Regardless of where you stand on the immigration issue, we should all agree that our open southern border poses a clear and present danger to our national security. In recent weeks, a human wave of children at the border have overwhelmed our resources, occupied the attention of our border guards, and made it even easier than usual to smuggle things and people across. We are being told that this is either part of a planned strategy by drug cartels to smuggle their drugs across the border or it is a spontaneous migration to the United States from Central America. I doubt either is correct.
If the cartels have decided to employ this human wave tactic to smuggle drugs, it would imply that our drug interdiction efforts have been effective. They have not. In fact, in the past 16 years, we have seen a shocking increase in narcotics in this country, imported from Mexico, driving the price of the drugs to historic lows. To believe that the cartels are now changing tactics in the face of such success is to believe that they are fixing, at great expense, something that simply is not broken. Moreover, there are only so many human waves of children available. If they are in fact deploying this tactic, they are naturally limited by the number of naive parents willing to sacrifice their kids. The cartels would likely reserve this tactic for something huge. Of course, their efforts would further drive down the price and, if caught, would be a total loss. It just does not seem likely that this is a cartel strategy.
Nor is it likely that this is a spontaneous migration from Central America. "These children are fleeing the terrible poverty and living conditions of Central America," we are told. I have no doubt that the living conditions in Central America are terrible, but they have been that way for centuries. Nothing has changed. To believe that these parents have only now become aware that America is a better place for their kids defies common sense. Again, nothing has changed. The Right argues that the border is more porous than ever, but this is only marginally true. Enforcement of our laws has been lacking for the past 6 years, but in reality, the border itself is far more secure now than it was before 9/11. The right argues that the lack of enforcement acts as a magnet, drawing these children and their parents to us. That argument, however, is belied by the "impoverished living conditions" argument. Again, to assume that a bunch of poor, uneducated Central American parents are sitting around the slum, evaluating American border enforcement policy, looking for that perfect time to make the 1000 mile trek, also defies common sense.
There is little doubt that this is an orchestrated attempt, by someone evil, to overwhelm our border. Whoever the strategist is knows that innocent children are our weakness and he or she is willing to use children to accomplish an insidious goal. As Americans, our collective stomachs turn when we see suffering children. The world, and in particular our enemies, know that we will do everything we can to comfort those children. That includes taking these children into our country and providing what relief we can. However, while we provide that relief, our enemies are using the diversion to import whatever they want into the United States. That includes nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, suicide bombers, or even well trained enemy soldiers.
And this is why we must close the border now: even if this is not part of a grand terrorist strategy, it is, at the very least, an opportunity for any enemy within traveling distance of the border to get across. As we have seen before, our enemies will take advantage of the opportunity, if they have not already.
So, grant amnesty, don't grant amnesty; deport, don't deport; build a wall, don't build a wall but, whatever your political persuasion, the border must be closed. To continue to risk another attack by allowing our enemies unfettered access to our country is reckless and intolerable. It only takes one terrorist sneaking across the border to shoot up a school. Imagine what 3000 jihadis, taking advantage of this situation, could do to our holiday season. It is time to treat this mass migration as a possible prelude to an attack, place our military on the border, and plug the breach before it is too late.
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