After traversing many miles to reach their destination, hundreds of people from a massive group of migrants have reached the southern border of the United States. More specifically, they reached San Diego, California in recent days. Then some from the group proceeded to cross into the U.S. illegally by scaling the flimsy-looking border fence that connects the U.S. with Tijuana, Mexico.
However, Border Patrol agents moved toward those that were attempting to enter the U.S., at which point those from south of the border retreated back where they came from.
“A few jumped or crawled to openings in the fence onto U.S. soil but quickly ran back as Border Patrol agents approached,” local media reported.
One issue of serious concern, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is that there are dangerous people, including convicted criminals and gang members, among the huge group of migrants.
“In fact, over 270 individuals along the caravan route have criminal histories, including known gang membership,” the DHS said in a statement. “Those include a number of violent criminals – examples include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, sexual assault on a child, and assault on a female.”
The statement was backed up by the Mexican Ambassador to the United States.
“Unfortunately, some of the people in the caravan have been very violent against authority, even though they have offered the possibility of entering in compliance with immigration law and refugee status,” he said.
In addition, not all of the people in the caravan are actually from Mexico, Central America or that vicinity. Many of the people are citizens of countries in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and other areas. Some people that were part of the caravan were arrested and deported by the Mexican government due to those people being accused of drug trafficking and murder.
One puzzling aspect of the caravan is the demographics of the people who are part of the group. All of those migrants who were spotted reaching San Diego and ready to cross into the U.S. illegally from the south were young males. So the question is, where are the women and children? Where are the older people? The same type of demographic dynamic unfolded when countless refugees were moving from the Middle East into Europe in recent years.
It is clear that the U.S. needs to have a set process to follow if and when more migrants reach the border. In light of the risk of harm to U.S. citizens, since there are known dangerous criminals among the caravan, more needs to be done to protect American citizens and provide peace of mind. And clearly, a cobbled-together border fence is not adequate to properly keep out dangerous people.
~ Liberty Planet
