileged to have these migrants. When we get enough superior and smarter migrants to outnumber Trumps knot-z’s, we can MAGA for real. Shouldn’t take long. The Mexican children are brighter and more deserving of the American dream than the window lickers being produced in the southern states.
ReplyDeleteNo party wants to solve this problem. Both need it to beg for votes.
ReplyDeleteHow long are you impotent politicians going to drag this out. Guess you are too busy bad mouthing each other and impeaching everyone. You are a disgrace to our democracy!
ReplyDeleteInvasion started under Trump but he took his eye off the ball rigging the election. fact.
ReplyDeleteDo we need Mexico to help in our illegal crossings? You bet. We should embrace the relationship we have with Mexico, our largest trading partner. We should treat them as an ally & not an adversary. As SOS, I went to Mexico City 3 times to visit not only with Cabinet members, but one time with the President, accompained by Gov Abbott. As a side note, the last time our Gov went to Mexico City was with me Labor Day weekend 2015, over 8 years ago. Our leadership should be visiting with our largest trading partner at least once a year. Its the way to establish & maintain those dipolmatic ties. Most that don't live on our border don't recognize the importance of border trade. Those that advocate for the shutting down & closing our border may be unaware of the impact that would have not only on our border communities, but the country as a whole. There are over 400K jobs in Texas & 5M in the US, respectively, due to trade with Mexico. I still support the building of a wall along Mexico's sourthern border with Guatemala...that is the primary crossing point for these migrants. Stop them there. To me, it would make more fiscal & logic to build a wall along that 350 mile border vs. trying to build a wall along our 2,200 mile border. The humanitarian aid to Guatemala or other Central American countries can be negotiated later, but at least begin the dialogue. Just my year end thoughts...Happy New Year to all & may 2024 be better than 2023. God Bless.
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