The post Rhetoric won’t fix border crisis first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

When historians look back to this era, they will wonder why we insisted on outsourcing our border control to a foreign country.

President Donald Trump’s threat to close down the southern border with Mexico isn’t a sign of strength, but of frustration fading into desperation.

He is reacting with understandable alarm at a spiraling migrant crisis on the border, and is looking to Mexico to address it because we are unwilling to do it on our own — not unable, unwilling.

There were more than 100,000 apprehensions at the border in March, an increase from the 76,000 in February. The numbers for both months were the highest in 10 years. The total for the fiscal year could hit a million, a historic surge completely overwhelming our capabilities.

We built our border facilities to hold single men, back when illegal migrants were largely adult males from Mexico, rather than family units from Central America. This means that they are ill-suited for the needs of women and children. Regardless, the sheer numbers are leading to authorities releasing migrants almost as soon as they are caught.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen warned Congress last week of  “the real-time dissolution of the immigration system.”

It’s not that border control has been tried and failed; it hasn’t been tried. Thanks to court decrees and congressional enactments, we don’t permit ourselves to quickly return minors from Central American countries, or to detain them for any significant period of time. They get released, along with the adults accompanying them.

The asylum process is broken. The initial so-called credible-fear interview to determine whether asylum-seekers get to the next step of the process approves almost all of them, even if they are unlikely ultimately to win asylum. In the meantime, they are waved into the country and probably never removed.

The migrants coming in increasing numbers realize that we are helpless to exclude them and, indeed, surrender to Border Patrol agents when they get here.

Congress could fix all this in an afternoon, with a few key changes in the law. Trump has a Nancy Pelosi problem much more than an Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador problem. But, since Pelosi is unmovable, Trump has to try to work the Mexican president, known by his initials, AMLO.

Mexico has done more to play ball with the U.S. under Trump than most people would have thought possible, yet all the migrants showing up at our border are still traveling through the country. Mexico doesn’t make controlling these migrants a high priority because they will end up here, not there.

The talk of cutting off the border isn’t aimed at the migrants, who largely don’t come through ports of entry, but at forcing the Mexican government to do more. Maybe the mere threat of the resulting economic disruption will work.

But if Trump goes through with closing the border, the strategy has some of the same weaknesses as the government shutdown earlier this year. Where does it end? If Mexico doesn’t act quickly, how long are we going to keep the border closed? The longer it’s closed, the more pain will be felt in the U.S. economy at a time when there are already signs of softness.

What if Mexico initially buckles, then backslides?

Will we shut down the border again, or threaten to?

Even if this gambit were guaranteed to succeed, it’s insane that a sovereign country of unparalleled power has tied its own hands such that it must try to bully and cajole a foreign nation to do immigration enforcement for it.

In a more rational world, Congress would take seriously the spectacle of U.S. officials — and humanitarian organizations — scrambling to handle a flood of humanity showing up every day, and give them the legal authorities and resources to get the situation under control. That it won’t is a dereliction of duty of the highest order

Rich Lowry is editor of National Review.

Source: https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/democrats-not-mexico-are-driving-the-border-crisis/article_d1da1ac4-557a-11e9-b9d4-a72aeb8e9645.html

The post Democrats, not Mexico, are driving the border crisis first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Calling the federal government’s migration protection protocols – also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy – “baseless and immoral,” a coalition of 500 religious organizations and leaders have asked Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen for an immediate end to the policy.

In a Feb. 26 letter to Nielsen, the religious groups and individuals said the policy ” returns vulnerable asylum-seekers to Mexico and puts them at risk of further harm while they wait for their case to be processed in the United States.”

“Our diverse moral teachings find consistency in the absolute value of the human person and our obligation to protect the most vulnerable among us,” the letter said. “We call on you to uphold our country’s asylum law and respect asylum-seekers and others seeking protection as the human beings they are.”

The letter cited two main reasons for ending the policy: It “puts people fleeing danger back in harm’s way,” and it “jeopardizes access to counsel, due process and (the) overall ability for a person to find safety in the United States.”

“Our country’s asylum laws are based upon the international principle of non-refoulement – a promise that we as the United States will not send people back to countries where their lives or freedom will be at risk,” the letter said.

However, “since July 2017, the dangers facing refugees and migrants in Mexico have escalated. Asylum-seekers forced to return to Mexico face risk of homelessness, malnourishment, disease, assault, kidnapping and death,” the letter added. “Recent reports confirm that Mexican authorities continue to improperly return asylum-seekers to their countries of persecution and that the deficiencies in the Mexican asylum system have grown.”

Central American countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras – from where the bulk of many asylum-seekers have fled – “have some of the highest homicide rates in the world for countries that are not classified as being at war,” the letter said.

“Additionally, the policy has serious implications for children asylum-seekers – leaving them without access to education and other factors that will permanently affect their development, health, and well-being.”

On the access-to-counsel issue, the faith leaders’ letter said, “Asylum-seekers’ due process right to access legal counsel both during the assessment at ports of entry and while waiting in Mexico is seriously compromised by the policy.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced what is being called the “Remain in Mexico” policy Dec. 20, saying it is provided for under Section 235(b)(2)(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Pompeo said the U.S. government notified Mexico’s government it was invoking that section, a move he said was necessary “to confront the illegal immigration crisis facing the United States.”

“Individuals arriving in the United States from Mexico – illegally or without proper documentation – will be returned to Mexico for the duration of their immigration proceedings,” he said in a statement. “In response, the Mexican government has informed us that it will support the human rights of migrants by affording affected migrants humanitarian visas to stay on Mexican soil, the ability to apply for work, and other protections while they await U.S. proceedings.”

In a separate statement Dec. 20, Nielsen said the action was needed because some “try to game the system” by entering the U.S. without legal permission and then “disappear” into the country. “Many skip their court dates” to appear before an immigration judge, she said, but under the new policy, “they will wait for an immigration court decision while they are in Mexico.”

With regard to access to counsel for asylum-seekers, the faith leaders’ letter, their “due process right to access legal counsel both during the assessment at ports of entry and while waiting in Mexico is seriously compromised by the policy.”

“While awaiting a court date in Mexico, the ability to obtain a U.S. legal representative will be nearly insurmountable,” it added.

“In the slim chance a person is able to retain legal representation, the logistics of speaking to and providing them with the necessary documentation to support their asylum claim would be costly, confusing, and negatively impact a person’s case. Given these unnecessary barriers, the policy will prevent asylum seekers from having a fair and equitable opportunity to seek protection and find refuge.”

Dozens of religious orders and at least six Catholic Charities affiliates were among the Catholic signatories to the letter, as were the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the Franciscan Action Center, the Catholic social justice lobby Network, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, and Pax Christi USA. Likewise, dozens of women and men religious were among the individual signers to the letter.

Source: https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2019/03/01/500-religious-groups-leaders-seek-end-to-remain-in-mexico-policy/

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The post El Paso Is on Edge After a Child’s Death and the Release of Hundreds of Migrants first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Breaking: Troop Granted Expanded Power To Use Lethal Force On Migrant At Southern Border first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

A Central American migrant, moving in a caravan through Mexico and traveling to request asylum in U.S, looks on as she makes a stop during her travels to Tijuana, at a shelter in San Luis Rio Colorado, in Sonora state,

The timing of the migrants’ arrival could compromise a flurry of talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Trump has repeatedly threatened to scrap if Mexico does not crack down on the flow of Central Americans through its territory.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said her agency was monitoring the caravan and would prosecute anyone who illegally entered the United States or made “a false immigration claim.”

Migrants began arriving by bus on Tuesday at a shelter that was a five minute-walk from the border and within sight of a U.S. flag fluttering under an overpass linking the two countries.

Minutes after disembarking, some sat outside the shelter with bowls of food, gazing over the road towards the United States.

“The wall doesn’t look that tall,” said Kimberly George, a 15-year-old girl from Honduras, nodding toward the stunted barrier only few feet away. “I really want to cross it.”

Migrants said they fled their homes in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras because of death threats from gangs, the murder of family members or political persecution.

Moving from town to town, the migrant caravan became a stumbling block for U.S.-Mexico relations after Trump unleashed a series of tweets in early April, pressuring Mexican authorities to stop them.

Another busload of migrants arrived in the afternoon, overflowing the first shelter and more pulled in after dark. Migrant aid groups said it was the biggest single group they had seen arrive together as they scrambled to find places in ten shelters.

“Thanks to God we’re here,” said 34-year-old Aide Hernandez from Guatemala who had four children in tow. She said she planned to seek asylum in the United States. When asked why, she looked down, ashamed to detail a case of domestic abuse.

Honduran Angel Caceres dipped a tortilla into a plate of refried beans and rice, his first meal in two days. He preferred to spend what money he’d saved since leaving Honduras to buy food for his five-year-old son, Jeffrey, coughing with a dirty nose beside him.

Caceres said he fled Honduras in early March after a brother and niece were killed and his 82-year old mother was strangled to near death and raped.

“I left with a heap of things in my head,” he said and held out his phone with photos of a brutally beaten older woman in a hospital bed, repeating again and again: “82. She’s 82.”

Volunteers from U.S.-based advocacy group Pueblos Sin Fronteras, which organized the caravan, addressed the migrants to discuss a plan to cross the main pedestrian bridge into the United States together on Sunday.

Tensions flared after a Mexican immigration official suggested they go in smaller groups to the border station before the migrants had a chance to meet later in the week with immigration lawyers organized by Pueblos Sin Fronteras.

Some 2,300 miles across the United States in Washington, D.C., Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray met with Homeland Security chief Nielsen to discuss Central American migration, the Mexican ministry said in a statement.

Videgaray told Nielsen that Mexico would make its own “sovereign” decisions on immigration and that its cooperation with the United States was dictated by Mexican interests.

Nielson put out her message on the caravan later, making no mention of the talks with Videgaray.

“Individuals of the ‘caravan’ seeking asylum or other similar claims should seek protections in the first safe country they enter, including Mexico,” her statement said, while also stressing that people who “coach” migrants to make false claims could be prosecuted.

“The smugglers, traffickers and criminals understand our legal loopholes better than Congress and are effectively exploiting them to their advantage,” she said.

Pueblos Sin Fronteras volunteers say they and other organizations are simply explaining to vulnerable people what rights they have, not coaching them to break the law.

Migrants who spoke at length with Reuters at various points during their month-long journey were short on polish and knowledge of their legal rights, but at least 20 recounted detailed stories of facing death threats.

It was unclear if concerns about immigration could affect the talks to update the NAFTA accord, which were also talking place this week in the U.S. capital where ministers from Mexico, Canada and United States rushed to seal a quick deal.

On Monday, Trump threatened to make immigration controls a condition in the NAFTA talks and demanded that Mexico stop people from crossing its territory to enter the United States.

By late Wednesday back in Tijuana, children in dirt-smeared shirts played ball in a cramped courtyard in one of the shelters as others bedded down on the hard floor inside, covering up under blankets or whatever extra clothes they had on hand as the temperature dropped.

A scrawny girl crawled onto the lap of her mother, Ana Wuillams, crying that she was cold.

Wuillams had fled Honduras after being raped in a case so grave that an immigration attorney she met with for nearly an hour along the caravan route told her she had a 95 percent chance of a making a successful asylum claim in the United States.

But she was uncertain whether she and her daughter should stick with the group or try to cross the border alone and find their way to Houston where she had a friend ready to offer shelter.

“Now that I’m here, I’m afraid to cross the border,” she said.

The post Trump officials warn of arrests as migrant caravan reaches us boarder first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Trump administration will end temporary legal immigration status for 200,000 Salvadorans who have been living in the U.S. for nearly two decades, the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday.

Salvadorans who currently have Temporary Protected Status (TPS) must return to their homeland by September 2019 or become undocumented immigrants if they remain without legal protections.

Salvadorans were first granted TPS in 2001 after a pair of devastating earthquakes that killed nearly 1,000 people and destroyed more than 100,000 homes in the Central American country.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen concluded that El Salvador has rebuilt and recovered enough so the emergency declaration is no longer necessary.

“The substantial disruption of living conditions caused by the earthquake no longer exist,” Homeland Security said in a statement.

The decision runs counter to those made by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who extended TPS protections for El Salvador every 18 months. Their administrations said the country had not fully recovered from the quakes and also had raging violence from drug cartels that made it impossible for so many people to return to the unstable nation.

Homeland Security said Monday that its decision was based on recovery from the earthquakes and not on the current state of gang violence in El Salvador.

The moves comes after months of lobbying by El Salvador’s government, a bipartisan group in Congress and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, all urging Washington to find a way that allows Salvadorans to remain in the United States.

“To disregard the contributions that El Salvadorans have made in communities across this country by stamping an expiration date on their lives here is inhumane,” said Amanda Baran of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. “El Salvador is one of the world’s most dangerous countries and will be unable to absorb the return of these thousands of people whose lives are inextricably intertwined with those of ours here in the United States.”

The decision pleased immigration groups that advocate for lowers levels of immigration, noting the TPS program, created by Congress in 1990, was a short-term fix abused by repeated extensions.

“By ending the Salvadoran TPS, Secretary Nielsen has taken a major step toward saving the TPS program so it can be used for future emergencies,” Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, said in a statement. “The past practice of allowing foreign nationals to remain in the United States long after an initial  emergency in their home countries has ended has undermined the integrity of the program.”

More: Trump may order 200,000 Salvadorans to leave U.S.

More: Trump administration to send Haiti earthquake victims home in 2019

More: Temporary protected status: Why Haitians are being kicked out

The administration has been phasing out temporary protected status granted by Republican and Democratic administrations to 437,000 people from 10 countries that have suffered armed conflicts, earthquakes and other natural disasters, according to the Congressional Research Service.

In November, Homeland Security announced it was ending TPS for about 59,000 Haitians living legally in the U.S. since the powerful 2010 earthquake decimated the country. They must return home by July 2019.

The department also eliminated TPS status for 5,300 Nicaraguans first granted in 1999 after Hurricane Mitch. They must leave by January 2019.

While the department extended TPS for 86,000 Hondurans affected by Mitch for six more months, the administration indicated those people may ultimately be eliminated from the program.

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/08/reports-trump-order-200-000-salvadorans-leave-u-s/1012345001/

The post Trump orders 200,000 Salvadorans to leave U.S. first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.