Breathe Deep

We all need to chill.  We need to think about what we are doing and why we are doing it. Like the MacCarthy era, or Salem 1692, this has all the classic characteristics of a witch hunt.  We are allowing ourselves to be caught up in mass hysteria.  There is a problem at the Southern border.  It doesn’t mean immigrants are responsible for all our problems.  No, we can’t just ignore illegal immigration.  That too is a band-aid.   It means we need to strike a balance between recognizing immigrants have much to offer and, yes, no country can function without a border.  Yes, a small minority of people who cross the border illegally are truly criminals. Yes, the undocumented have committed a crime by crossing.  Most are desperate.   

Think about it; how much money would I have to pay you to walk through the Darien Gap?  It is 60 miles and can take 10 days.  The mud can literally swallow you whole.  If you don’t dehydrate in the densest jungles on earth or die from exhaustion walking up steep mountains, you could get eaten by jaguars.  It can cost as much as $500.  

Despite this, there is a  $30 million a year industry guiding the 400,000 people who crossed in 2024.  One of the reasons the number is so high is efforts to stop illegal immigration.  Mexico tightened its borders so Venezuelans could no longer get in by plane.  40,000 chose the Darien Gap instead.  The Trump administration believes migrants living in fear of ICE will deter illegal immigration.  If they weren’t afraid of the jaguars…

Are the cartels pedaling fentanyl terrorist organizations?  I lost a friend to the opioid epidemic; no one can claim I am soft on drug dealers.  But there is no invasion.  Everybody has drug dealers; everybody struggles with illegal drugs crossing their border.  A lot of the people in this “invasion” are unaccompanied minors–children.  Most are families.  Many of those children are escaping gangs.  They want what we want, what all people want: a safe place to live, a way to make a living.  They want the things people want because they are human.

It is appropriate to deport non-citizens who have committed serious crimes.  But America has the world’s most sophisticated law enforcement; we can separate the sheep from the goats.  We have too many native born citizens committing violent crimes to waste resources tracking down tax-payers whose only crime is being desperate enough to walk through a jungle in search of a better life.  

Why exactly did undocumented workers rise to the forefront of the threats to America?  Trump hypocritically pardons the Proud Boys and then says our undocumented co-workers and neighbors pose a threat.  The most destructive aspect of Trump’s effort will be how it convinces federal agencies to take their eye off the ball of real threats to the nation–like the domestic terrorists he pardoned.

 America had immigration problems before Trump.  Now, it has all those problems and xenophobia.