This is a very well written article, the content of which I fully agree with, however, the USA is responsible for a lot of the instability in South America, as during the Cold War it was a black ops battleground, with democratically governments taken down and replaced by military juntas with the correct political leanings. The US caused untold societal damage and misery to the countries and peoples of South America. So as was stated in the article a Marshall Plan for South America is needed and the $5.7 Billion Trump wants for his wall would make a start.
212
In my view, this Monday political rally by Trump ought to be Beto O’Rourke’s time to deliver a stinging rebuke to a president that doesn’t know El Paso and the 10th congressional district that O’Rourke represented in Washington.
Trump believes that he can fool most of the people most of the time and Beto O’Rourke has a unique duty to step up and defend his home against the lies of a bully.
This could be Beto’s moment.
270
Of course for he has no interest in fixing immigration for he has no interest in fixing anything from health insurance to climate change.
The further from the southern border that Trumps voters live the more they fear the others. But now he is a risk of being hoisted on his own petard.
He will not get his wall from sea to shining sea from the bill that will come out of the House in a few days and will either sign it or veto it if the Senate passes it. The latter option will put McConnell in a bind which will be delight to see. The former option will require all of his mendacity skills to explain his action to his xenophobic base.
It is going to be an interesting week.
138
El Paso is a very sophisticated multicultural city. This is just one more cynical, deceitful lie from Donald Trump. I hope the press will press him to explain why his own organization has hired so many illegal immigrants from beyond our southern border. He should be pressed to explain why his illegal employees are not the rapists, thieves, drug smugglers and assorted criminals he claims describe all immigrants from the south. A bigger hypocrite, liar, cheater, and racist than Donald Trump would be very hard to identify. Sadly, his supporters (including Mitch McConnell) find Trump's qualities to be "Presidential."
220
Mr. Cohen calls Trump's statement that El Paso was one of our most dangerous cities a lie. Bravo Mr. Cohen. Too many journalists shy away from the L word. Trump in a little over two years in office may well have told more lies than all previous Presidents put together.
Bravo also for proposing a Marshall plan for the Central American countries generating the most immigrants. And how about finally ending our longest war, the war on drugs, the duration of which has already exceeded the 30 Years War and may be on the way to beating the 100 Years. It's a war in which we've made virtually no progress and which, like Prohibition, has generated gangsterism and much of the violence in Central America and Mexico that's causing large numbers of people to flee to our southern border.
182
What Trump and his supporters aren't considering is what happens if the countries south of us become failed states -- helped along by punitive, narrow U.S. policies? Or conversely, become closely allied with China or Russia--out of necessity due to punitive, narrow U.S. policies?
247
Looking in from the outside, almost all of the 10s of millions of refugees worldwide originate in countries that have been devastated (to some degree) by the US over the past 40 years. Shall we name them? Iraq, Libya, Syria, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Yemen, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Laos/Cambodia, and we are starting in on Africa.
A 'global marshall plan' can easily be criticized and dismissed as impractical on many grounds. It doesn't matter. As long as we continue to fight (and lose) wars, we will generate more refugees. Some intelligent solution must be sought whether practical at the moment or not.
244
@John I would definitely support reconstruction funds as long as none of the money is stolen by the corrupt governments that are causing the problems.
28
Texas Monthly did a great piece on this (link attached). The best part, in my opinion, is when visiting Laredo, Trump said "Melania cried with relief when I returned home," indicating that Laredo was so dangerous and he was so brave to go there. Somebody had to do it, so Old Bone Spurs went above and beyond for the good of the country.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/president-trump-uses-texas-as-prop/?fbclid=IwAR00yCuBuSqlhyOi8iXfwfaQDfK0B4Gxr54DEueR8MB99igud0y_0dfAPas
15
Trump employs illegals by the dozen, or possibly by the hundreds.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/my-whole-town-practically-lived-there-from-costa-rica-to-new-jersey-a-pipeline-of-illegal-workers-for-trump-goes-back-years/2019/02/08/8cdbc1dc-2971-11e9-97b3-ae59fbae7960_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2c5dcefb275a
Trump personally BENEFITS by using illegals essentially as indentured servants at his properties.
He has the audacity to speak out AGAINST illegals? REALLY?
40
Roger Cohen, what is your evidence that “nobody really wants to talk about why or how to fix it (immigration)”?
You explain that Donald Trump is lying about crime on the border and quote the Mayor of El Paso about crime in his city but how does that support your claim about “America’s warped political discourse that “abandoned rational debate of real problems for the sterile shrieking of tribes”?
You state that “plenty of Democrats could vote for a secure border” how is that evidence for the “sterile shrieking of tribes”?
You state that “Trump is Exhibit A in the process” of abandoning rational debate but what is your Exhibit B that the Democrats are part of “the sterile shrieking of tribes”?
5
I do not believe that Trump supporters are, to a (wo)man, xenophobic, bigoted, misogynistic and racist. I do, however, believe that every xenophobe, bigot, misogynist and racist in this country is thrilled, to the core, that one of their own sits in the oval office. Sad beyond tears. Wake up America!
41
We are in the midst of an invasion. It's time to restore the rule of law, where the criminals from Central America and Mexico are stopped from entering the country illegally. The open-borders Dems (all of them) desperately want illegals, because they will be pushing for amnesty, and this will give them a huge influx of voters. Enough!
16
I'm real sick of hearing Trump totally trash hard working Mexican and Hispanic people in general.
He is a racist to his very core.
At the same time, he loves the Saudi's, who are actually the people who were involved in 9/11, and the Russians, our former arch enemy.
The only good news is that with so many investigations going on now, this Trump criminal syndicate will be brought down.
36
Build the wall.
Apprehend, Detain, and Deport ALL illegal border crossers.
Arrest Sanctuary State, Sanctuary County, and Sanctuary City elected officials.
Support ICE.
16
Trump is simply stupid and speaks off the cuff.
He is not informed about anything regarding immigration, foreign policy, or anything besides hamberders.
He is not respected by any world leaders, our allies in England, Germany, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and is just being played like a violin by world dictators, Putin, Xi, and Kim Jong Un.
It is pathetic and embarrassing.
29
What's with the gratuitous reference to "narrow shrieking of tribes" in an otherwise excellent, factual analysis of the SOTU lies?
4
Maybe they can arrange a tour for him at the El Paso Cattle Yards for Trump while he is there?
5
"The United States, nation of migration and churn, must treat them with humanity."
Roger, Roger, Roger! Treating immigrants with humanity is simply not on the radar for a racist president who thinks nicely white Norwegians should be moving here and not the obviously unwashed (look at their brown skin!) from south of our border.
15
America is a country filled with people who are applauded for trying to do the very best for their families. But when someone else does exactly that we criminalize them and reject them outright. I ask every person in America to ask themselves: "What would you do in these folks' shoes?" What did your predecessors do in the exact same situation? How many stories do you hear of folks' grandparents coming to America, desperate, with just a few dollars in their pocket, but no real plan. That was acceptable. This is not. So I ask all those anti-immigrant Trumpists out there : Are you willing to let these folks come here, like your ancestors did ( and NONE of us, save those on reservations, have native born ancestors)? If not, are you willing to do what is necessary to make conditions better in their home lands? If the answer to both is no: What do you think will happen? That America will be free and clear of this problem by building a wall? And for all the "murderers, rapists, and drug dealers" you are so afraid of, just remember all the sand trap builders, housekeepers, and personal attendants at Trump properties and many other places that, for years, never hurt a fly. So head on over with your resume. Plenty of $10 per hour hard work to be had. You should be so gracious in how you look at those jobs. Maybe what you are most afraid of isn't that they are criminals; maybe what scares you most is they are more American that you are.
23
Donald Trump does not care about illegal immigration. He has hired illegal immigrants for decades because they provided cheap good labor.
Donald Trump chose illegal immigration as his campaign focus because it has been a tried and true issue with which to divide and conquer the voting public. He will most likely add or turn to abortion for the 2020 campaign depending on how badly his wall funding collapses. Once again choosing a serious issue with which to divide and conquer the voter.
Donald Trump does not care about immigration or abortion. The issues are merely tools which he manipulates to continue to brand the GOP and presidency with his name.
Donald Trump is interested in only himself. The office of POTUS is his biggest branding effort to date. He uses the office to make money for himself.
Trump did not run for POTUS to serve the nation. He ran to serve himself wether glory and praise for his ego or dollars for his wallet.
El Paso is the perfect spot for Trump to bask in cheers, sell his hats and have the nation listen to his lies. It's still working for him.
The grift continues unabated.
29
What saddens me, as an individual who travels to Mexico a great deal, is the respectful way I am treated by nationals. To vilify an entire culture and people is so wrong---
21
Neither complaining that Trump is an old-fashioned rabble rouser and snake-oil vendor, nor itemizing his techniques, lies, and rhetorical flourishes, will stop him. His followers are mesmerized and brainwashed. They are caught up in a pilgrimage and just the trip not the arrival is what matters.
Until the propaganda machine feeding their fantasies is destroyed, nothing can penetrate the noise and fog it generates.
14
A wall is not needed to stop illegal immigration. What is needed is severe and swift punishment for the unscrupulous businessmen like Donald Trump who hire and exploit these most vulnerable people.
23
Trump's Wall obsession has nothing to do with border security. Its really about building a monument to himself with other people's money. His colossal ego craves an enduring memorial that will outlive him so he will be remembered long after this death. Little does he realize he already has one: "America's Worst President."
31
Hope the television networks do not cover this rally. Let's not give him all the ridiculous coverage he got in 2016. His rallies spew divisiveness and lies at an alarming rate. Speaking truth is not an essential part of his manic speech at these events.
15
Tufts University professor Karen Jacobsen, writing for the Foreign Policy Association in its 2019 "Great Decisions" handbook, puts the U.S. border issue in context with worldwide trends in migration, refugee, and asylum matters. Dr. Mark Gibney, professor at UNC Asheville (NC), also does so in a book, "Global Migration Crisis, a Referral Handbook." It's clear (to me, at least), that for U.S. immigration reform, the biggest problem is managing visa processing and tracking the status and whereabouts of visa-holding immigrants. Scofflaws in this category outnumber border-jumpers, legal and illegal.
11
How many lies are we going to swallow from Trump attributing calm on our Southern border (viz El Paso) to his "wall" fencing to keep illegal immigrants out of America? Face it, President Trump's wall obsession has infected racist Americans and he won't satisfy them to vote for him in 2020 till he can brag to his maga base "I promised to build the wall, and I built it!". As you say, Roger Cohen, "as for reality, forget it."
We have had too much carney reality-tv rabble-rousing from our 45th president, years before he decided to run for office. Long before we all laughed at him among the 16 GOP Candidates in 2016. Long before he won the election, and called all immigrants (of colour and ethnic origin) "caravans of sex and drug traffickers, invading our southern border".
A Marshall Plan for immigration into America is the ticket today. President AMBLO of Mexico would do well to join with Trump to create a plan for the desperate asylum-seeking immigrants legally trying to enter the US now. Refugees and displaced people from failed Central American countries are arriving daily as refugees and DPs arrived in all countries after WWII. Racist scapegoating by our ignorant but lawfully elected President won't make America First. Our divisive president is already the laughingstock of the Eastern Hemisphere. His border wall is ridiculous and his failed administration is beyond bearing.
10
Trump has to carry a gas can with him all the time as he tries to inflame the population wit his racist views and fear mongering. This is national prejudice at the highest level. Trump will not change so we can not hope for that. Change happens in 2020.
5
If it were truly very dangerous you can bet that Trump would be nowhere near there.
20
I wonder what politics would look like if the outlook was something constructive and good and not something that drives the fear rate to epic proportions? I also wonder what made America a people who seem to be cowering in a corner armed to the teeth and afraid of everything they don't even bother to try and understand.
9
Rep. Veronica Escobar: “Trump’s wall obsession is his way of keeping a campaign promise to the core of his base, many of whom are xenophobic and some outright racist.”
Not only Rep. Escobar, but also well more than half of all Americans know that Trump's "wall" is chum for his base voters and the right wing commentators. I hope the bilateral committee working to give Trump his face-saving escape does nothing of the sort. Nothing is owed to a liar of such gigantic proportions.
12
Forget "don't mess with Texas".
Trump messing with El Paso might be the catalyst for Beto to enter the 2020 competition.
1
Why would El Paso even issue the permits and make the arrangements for the demogogue Trump to verbally abuse and abase their town?
Retract the permits. Don't promote the falsehoods around immigration. Don't promote the threat of fear. Let him go somewhere else and rant and lie. As Nancy Reagan told us,
"Just say NO"!
11
Trump missed the point.
If you do some of your own research you will find that El Paso citizens and law enforcement attribute the substantially decreased crime in El Paso was due to 2 actions. Building of a wall and substantially increased border patrol agents. The effect was immediate.
Fact.
5
The City of El Paso according to Donald Trump was a lawless, wild city that was "one of our nation's most dangerous cities" starkly opposite of the truth. It is actually one of the nation's safest cities. But let's be fair to Donald.
Could it be that our reality president heard Marty Robbins singing "El Paso" during his "Executive Time" and the vision of gun-happy cowboys shooting it out in the saloon was planted in his brain. After all, Felina was a "Mexican girl" and Rosa's Cantina was a pretty wild place.
Far-fetched? Well considering Trump enacts policy decisions based on what he sees on Fox News maybe not so much of a stretch.
It's pretty sick that this president makes things up as he goes along. And the thought of having to be exposed to two years of his "rallies" is making me sick.
11
May I suggest that Beto holds a "Rally for Truth" they after Trump leaves. Any "fair and balanced" media would be obligated to cover both rallies equally.
9
Don't forget that people who agree with Trump are stupid racists. Their inability and lack of desire to learn bodes poorly for them as a group. To the extent their failings are based upon ignorance there is still hope for them, however, it appears their stupidity outstrips their ignorance.
5
El Paso is a community that works because of its diversity. There's no good guy-bad guy situation going on around here to exploit by outsiders. Not perfect, but nothing here for Trump and his hateful political caravan. Strong enough to resist and withstand an unwelcomed visit by this vile man.
6
The Wall - a simplistic symbol solely to appeal to the simple minded.
6
The border paradox is the fact that on the other side of the Rio Grande the violence and criminality is rampant and horrific. Meanwhile, on this side, it's chirping crickets. There have been times when the toll bridges on the river have been closed by running gun battles on the Mexican side. The only thing I can attribute the vast difference in civility to is our laws and our policing of official corruption. That is why I am so distraught at the fact that we have a mobbed up crime boss as our president, the most corrupt administration in U.S. history. The treasonous and corrupt GOP is the closest thing we've ever had to Mexico's PRI. It is the rule of law that separates us from Mexico, not the rule of walls!
9
If the US really wants to keep out illegals, require ALL workers to have an electronic ID, and require all emplyers to check for this ID. Punish the employers if they employ illegal workers. This is a very simple solution for this problem.
10
I, during the 1990’s used to travel to El Paso on business. What I found was a very safe city. I never felt threatened. I did not feel the need to have a “local” accompany me if I decided to go out by myself.
I was never accosted.
I did find a multicultural city where everyone seemed to get along.
If there were underlying problems, they were not evident.
I therefore am calling you out Mr. President. You are a lier!
14
Having lived in border states for much of my life, give me 100 Guatemalan families seeking refuge over 10 practicing Republicans any day.
17
I lived in El Paso, prior to Sept 2001. Then, the border was a notion. Citizens of both nations crossed without wait. Mild inquiry and infrequent inspection was the way. Go to Ciudad Juarez for lunch or a show. Go to El Paso for a rodeo or shopping. Mexicans commuting to UTEP. American traveling for cheaper legal prescriptions.
The city was so cheerful to elicit that old line: what do they put in the water to make folks so nice ? Of course, there was some youth/ gang related crime, there was plenty of poverty on both sides which lends pressure to petty crime. Yet the shared history, culture and economy made it hum. Far more symbiotic than any other paired border cities on the planet.
I often supposed another reason crime was subdued. Even before 9/11, the El Paso side crawled with armed federal agents and a huge army base - Ft Bliss. Plus, it is a traditional law and order Texas town. This preponderance of civic defense would put down any crime wave before its ugly head dared rear.
6
If Trump is successful in turning a fake Wall that nobody needs and hardly anyone wants into a “national emergency,” he will next be closing down “fake news” newspapers like the Times, initiating selective denaturalization proceedings of mostly black and brown American citizens he considers unworthy of citizenship, while ignoring steps taken by Congress to oppose, impeach and remove him; all under the guise that these steps constitute legitimate responses by him to “national emergencies.”
The only walls Mrs.Pelosi should consider granting him are ones around his retirement homes at Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower after his impeachment.
3
How could Trump win even 25.7 percent of the vote in El Paso?
Was this made up of Clinton haters, life-time Republican voters, abortion foes, gun lovers who disliked Trump but couldn’t vote against him?
3
While this is sort-of reassuring, Mr Cohen omits possibly the most important facts from his case: such as:
1) if there were no Donald Trump, the USA would still not have rational immigration laws;
2) the people who came to Ellis Island were attempting legal immigration, not intrusion;
3) the power of the cartels is not always up front and visible on the USA side of the border, but their power and sheer brutality give them effective control of the Mexican side;
4) many would-be asylum seekers and Central Americans arriving at the border are badly abused by coyotes, gangs, and cartels; they are "easy pickings" for exploitation;
5) spend a week, Mr Cohen, in non-US-dominated parts of Juarez and Nuevo Laredo and see how you feel, see what you can see; journalist killing are about one per work on the Mexican side of the border, so be very careful.
Rebutting Donald Trump is a pretty lame, straw-man exercise; anyone can do it. Living with the murder, rape, dismemberment, beheading, and sheer crude power of the cartels every day, as so many border-area Mexicans do, is terrifying beyond the NYT's imagination.
You might try being a more investigative journalist, Mr Cohen. You know that a Marshall Plan for Central America would very likely end up in billion-dollars Cayman Island bank accounts. A phony, easy solution to a cruel set of conditions Donald Trump did not create.
Walk a border mile or two -- in a Mexican's shoes -- for a week. Please tell us what you see and hear.
5
I'm sure that history will treat Trump and his fear-mongering, win-without-any-concern for truth, dignity or common sense with contempt.
What I'm less sure of is how much more history we're going to have given our well-established tendency to hysterically overreact to any perceived threat (e.g., it is now estimated that multiple TRILLIONS have been spent as a result of 9/11 not to mention the cost in terms of loss of privacy and over-the-top suspicion).
24
To be clear: Trump has not been or ever will be good for this nation; and the sooner he is no longer president, the better ... by any metric - political, moral, civil. And as this column mentions, he took a problem the nation has faced but neglected for years ... immigration policy in our present time ... and fashioned support for himself through a strategy and tactics of fear, and his “promise” to be savior. Out of reactionary emotion, it is understandable for those who see through this, to reject anything at all this individual would say ... as, in a way, this column does. That undoubtedly will not be effective for dealing with the real problem of civilized immigration policy. And actually, Trump needs emotional reaction against him to assure support from his dedicated base. The concern is that we are becoming an irrational nation of polarized “citizens,” unwittingly set on a course of collapse. And the winner? Look to the East; it can’t be us.
16
Clearly what is needed in this country is a broader consideration of national security that includes generous efforts to ameliorate poverty in Central America. I realize that unwelcome interventions in the past would conjure up fear of Yankee Imperialism but we must work to build trust in those countries whose citizens are fleeing for their very lives.
19
Neither side of any of the most contentious issues of the day has any interest in resolving the disagreement... even if totally in their favor. The issues serve only one purpose... campaign fund raising.
5
Too cynical.
Republicans rail against the deficit, abortion, and immigration, and never do anything except make the situation worse. They consistently recommend tax cuts — the patent medicine that’s good for what ails ya — and tax cuts are what you get whenever they’re in charge.
Democrats have seen most of their initiatives torpedoed in the senate. An exception is Obamacare, the reward for which was demagoguery by and restoration of Republican control of the house for eight years.
The next two years will doubtless be an exercise in frustration. Voting rights, gun control, campaign finance, climate change, and universal healthcare are all on the agenda, and DOA with Stonewall McConnell, never mind the Scaremonger in Chief. But don’t confuse not succeeding with not trying, or not caring.
4
@Ted Peters what evidence can you cite that Democrats raise campaign funds by trying to protect the Dreamers or fix immigration? Who are the lobbyists for immigrants and asylum seekers? False equivalency rears again.
4
I love hearing the mention of a Marshall plan for Central South America. It may take some difficult and sometimes undercover activities from our American Intelligence agencies to keep the politicians from being so corrupt with the financial help, but it may help make South America a place better stay and live in for it's residents.
11
The demonization of immigrants is central to the Republican strategy for seizing and holding power. They see a growing "Latinization" of the US population as a Democrat plot to promote an unbeatable Democratic majority in future elections.
There is an instinctive fear that a new Latinized majority will reciprocate the exploitation that they received at the hands of the white establishment when it was in the majority.
Seen in the light of the rampant tribalism being promoted by Republicans as a political tactic, this seems logical, but this atavistic social order is not an inevitable, or even likely outcome.
Integrated multicultural societies that promote educational and economic equality, will tend to evolve away from conflict and tribalism, which are, significantly, key elements of Republican efforts to maintain and extend their hegemony.
25
Not only did Trump lie about El Paso, I seem to recall that he also talked of San Antonio being made much safer by a border wall, even though San Antonio is 150 miles from the border and has no wall.
67
@Christy, for that matter, trump says that parts of New England are too dangerous even for police to go, like an MS13 mini-state. O Noes! And sanctuary cities like San Francisco? Heckholes of suffering! snark, of course.
8
If Trump has any hope of winning in 2020 he must continue to play the Barbarians at the gate theme. And hope that his anti-immigrant supporters overlook the obvious failures of his administration and his myriad of personal and character flaws. For the sake of America’s future I hope that this fervent minority regains its vision and insight.
12
@Milton Lewis--They naver had any vision or insight, unless you call the worship of sleazy ostentation insight and the presumption that they are an oppressed master race a vision.
2
When Trump visits, turn out and turn your backs on his procession. Shun him. Left or right,shun him. Republicans and Democrats, WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS.
53
The Democratic Party is the party of "identity politics" and literally nothing could be more explicitly divisive--the whole point of "identity politics" is to set all the various "identities" at each other's throats.
7
@Henry Miller the point of identity politics is to obtain the same rights for fringe, minority groups as are guaranteed to all citizens by the constitution. These groups have been taken for granted and ignored, if not oppressed, by the US white population since the Pilgrims, sorry to say. And the people populating these groups are acutely aware that second class treatment is due to their skin color, nation of family origins and/ or sexual preferences. The Democratic Party does not set these groups at each other’s’ throats in a sum-zero quest for resources - the Dems encourage their rights intending to forge an American community that’s diverse but comfortable, with shared values.
19
@Henry Miller
I think that the purpose of identity politics is to shed light in the fact that some of us have had our boots on the throats of others for a very long time, and that we need to lift those boots before we can hope to live together in peace.
18
@Henry Miller The purpose of identity politics is so that a privileged class of of wealthy minorities can arrogate more goodies for themselves not at the expense of The Man or whomever else you might think in your noble purpose you are sticking it to, but at the expense of minorities poorer than themselves. As such, it guarantees the Democrats have already lost the next Presidential election. The only question now is how much damage they will have done in the process once it's all over. they have certainly learned nothing in the last 2 years. At this point the press has lost all credibility and the Democrats are a party of rapists and racists who cling to power at all costs. You think that's a winning proposition?
1
I was stationed at Ft. Bliss in 1961-2 and El Paso and its sister city Juarez were two of the most exciting places to be.
In El Paso, there were signs in every commercial establishment saying “We reserve the right to refuse service to any-one;” those signs were believed to announce to African-Americans (and some Mexicans) that only whites would be served. Those signs were required by law but hardly anyone paid attention to them. There were diehards, of course, but so few that they hardly made a difference.
Ft. Bliss was the surface-to-air missile training center for most NATO countries—there were races from all over the world. Those seemingly racial signs, if obeyed, would have kept half of Ft. Bliss away from El Paso’s commercial establishments.
Juarez, before the Maquiladora, was in many ways a more attractive tourist destination than other Southwestern cities. It had both South American and old European culture.
Of course, today’s problems in El Paso/Juarez were already in the making but if Trump could have seen the twin-cities then, he’d have a better understanding of how the problems could be fixed now—and it’s not with a wall.
14
Compare the crime stats for El Paso and its sister city of Juarez...become very thankful for the difference. Enforcement barriers ect. do make a difference.
8
@hannstv
So, the wall makes Juarez high-crime?
3
Nonsense. The rule of law has been a problem in Mexico for a very long time. The police and army are rife with corruption. The situation is slowly getting better, but it’s a long road.
We have one government here, another there. That would be true, has been true, with or without a wall.
2
Compare South Central to Malibu. Compare Wall Street to the Bronx.
2
Yes, indeed.
The immigration system is broken, very broken.
But the fix most definitely is not the endless weakening,
funding strangling and weakening and obstruction and amnesties that Dems always push.
The fix is much stronger immigration control.
Much stronger enforcement at the border,
including stronger physical barriers,
more surveillance devices
and more border patrol,
and much stronger enforcement in the interior,
including more ICE personnel,
more workplace enforcement generally
and mandatory nationwide uniform biometric ID system
for on-line checking at the point of hire
by all employers,
large and small.
10
@sam finn
Begs the question. Assigns blame to a political party and solves nothing. Are these useful practices you suggest, some are. No one that I know, Donkey or Elephant, wants open borders. But some of us understand that there are root causes for immigration to the U. S. Just as there were root causes when your family decided to come.
To put up a wall and leave the misery of these people on the other side is antithetical to the history and purpose of our democracy. It is in our best interest to help. A Marshall Plan for Central America is a good idea from every point of view.
1
Its funny how people, often of shady backgrounds, arrive in a country, decimate the local population, annex adjacent territory and then erect a wall or other obstacles to stop other people following them.This seems to have been the record of the US and Australia. Short on memory and compassion and long on self-justification.
40
@T.R.Devlin
This is because all we have is fake democracies run by the rich oligarch families.
3
Her Roger and others:
Read the real history of US immigration (eg, Undocumented, How Immigration Became Illegal, Aviva Chomsky)...there are some very good sources. This is not a nation of immigrants. The US is a nation of settler colonialists that favored white Europeans from the founding of the country. The history of immigration is one of exclusion and "laws" that favored those in control of the means of production at the expense first of indentured servants, later African slaves, now "illegal" immigrants. Trump and gang are just taking a page from our real history.
And, what the current bipartisan committee is discussing about border security will not be a fix in any way to our xenophobic immigration policy, but only a new version of laws criminalizing immigration.
8
The Republicans realize that second generation immigrants are likely to vote Democratic, therefore they want to prevent first generation immigrants from even getting here. And Donald Trump is their man, a man who bellows out unmitigated lies without a trace of shame. A man who ignores the data, the reality, and good manners - a true Republican.
33
Sort of wonder who the 25.7% are. This is the war that wasn't/isn't. There is one simple solution, if an employer is found guilty of hiring an illegal alien, fine them a hefty sum. If a second case occurs, fine them again x2. Third time, jail. Not some underling, the president or owner. After that, board members. This is not an immigration problem this is an employer wants the cheap labor problem. Always has been, always will be. If the money wasn't there they wouldn't be here.
24
One would think that after the shut-down, after all the lies about "wall-funding" and the failure of a Republican Congress and a Republican President to do anything about it when they had the chance, we would be ready to move on to some other more important questions like global warming, inequality, healthcare...but maybe that's what the wall is really trying to keep out.
This morning it brought to mind a beautiful poem by Federico Garcia Lorca, translated goes...
"I closed off my balcony
because I don't want to hear the weeping.
From the other side of these gray walls
you hear nothing but the weeping.
There are very few angels that sing,
and very few dogs that bark.
A thousand violins fit in the palm of your hand.
But the weeping is a huge dog,
the weeping is an immense angel,
the weeping is a giant violin.
The tears strangle the wind.
And you can't hear anything but the weeping."
Why can't we hear the weeping on the other side?
13
So he is visiting the danger zone this Monday?
I don't suppose Trump will gin up a campaign against my home town, Eugene Oregon? I find myself wondering what a public display of our feelings toward this President would look like, if he ever chose to come and speak and listen to us.
The signs would be magnificent, we have the best signs anywhere.
See, Oregon has vote by mail for all elections, local and federal, so we are pretty much Democratic and democratic. He would hate that...maybe he could come here and rail against that. No way to hinder voting by the poor and the powerless...
And El Paso, you have some pretty good elected officials yourself, not a Gohmert in the bunch, as far as I can tell.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
26
In November I flew in to San Francisco airport. At the head of my line of hundreds of passengers, there was one border agent checking passports. Maybe Trump could use some of those wall billions on increasing staff at the borders?
4
Trump is sending a small number of troops to the border where they will likely be placed in harm's way. At some point, there will likely be a skirmish. After the skirmish, Trump will have the situation he needs to declare the emergency (the rapists and drug runners are attacking, but thank God our great men and women in uniform defended us mightily!), which he will do. He will then take the funds and labor from the over-funded defense department to build the wall. No analysis required. No citizens required. Conservatives will love it.
7
A Marshall Plan for Central America. Exactly. Let's help make it safe for these people to remain in their home country, and stop supporting right wing despots and US fruit conglomerates that exploit these countries for bigger profits. And if we were really serious about attenuating the flow of illegals, start arresting and fining the people who hire them. No jobs for them? They won't come.
9
What do you get when you combine miles of concertina wire with bolt-cutters? A hefty pile of metal pieces ready for the scrap pile.
3
I have been to El Paso several times. Lived in Tucson for several years. Both are beautiful cities. The real immigration problem is within our borders. It is the xenophobic racists that continue to support Trump. A good solution for America is to deport all of them. The biggest problem would be finding a country that would be willing to take them.
12
(caution forbidden word): overpopulation.
When the glass is overfilled, the water overflows.
13
@Carl Hultberg
Overpopulation plus massive problems from climate change and direct pollution especially on water supplies, and consequences for all of the animals and plants of the world...
4
Trump and anyone who listens to his lies about El Paso should be deported back to wherever their grandparents were born...that would be Germany for Trump.
El Paso has bridges anyone can cross to and from Mexico. Almost everyone there is bilingual. And it is one of (if not THE) safest city its size in the country.
If you've never been there, you should plan a vacation there. Give yourself a week, and include side trips to the Big Bend national park, to MacDonald Observatory, and to Marfa.
A Marshall Plan for Central America is an excellent idea I've championed in my comments. It was a great idea after the devastation of WWII, and we need to repeat our successes just as much we need to avoid repeating our mistakes.
Lastly, with 5% unemployment, we need all the workers we have now. Give citizenship to everyone with a green card.
Minor point, in response to other comments:
Complaints about high birth rates are easily solved with free birth control, one of the 10 guaranteed benefits under Obamacare. Catholics in the U.S. have the same rate of use of contraception (and abortion) as everyone else.
26
Yes, a "Marshall plan for Central America" says it all. The Dems should be saying this over and over, along with facts and support from U.S. and ingternational entities who have been trying to help stabilize these countries. What we don't want is to prop up corrupt governments, we need to support efforts to clean up the corruption and make these countries livable.
1
"Immigrant hugger" - I love it. Sign me up - I want to be one of those.
26
A Marshal Plan for Central America is a great idea. Since this is the area where most of the immigration that Trump loathes comes from. Obviously a wall is a medieval solution to a free flowing problem that doesn't lend itself to big mouth blowhards. Trump was killed by the gov't shutdown. That is real and another stupid misstep like that guarantees that Trump is dead in the next election. The NYTs had an article about change in the political dynamics in N. Mexico along the border as Democrats won in areas thought to be solid GOP bastions. The same is occurring in Arizona. Declaring war on immigrants at the border is not going to be a winner for Trump in 2020. Trump and his 40% cannot win the electoral college.
8
"The United States is also a nation of laws."
I really don't think president Donald Trump sees things that way.
41
There are not enough people to do the work. Fix the immigration system.
8
El Paso, where Trump will hold a rally, is the kick off of his 2020 re-election campaign.
And, despite the, what?, 8,000 lies he's told in the past 2+ years the mainstream propaganda media will be there covering every exciting moment of this rally for free from anxious coverage of Air Force One landing to Trump deplaning, to his arrival on stage.
Then, even the cable networks that claim they will not cover rallies will replay coverage of the rallies on a 24/7 loop unable to report on the president without endlessly first playing the video or the tweet.
Also, watch as the mainstream propaganda media slowly starts to slant its news reporting more and more to create false equivalencies and contrived narratives that the Democrats are going off the rails in attempts to "get Trump" .
And "socialism" will be the media's 2019 word of the year even though almost no one in media knows what the word means or how to use it in a sentence. But watch as they adopt Trump's definition of it and, like his rallies, report it that way going forward.
Be diligent, fellow citizens, and start calling out the MSM for its increasingly pro Trump propaganda and remember, propaganda is about control,not content.
151
@Paul-Speaking of political rallies, why must we taxpayers be paying for Trump's campaigns?
76
@Paul Any Socialist could have written the preamble of the Constitution. It is about what "We the People of the United States" want.
Maybe our children should recite the preamble of the Constitution instead of the pledge in schools.
Present Republicans and the whole Trump cabal needs to be re-educated, they need to learn the purpose of government does not begin and end with "no taxes" and the Military Industrial Complex is not the government's only purpose.
29
@Ann Our electoral process is crying out for a real and total reformation.
Politicians start campaigning the day they are sworn into office. Trump is not governing, he is out golfing or campaigning. He should be fired. Even the shutdown is part of his election campaign.
32
“Trump won 25.7 percent of the vote in El Paso. That’s because people on the border understand the benefits of binational flux.” Exactly! The reality is nothing like Trumplandia.
“It’s no accident he has chosen this Texas border city for his first “Make America Great Again” rally of the 2020 cycle.” Wait! I thought Trump has been in the 2020 campaign mode since Day 1 at the WH…What were all those other campaign rallies? Or are you referring to the first campaign rally since the Democratic sweep in the House and on the state level?
40
@stefanie Exactly. We have been paying for these rallies since his first few months of squatting in the people’s house. Where is the call for his campaign to reimburse us for these rallies.
12
A nation of immigrants rejecting the very people that they have allowed in, kept in the dark, to work for lower wages is now building walls to keep the low wage illegals out of the country. Time to quit campaigning on an issue and fix immigration. While we’re at it, let’s quit campaigning on Roe v Wade. Settled law. Done. Quit already.
47
it looks like the constitution is running right into A WALL
12
Perhaps someone should inform the "president" about all of those Mexican public servants-judges, prosecutors, for example, that lived not in the crime ridden Juarez, but, by Trump's definition, in the crime ridden city of El Paso, to escape the possible danger they faced due to their jobs.
Yup. Escape one dangerous city for another?
Trump is practicing his racism, his bigotry against all those who are brown-and that includes native-born U.S. citizens.
And his infamous MAGA hate fests will continue to feed the beast of racism in this country.
24
You need not visit a lettuce field or slaughterhouse, pass through any suburb and note how the secret of success for a petit capitalist is to hire undocumented workers: reliable, cheap and won't complain or make a claim. Need to excavate or replace your roof for half price, just say to any Meso American, "Conoses algun para trabajo?" And then we wonder at how the word gets out.
52
El Paso shares a porous border with one of the most violent cities on the planet, Ciudad Juarez. The main reason it's no longer the most dangerous city on the planet is because the Sinaloa Cartel wiped out most of its opposition.
"As of January 2013, Juárez's murder rate placed #37 of the highest reported in the world at 38 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. This marked a decrease of 70% compared to 2008 when the rate was 130 murders per 100,000 inhabitants and represented #1 in the statistic and exceeded second-place Caracas' statistic of 96 murders per 100,000 inhabitants by 35% for the same period. Journalist Charles Bowden, in an August 2008 GQ article, wrote that multiple factors, including drug violence, government corruption and poverty led to a dispirited and disorderly atmosphere that permeated the city.
After the homicide rates escalated to the point of making Ciudad Juárez the most violent city in the world, violent crime began to decline in the early 2010s. In 2012, homicides were at their lowest rate since 2007 when drug violence flared between the Sinaloa and Juárez Cartel.That trend has continued in 2015 with 300 homicides reported, the lowest number since 2006. Explanations for the rapid decline in violence include the success of the Sinaloa Cartel in defeating its rivals, as well as federal, state and local government efforts to combat crime and improve the city's quality of life."
5
Ignorance, xenophobia, racism. That is what Trump's wall is all about. It's a wall of shame, and it should not be financed by my tax dollars.
43
The City of El Paso should sue Donald J. Trump for slander.
27
So what's new? What does anyone expect from a man who announced his campaign for president with the words "they're sending rapists, murders, drug addicts and I suppose some are good people, but...". Well I'm married to a Mexican-American, born in El Paso to immigrant parents and raised over the Texas border in New Mexico. Guess what? Father worked on a dairy farm, mother was a homemaker, father worked hard and built a modest but comfortable family home that he and his wife of 51 years live in to this day, and all 3 boys (including my husband) graduated from college. Oh, with no rapes or murders or drug deals committed along the way. So I'll just leave my views about the charlatan-in-chief and his medieval and immoral immigration policies at that.
I don't believe in or support unrestricted immigration - no country does - but this isn't about immigration, it's about vulgar selfish immoral and uneducated racists (i.e. Trump supporters) who don't like ANYONE not exactly like themselves, including a gay Jewish Yankee from New York like myself, for that matter.
93
The “ brown hordes “ are the new “ the gays “. A wedge issue, and a very simple, one question I.Q. Test. For Trump fans: FAIL.
Sad.
20
I don't understand people who fear all immigrants as criminals or a drag on our economy. Almost all Americans are descendants of immigrants, some of whom were deported because of criminal acts as simple as stealing a loaf of bread.
I don't understand why we are not putting our energy into education, health care and addressing global warming? Why does the NY Times constantly lose focus on the real issues and real solutions?
14
Most Americans welcome LEGAL immigrants, but do not want ILLEGAL immigrants. We cannot afford (or choose not) to support our own citizens: the poor, the ill, elderly, disabled, veterans, et al. US taxpayers cannot possibly support the hundreds of millions of foreigners who would like to come here.
US laws allow foreigners to seek entry and citizenship. Those who do not follow these laws are in this country illegally and should be detained and deported; this is policy in other countries, too. (And, of course, the US and other nations try to screen out convicted criminals.)
The cruelty lies not in limiting legal immigration, or detaining and deporting illegal immigrants, or forcing those who wish to enter the US to wait for processing. What is cruel, unethical and probably illegal is encouraging parents to bring their children on the dangerous trek to US borders and teaching the parents how to game the system to enter the US by falsely claiming asylum, persecution, etc. Indeed, many believe bringing children on such perilous journeys constitutes child abuse.
No other nation has open borders, nor should the US.
20
Ever consider that those dark-skinned people working in the old age homes, taking care of our elderly and disabled for wages that are so low that our own citizens can't support families on them are, while a good portion of those same workers might be illegal, are contributing mightily to our economy. I can tell from the tone in this letter that you have never worked next to them picking fruit and vegetables in over 100 degree sunshine, nor started milking cows at 2:00 am in the morning every day for two months without a day off. Most Americans won't do this for those wages, not even poor people. Those are the examples I saw as a kid. While it might be exploitation from our side, most of them are so desperate to support their families they do it although they really don't want to leave home. The "illegality" is a manufactured thing created just to get leverage over American employers in certain sectors and our neighbors to the south.
38
@Ro Ma
One party has fought tooth and nail to prevent any effort to create a rational immigration policy that both (1) recognizes the critical role that immigrants, legal and illegal, play in our economy, and (2) effectively secured the border. That party is the Republican Party. Irresponsible on immigration, taxation, war-making, guns, care for veterans, the environment, and literally every other issue relating to the quality of human life. Even on abortion their thinking is wrong-headed. Preventing unwanted pregnancies will always be the best way to prevent abortion.
22
@Ro Ma
Ever been to our border with Canada? Quite a few places where there is no wall, fence, border security, what have you. A person could walk across anytime they choose.
But of course, according to Trumpians, "if you don't have borders, you don't have a country."
5
Thank you Roger for expressing what I'm sure many are feeling about Trump's abuse and the Republican power base pulling the strings to his endeavors. It's all so monstrous and this administration a horror.
12
Well said! It is unfortunate that the Trumpublican Party is no longer even able to discuss issues of fact. Cohen masterfully lays out the broad reasons each of Trump's bigoted levers are inaccurate (really, just lies). He plays to emotion not rationality. The facts are clear:
1. There is no criminal importation of drugs coming over the unfenced areas on the southern border - it comes through legitimate ports of entry, or Canada.
2. Jobs are not being taken by illegal aliens - they work the menial jobs no native born American wants - just like prior immigrant groups like the indentured servants of colonial America (not slaves), the Irish, Italians, Eastern Europeans, etc.
3. Rapists and criminals are coming over the border at a rate lower than the present US population and are being weeded out more effectively. Most are actually families too poor to fly into the US and overstay their visas, but they are highly motivated and would add greatly to the country.
4. Terrorists have never come from this border. They always come through legitimate ports of entry at airports or Canada.
Get the narrative right/accurate, and maybe we can do something.
14
Cormac McCarthy was based in El Paso, maybe still is , but a generation ago it was a dangerous place, really glad to hear that El Paso is back on track.
Trump is a master at taking a a few grains of sand and creating a beach of untruths.
10
Carmack McCarthy moved to Santa 've years ago. As to El Paso being a dangerous city a generation ago, we have always been a city with very low violent crimes, any crime in general. I've lived here over 60 years. What generation are you referencing, the late 1800s?
3
Trump doesn't want the truth; he seeks to stir up visceral fear.
Trump doesn't want stability south of the border; he needs to keep the imagery of immigrants for his propaganda.
Trump doesn't really want that wall, whether he knows it or not; he has only the false hope of a panacea, and when it inevitably doesn't live up to his promises, he'll have nothing left.
3
We remember how, under pain of political exposure, Richard Nixon undertook a triumphal visit to Romania, for a dictatorially staged outpouring of affection. Can't his heir-apparent in history wander on down to Rio, now, under his alter ego in their government, and pick himself up some complaisant courtesans who know something about combing a boy's hair, maybe even working his clubs without papers?
1
Negotiating with Trump about this wall is like negotiating unicorns with your three year old niece. They have their own narrative, intimately and logically mapped out so that all is wonderful, indeed great, in the end, again. Thank God Rush doesn't believe in unicorns, we'd spend billions having the Space Force looking for them.
12
Illegal aliens are the cheapest labor available to republican businesses. Thus a real solution is not wanted. That is why the wall is perfect for the GOP since it will be completely ineffective but will convince the GOP base that the GOP are being tough on illegal aliens. That is also why the GOP will never reform the immigration system, because it would undoubtedly decrease the amount of slave labor available. The GOP does not want to decrease illegal aliens, they just want to use the issue as a way to manipulate their base. It seems to work since so many are convince that the threat is real and the GOP want to solve the problem.
461
@Chris What you say is true, but Democrats also have their own partisan interests in the immigration problem.
11
@Chris
...and as a nihilistic bonus, the Reckless Republicans can charge the wall to the national credit card.
They won't even pay for it.
What a bunch of right-wing lowlife deadbeats.
92
Central Americans have more asylum rights than Mexico, right? As for as Trump's honesty is concerned, the 80% of would be asylees who are turned back by the courts have similar issues.
So maybe we should deport Trump.
3
The primary purpose of the border fence is to reduce illegal immigration, not to reduce crime in U.S. cities.
Trump long ago gave up on his plan to build a solid wall from San Diego to Brownsville. He no longer plans to build a wall across the Texas despoblado. Trump proposes to add about 200 miles of new fencing to the 700 miles of existing fence where the Border Patrol says it is needed—mostly in the Texas' Rio Grande Valley.
The completed 900-mile fence will bear little resemblance to the grandiose border wall Trump envisioned in his campaign speeches. It will cover less than 50 percent of the 1,954 mile-long U.S.-Mexico border. The requested $5.7 billion would also pay for strengthened the existing fence, port of entry enhancements and high-tech sensors to surveil the 1,000 miles of unprotected border.
5
@William Case
Except that Trump's SOTU specifically mentioned see-through concrete. Further, Turmp himself is using crime as his rationale. Hence the "Build the Wall/Crime will Fall" slogan and his references to crime in his SOTU.
8
@Bill B
You need to get over your Trump obsession. Trump may have mentioned see-through concrete, but that is not the prototype selected. Regardless of what Trump says, the primary mission of the CPB is to intercept illegal border crossers and smuggled drugs.
4
@William Case
You need to pay attention to what this column is about. Roger Cohen was writing about Trump's demagoguery regarding El Paso. Further, you're the one who said that Trump gave up his plan to have a wall, when he clearly hasn't.
Further, any real progress on immigration (and avoiding a government shutdown) is hostage to Trump's obsession with this.
23
The neo-Jefferson Davis goes on his neo-Confederate wall-monument speaking tour.
What a wonderful opportunity for the good people of El Paso to see a real live horse's bottom that talks.
255
Cohen is something of a rarity in our media, reminding us occasionally of realities not scrutinized in our media, whether it's Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia or here, Central America.
Our military interventions, our facilitations or sponsoring of coup d'état, our support of dictatorships in Latin America is central to the quite historically very modest situation at the border now.
He rightly states: Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, not Mexico, are now the overwhelming source of northward migration. These 3 countries were pawns in the Reagan era counter-insurgency protocols. Reagan fêted Rios Montt in the Oval Office - later convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity, involvement in the genocide of more than 200,000 Native Peoples of Guatemala.
In expiation of US crimes, we need to deal generously with refugees fleeing these nations and institute a Marshall-style plan to deal with the economic catastrophes which result in mass movements of peoples from these countries to our Southern border.
60
@Branagh, plus climate change has resulted in increasing drought in the Guatemala highlands resulting in subsistence farmers leaving their lands.
18
"Escobar told me: “Trump’s wall obsession is his way of keeping a campaign promise to the core of his base, many of whom are xenophobic and some outright racist.”"
It's the hook he feels he needs to keep them voting in 2020. Trump doesn't believe in the wall any more than I believe in Peter Pan, but he needs it to keep hard-core supporters riled up and ready to get to the polls.
In other words, the heck with fixing immigration when you can keep its flames alive for 2020.
Of course, Donald Trump isn't the only one avoiding a solution to immigration, warming the souls of all Republicans who know the mere mention of "amnesty" equates to votes.
It's pathetic, as Roger points out, because we are a nation of both immigrants and laws. Our laws are old and don't fit the needs of today's migrant movements.
So, Trump stays focused on a problem of his own making--cruelty as policy and deterrent--to the exclusion of all other pressing US problems.
He still thinks he can scare refugees from trekking north--which shows how divorced he is from the choices desperate peoples face.
129
You're right. He wouldn't have anything to act righteous about if he couldn't blame victims.
Then the caca would hit the fan. And his treacherous dependence of mob financiers and love of the world's worst dictators would come to the fore.
25
The Democratic Party should, as soon as possible, get behind a positive response to immigration-related issues. Specify how many immigrants per year will be allowed to enter the country and on what basis they will be selected. Establish a way for DACA recipients to become legal residents and eventually citizens, requiring them to pay additional taxes during the process of acquiring citizenship. Impose tough penalties on anyone who employs an immigrant unlawfully, and reward undocumented immigrants who expose and testify against exploitative bosses. Have adequate immigration judges to make rapid determinations on asylum claims - and include hearings by teleconference with consulates and embassies outside the US. Focus border and port of entry security on keeping out drugs, terrorists and contraband. Provide - and require - intensive English instruction for new immigrants who are not fluent in English. Lay a full, economically realistic, fair, and compassionate solution on the table and dare the Republicans to vote for the crazy status quo instead.
It's time for the Democratic party to be the party of solutions - not the party of whining, blaming, and never really solving anything.
12
@Barry Fogel
Betcha Hillary still has her immigration plan in a filing cabinet somewhere. Dust that puppy off, and get rolling.
2
Large families are the norm in agricultural based societies. As women become more educated birth rates fall. You only need to go back a couple of generations in the US to see this play out. The best way to help people is through education and opportunities. But it is fallacy that the US is "full" with our population dependent on immigration to support an aging population. You only need to look as far a Japan to see what a future will look like without adding young immigrants to our economy.
84
"...families know they will be released within 20 days by ICE and go to the back of an 800,000-person line awaiting their day in immigration court. That’s a virtual guarantee of two to three years in the country..."
Around 80 % of those claiming refugee status are denied. They are indeed economic refugees and 2-3 years in the US sending home remittances is a great incentive. So take the incentive away, not by punishing the people who come here to work, but by punishing (with stiff, meaningful fines) anyone who employs them. It is not that Americans won't do these jobs, it is that they won't do them for slave wages. Immigration laws including the H 1B program are abused by employers all the time. I know, I worked in a factory and saw it first hand. Even the president has now finally audited his own companies and he uses illegal workers. Immigration for work, should be based on the need of American companies, but if they are found to be cheating, they should be punished. That also goes for anyone with a nanny, gardener, laborer or dishwasher that skids past laws designed to protect workers. If the Trump administration is so concerned, why don't they make E-verify the law of the land, instead of a voluntary program? Trump recently stated he would use e-verify only after his companies were exposed for employing illegal workers. If jobs were hard to come by, people wouldn't come and those with true asylum claims would be processed quickly.
37
Central Americans have too many children, and they barely educate them. A 2/17 report by the Inter American Dialogue titled “"Educational Challenges in Honduras and Consequences for Human Capital and Development” said the average Honduran, age 15 and above, has only a 4th grade education. The Honduran educational system is focused on remediation so even those who attend for more years do poorly on international tests of their grade level. The report noted that Guatemala and El Salvador have even lower literacy rates than Honduras.
An arid corridor cuts across wide swaths of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras where it has always been difficult to raise food. None-the-less, the cultures in these countries have placed much importance on having many children. Their populations have outgrown their ability to raise food, and their poor educations have left them without any way to make a living in an occupation other than farming (or joining a drug cartel).
Sometimes, the arid corridor grows drier than usual. This is what has been happening over the last few years. (Global warming might be exacerbating the situation.) Many are in real fear of starvation.
We could offer them help in their own countries. We could give them food aid, help them find crops that require less water, help them build reservoirs, offer family planning, and encourage education. Philanthropies could offer them small loans through Grameen-type banks to start and expand one-person businesses.
65
@ann Yes we could, after Trump and his Republican supporters are decisively defeated and rendered powerless in government. Short of that, forget it.
13
The crime rate in El Paso dropped significantly in the the late 1980s when the Border Patrol switched tactics. Instead of relying on roving patrols, they parked patrol cars in close proximity to each other the entire length of the Rio Grande as it flowed through El Paso-Juarez. The experiment was called "Operation Linebacker." The units were never out of sight of each other and slipping through between the patrol cars was difficult. Today, the border fence has replaced the phalanx of Border Patrol cars in El Paso. However, the primary purpose of the border barrier is not to reduce crime in U.S. cities; the primary purpose is to reduce illegal immigration.
12
@William Case: " Today, the border fence has replaced the phalanx of Border Patrol cars in El Paso."
I guess you can call it a fence, border barrier or phalanx of Border Patrol cars, but you absolutely cannot call it a wall.
4
@Jp
I think of it as a fence, but whether it is a wall or a fence is something only Republicans and Democrats care about. There are more independents than there are Republicans or Democrats. We are tired of having things decided on a partisan basis. Democrats did not oppose the 700 miles of border fence built when President Obama was in office.
1
@William Case
That's not what Trump said. "Build a wall and crime will fall" is his mantra. Trump's SOTU was clearly linking not having a wall to crime.
3
We all need to remember this Trump visit is, first and foremost, one of his campaign rallies. It is not an "official" presidential visit. The cost is supposed to be borne by his re-election campaign committee. "Supposed to be" being the key, and probably ignored, phrase. We taxpayers will be hosed, in any event.
Only those with Trump security approval will be allowed in for the main rant. MAGA and Trump2020 hats will be de rigeuer and for sale for those willing to pay, oh, $25 or so (with larger donations gladly accepted), for the "privilege" of their heads being used as advertising space.
A week from Monday he will declare his emergency.
We will pay for that, too.
The March issue of "The Atlantic" magazine arrived in my mail today. The middle third of the cover says, "IMPEACH" in red letters.
That, I will gladly have my tax dollars pay for.
336
I'm progressive, but I'm also no lover of unfettered immigration. I wish that citizens of war-torn and dysfunctional countries would restrain their procreation and direct their energies toward solving their regional problems.
The USA is partner to treaties that obligate us to accept petitioners who meet the criteria for "refugee". We need to honor those legal obligations, but also work to modify the treaties in light of modern times and a much smaller world.
Procreation is the one "human right" which is taboo to deny. Guatemalans will continue having large families as long as the Catholic church et al. insists on forbidding birth planning, so these refugees will continue insisting to be welcomed at our southern border.
Sorry. Our house is full. Please return home and make all necessary repairs to your own house.
17
@Kenneth Brady
Telling immigrants to fix their own crime and violence-ridden countries where killing, induced drug addiction, and cruelty are dominating life MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL. It does no good to stand in a burning building and mull over how to replace burned boards.
Actually, our house is not full. Texas has thousands within the USA coming here DAILY and still they come and still our politicians are glad to have our tax base expanded. One thing Austin is short of is (really and truly) affordable housing. This country has millions of neighborhoods that have lost citizens, but where immigrants would gladly live to be in peace and better, though not perfect security. Our citizens who say our country is closed speak from prejudice, biases and hatred of someone different. But, in reality, we do have room. We used to have values for accepting new neighbors. Now Trump's vicious example of hatred, racism, sexism, xenophobia have encouraged us to hate and fight each other. Immigrants would love to establish homes here as long as they can live away from those of us who are hateful and intolerant.
23
@Kenneth Brady
Hard to "return home and make necessary repairs to your own house" when your house is a tent and you are being persecuted for your beliefs, race, poverty or desire for democracy by "your country". Every one of those countries of origin have been brought low by corrupt leaders in bed with us, the Good 'Ol USA.
24
@Kenneth Brady,Perhaps usa could stop destroying their countries politically also?
28
Some kind of Marhall Plan makes sense, but for the Nothern Triangle. Costa Rica, and especially, Panama, don't need it and wouldn't want it. The problem is that sitting in the middle of Central America is Nicaragua, run by the same despot that Ronald Reagan was fighting with the Iran-Contra plan. Daniel Ortega will try to thwart any Marshall Plan for the Northern Triangle and he cannot be included in one. So your proposed solution has some reality problems of its own.
6
''A Marshall Plan for Central America would do more for border security than any barrier...'' - and there you have it.
How many South and Central American countries are trying to dig out from under the decades old failed war on drugs ? How many more still are trying to dig out from the United States of decades of trying to play kingmaker while propping up strongmen?
In 2013, the Senate passed a Democratic bill (from President Obama) with bipartisan support that would have dealt with immigration reform and a border wall (20+ billion) It was not even brought up for a vote by the republican Speaker of the House.
If Speaker Pelosi were smart (and she very much is), she would bring up the exact same bill and pressure the Senate majority leader to bring it up for a vote and for the President to sign it.
I understand the politics of the moment (another shutdown) might delay that, or put it off altogether. The issue might be wanted for campaigning in 20' to get an even stronger bill, once Democrats take back the Senate and White House.
For the meantime, the demagoguery will continue.
206
@FunkyIrishman: "If Speaker Pelosi were smart (and she very much is), she would bring up the exact same bill and pressure the Senate majority leader to bring it up for a vote and for the President to sign it. "
You set the criteria. We'll see if she is smart.
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@FunkyIrishman
You are so right--Republicans did not do one single thing to improve America if the idea/proposal came from Obama. I voted twice for him and admire his diplomacy and good common sense to this day. I cannot say I never voted for a Republican, but I sure as background not now, ever. They are fueled by, sustained by their own power; drunk with it actually. Speaking only of political govt DC Repubs.
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@FunkyIrishman
Trump makes extremely ashamed he is our president. Just thinking of the hate, divisiveness, violence, greed, cruelty, stupidity and on and on that he has encouraged depresses and fosters hopelessness. After eight solid years of hard work, honor and intelligence under Obama. He was not perfect and did not know everything, but he made us PROUD TO BE AMERICAN.
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