Today's Talker: The immigrant caravan is a political play now

Monday, October 22

The immigrant caravan is a political play now

A caravan of Central American migrants heading through Mexico is bound for the U.S. despite threats from President Donald Trump to cut off aid.

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Now, on to the news: A caravan of about 5,000 Central American migrants heading through Mexico is bound for the United States despite threats from President Donald Trump to seal the border and cut off funding for Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Ban all immigrants, take care of Americans

This country must learn to tighten its financial belt and quit spending money it doesn't have. A start is banning entry of the 5,000-migrant caravan from Central America.

The United States is generous when it comes to helping other countries. In the meantime, our debt is out of control. The monthly report of the Treasury Department shows we have a $779 billion deficit, which is nearly a 17 percent increase from 2017.

The deficit reflects our poor spending habits. We can start trimming our budget by banning all illegal immigrants from entering the USA — no matter the originating country. According to PolitiFact, illegal immigration is costing American taxpayers anything between $43 billion and $279 billion by different scenarios.

We have thousands of Americans in need. We've recently been faced with natural disasters, i.e., Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas, Hurricane Michael in Florida, and there were the wildfires in California, too. These disasters have left thousands of Americans without housing, food, electricity, medical care, jobs.

We need to take care of our own before trying to help people from other countries. If we continue to take in undocumented immigrants because we have good hearts, we are spreading our help and support of U.S. citizens too thin.

For the time being, I propose that we ban all immigrants from entering America. from all countries, stop helping other countries with aid, take care of our people, and pay off our debt.

I know it sounds cold but think of this: If you have a choice to help your family at the expense of trying to help the whole community, knowing you do not have enough resources, what would you do?

And since this type of migration through a caravan is an annual event, a plan should be in place before it reaches violent levels.

Michele Sprague is a freelance writer on national issues. She's also the author of "Single Again 101." You can follow Sprague on Twitter: @michelesprague.

Trump's migration game

Dario Castillejos/Oaxaca, Mexico/PolticalCartoons.com

What our readers are saying

Everyone who supports open borders should sponsor a family and personally provide support, shelter and be legally responsible for their actions until they are documented. Call it the "put up or shut up" system.

— Jim Davis

I would like to thank this caravan for reminding Americans why we voted for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

— Riff Schmidt

Letter to the editor:

We all see things from our own perspectives. In the world of politics, sometimes we look at things through the eyes of politicians who have an agenda. But the visual is worth a thousand words. The caravan of immigrants coming through Mexico can be seen as people who are looking for a better life — families with women and children escaping the possible oppression in their own countries. I see those types of people, but President Donald Trump and his supporters see murderers and crime. We know Trump's agenda is strictly to promote fear, and that seems to play directly to his base.

The result of this Rorschach test is only one of Trump's dark views on immigration, stemming from a deeper concern involving racism and a support of white supremacy — a culture that seems to surround him.

Linda Gefen; Boca Raton, Fla.

What others are saying

The Los Angeles Times, editorial : "The caravan is offering President Donald Trump a pretext to do something he was trying to do anyway. ... New immigrants who are in the United States without authorization tend to be people from Asia who enter the country legally and then overstay their visas, not desperate border-crossers from Latin America. But the latter serve as a convenient bogeyman for Trump to rile up the xenophobes among his supporters. Do not be fooled by the man behind the tweets."

Newt Gingrich, FoxNews.com : "The very idea that thousands of people believe (or are being told) they have a right to invade America and demand that we take care of them tells you how sick the system has become. The time to draw the line and fight for an honest immigration and border control policy is now. The caravan is the perfect symbol of the arrogance — the organized effort to destroy the rule of law — and the contempt for the American system that the left exhibits every day."

The Dallas Morning News, editorial : "It's unfortunate that the president offers no thought for the struggling and desperate people who make up the caravan. At the same time, there's no reason not to require countries to use the money U.S. taxpayers send them to foster better circumstances for their people, so they can feel safe inside their own countries. If those governments can't do that, Trump is right. We should find better ways to deliver help to Central America."

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