Deena Flinchum
In my previous column, I outlined some of the history of how our southern border had descended into chaos.
Now I’d like to lay out how this disorder is contributing to two criminal enterprises affecting the US—the Mexican drug cartels and the gangs such as MS-13.
Some of you may remember the column that I wrote a few years ago, predicting that the influx of unaccompanied Central American minors (UCAM) would refresh MS-13.
It is important to know the role that the Mexican drug cartels, whose primary criminal endeavors are smuggling people and drugs, play in the chaos at the border.
They have become the travel agents of those seeking to enter the US, charging thousands of dollars for their services even though the transportation is dangerous, and living conditions are often crowded and unsanitary.
Even if the migrants are attempting the trek north on their own, they frequently encounter the cartels, who engage in rape, robbery and kidnapping.
The cartels are uniquely able to increase their profits by contributing to the disorder. They can match single adults with children who may enhance their likelihood of getting through, thus it is no surprise that on close examination, some adults bringing children over the border have proven not to be relatives.
Also, the cartels can increase the likelihood of successfully moving a load of drugs over the border by coordinating that activity with a group of families crossing the border at another location.
By tying the Border Patrol up attending to the families’ needs, the cartels can make money off both endeavors.
Certainly, Central America is a dangerous area, but so are certain parts of the US. It makes no sense to suggest that domestic violence or street crime like gangs should be grounds for asylum.
A quick call to any local police force or social services agency in the US would affirm that domestic violence is pervasive here. Those seeking asylum can encounter domestic violence and gangs here as well.
When migrants are released into the US, they don’t head for Mayberry to fish with Andy Griffith and Opie. They understandably head to the Latino enclaves usually near big cities where they often have relatives.
The Associated Press reports that 80 percent of the persons to whom the UCAMs were delivered between February 2014 and September 2015 – the first wave – were in the US illegally.
Unfortunately, these enclaves are also a haven for gangs such as MS-13. Starting with the UCAMs in 2014 and continuing today, some young people from Central America are interacting with these gangs either as new recruits or victims.
Testimony by law-enforcement officers on the Hill has documented resurgence in MS-13 membership since 2014 partly because of UCAMs.
Last year the Washington Post reported the story of Damaris Reyes Rivas, whose mother had her smuggled into the DC suburbs as she was entering her teens.
Damaris’s mother Maria Reyes left her in El Salvador when she entered the US illegally in 2005 and paid $11,000 to have her smuggled to the DC suburbs around 10 years later.
She entered Damaris into the Montgomery County, Maryland school system, where she quickly learned English but showed no interest in Identity, an after-school program that was geared toward at-risk youth. Instead she gravitated toward the gang members who are a serious presence in the DC area.
Maria soon discovered that her daughter was leaving her school by day and her bedroom at night to join her friends. Damaris disappeared for a week and refused to explain her absence when she returned. Although Maria considered sending her to live with relatives, she decided to wait until after the holidays. Near mid-December, her daughter disappeared again.
Maria initially had only sporadic contact with Damaris and then none. In February, Damaris’s body was discovered in Springfield, Virginia, after she had been brutally murdered by gang members, allegedly for luring a member into an ambush.
According to the Washington Post: her execution was captured on video by her alleged killers, at least two of whom came to the country as unaccompanied minors. One girl, 17, arrived around the same time as Damaris and hailed from the same city in El Salvador.
The solution to the border crisis is stricter enforcement and swift deportations. Unfortunately starting with the 1986 amnesty, the standard plan seems to be this: weak or no enforcement, amnesty, more illegal immigration, followed by promises of more robust enforcement if we’ll just do one more amnesty, then weak or no enforcement, and more illegal immigration.
There have been at least six amnesties since 1986 accompanied by weak enforcement at best. The result is what we have now.
Most politicians are smart enough not to support open borders per se as they know it’s a losing proposition. Unfortunately, rolling amnesties and lax enforcement are de facto open borders, albeit open borders on the installment plan.
Should the country enforce its immigration laws; or, if enforcement is circumvented, should we just give up and let anybody who can get in, even fraudulently, stay here?
I think a lot of people are starting to wake up to this standoff, understanding that the US can’t continue to allow self-selected arrivals to remain in the country any more than a family can allow anyone who randomly shows up to occupy their spare bedroom.
Even Canada is becoming alarmed at the increase they have seen in asylum-seekers. The WSJ states: According to the poll, 58 percent of Canadians surveyed said the country is “too generous” to unofficial border crossers, an increase from 53 percent when Angus Reid asked a similar question a year ago. Nearly two-thirds, or 65 percent, said the roughly 31,000 asylum seekers who have come to Canada from the U.S. since the Trump administration took office are too much for the country to handle.
The US has over 310,000 asylum cases pending, and over the last 3 years applications have tripled.
Deena Flinchum is a retired IT professional who has lived in the New River Valley since 2002. She serves on the board of the NRV Agency on Aging and as an RSVP volunteer. She also serves the Agency on Aging as an insurance counselor.