At the border: dealing with the invasion that isn’t an invasion
Things have been heating up at the Tijuana border.
The good news: the Mexican government seems to be on board with deporting 500 “migrants” who stormed the border over the weekend and were repelled by tear gas from the US side.
The bad news (although it’s not news in the sense that it’s certainly not new): the US left (which now has come to include most Democrats, it seems) finds this outrageous. The tear gas, that is.
For example, Rep. Brian Schatz wondered whether it might be a type of chemical weapon attack, although he later deleted that tweet and added this instead:
Anyone uncomfortable with spraying tear gas on children is welcome to join the coalition of the moral and the sane. We can argue about other stuff when we’ve got our country back.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) November 25, 2018
The mob that stormed the border was not a Children’s Crusade; it consisted predominantly of young men. There were some children and women in it as well, however, a leaf out of the Palestinian book of putting children in harm’s way in order to get some good photo ops and play on the sympathies of the left in the country trying to protect its border. Tear gas is a miserable experience, but its time-honored use is to disperse crowds without the use of more permanently harmful means of crowd control.
If you don’t want your children to get tear-gassed (or worse), then don’t embed them into a lawless mob bent on storming a border fence; follow the rules instead and do whatever it takes to get into the country legally. An actual “coalition of the moral and the sane” would know that (a) countries—any and all countries—have a right to defend their borders; and (b) tear gas is a relatively safe way to do that; and (c) there is zero analogy to Jews in WWII, who were law-abiding members of the same type of societies they were trying to enter, and who faced near-certain death otherwise with no alternative way out.
As I noted, the Palestinians wrote this book (although they were not the first to do so) and the “caravan” members are merely copying it because it is so successful, while the left in the US and Europe further honed what arguments to make during its experience defending the Palestinians and the great success of those arguments and those visuals as propaganda. Here is a post I wrote some years ago on the subject; Palestinians play an even more deadly game, as did the leftist North Vietnamese before them.
The entire approach is a sort of left-handed (and leftist-generated) compliment to the people of the country it is used against. The more brutal the country really is, the less likely the opposing force is likely to use it, because truly brutal countries have no qualms whatsoever about using the deadliest of forces against anyone—including children—who would invade it, storm it, or otherwise harm it.
But let’s return to Schatz. When he writes, “we can argue about other stuff when we’ve got our country back”—I assume he means when the only valid party in America, the Democratic Party, takes power again, which he expects to happen rather shortly, certainly by 2020. Of course, other people might interpret the idea of “getting our country back” as referring to being allowed to defend borders and insist on legal immigrants, people this country has long welcomed and who are likely to become law-abiding US citizens. But that’s not what Schatz and today’s Democratic Party would say.
[NOTE: Please read Part II of Bill Reader’s series on the groups behind the caravan (I linked to Part I a while back). It makes for sobering reading.
And of course, when during the Obama administration border agents used pepper spray in a similar situation, the response was relatively muted. Because Obama.]
Would they prefer that the Border guards shoot the children?
Actually, I think at some level they would. It would make them feel more self-righteous. Liberalism is more about self validation than reality.
Every TV station in northern VA covering this event refers to the people trying to enter the country illegally as “immigrants”, not criminals. Remember that in 2013 the Border Patrol did the same thing to a mob trying to storm a border crossing and nobody noticed. Wonder why?
Everything about Schatz’ comment (or is it Shitz? 😉 ) lays nakedly bare the hypocrisy and mendacity of the Left.
The Left seems to be superb at seeing only what they want to see.
Fmr Aussie PM Tony Abbott was called every name but “child of God” when he announced his policy that all illegal immigrants coming to Australia by people-smuggler-boats would not be processed on the Aussie mainland but on offshore detention facilities.
Guess what…the boats stopped, people stopped dying in the ocean and no one has had the cojones de piedras to reverse that decision. Rage against the “conditions the poor women & children” have to face, but no one has offered a better solution.
A country must control its border by any means necessary. Those invaders at the US southern border must be repelled & the whole border closed if necessary. Mexico has to gain internal control…or suffer the consequences…and I’m sure those are being fully explained back channel.
And guys like Schatz should be mocked openly loudly & repeatedly…because now, even Hillary agrees that immigration must be controlled.
The most visible picture is of a woman (won’t say Mother because don’t know if she is) and two young children running. Don’t know where she is running to or from, implication being from the evil US Border Patrol. Neo is right on that this is just what the Palestinians do with the left wing press. And once the picture is out there it can’t be refuted.
Liberalism is divergent, with cause, for fun, and profit. Progressivism is monotonic. Conservatism is a law of nature. Principles matter.
Lord, yes, Matthew, they’d prefer those children get shot. It makes a better picture. Next we can expect fake photos of injured children, just like the ones the Palestinians manufacture.
If that was their mother who took them to try to rush the border, she should lose custody.
For those who missed it, there was an amazing exchange between Ed Rendell and Bret Baier on election night this year, about the caravan. The mind blowing duplicity of Rendell was laid out here. The key part in the video starts around 2:45.
Sorry if most of you know this, but Rendell is a former Gov. of Penn. and keeps active in Dem. politics in state, and has taught a course on bending public opinion and winning elections.
To summarize his comments: People in Penn. are livid about Trump. Why? Because he goes off on tangents about “made up caravans.” But caravans are real. Well yeah, but he makes stupid statements about them being infected with smallpox and leprosy. Silence. And they’re not trying to get into the country illegally. They just want asylum, which is legal.
So the nonexistent people in the nonexistent caravan just want asylum when they throw rocks and storm the border gates? Smallpox and leprosy??? Haven’t y’all been hearing that incessantly?
This is just like attorney “Racehorse Haynes” on how to defend a man who’s dog bit another man.
1) My dog doesn’t bite.
2) He was tied up that night.
3) The defendant was never bitten.
4) I don’t own a dog.
Summary: Lie your tuchus off, and keep pivoting to new lies.
_____
It also reminds me of David Mamet’s published article about his political change. He says he was struck by a cognitive dissonance when the left (his left clan) claims things that his direct experiences have taught him just aren’t true.
Neo pointed me to her excellent commentary on the Mamet article. He makes some off-hand comment about choosing to lean right, even if Bush’s people stole the election in Florida. Well, Mamet didn’t personally experience all of the shenanigans in FL at the time, but instead absorbed at least some of the BS that the NYTimes and the WaPo spewed out.
John Guilfoyle:
Hillary said illegal immigration should be controlled because not controlling it will help the right politically.
Quite pragmatic of her
It’s comforting to know that even Shrill can be honest. (Although I’m afraid it was inadvertent.)
I’m not so sure about her reasoning skills, though.
“It also reminds me of David Mamet’s published article about his political change. He says he was struck by a cognitive dissonance when the left (his left clan) claims things that his direct experiences have taught him just aren’t true.” – TommyJay
LYNN HARGROVE on November 26, 2018 at 5:18 pm at 5:18 pm said:
The most visible picture is of a woman (won’t say Mother because don’t know if she is) and two young children running. Don’t know where she is running to or from, implication being from the evil US Border Patrol. Neo is right on that this is just what the Palestinians do with the left wing press. And once the picture is out there it can’t be refuted.
* * *
Cue Neo’s change story about the Vietnamese War picture of the little girl and the napalm.
Yes, it can be refuted, but most people don’t pay attention.
Those that do, have their eyes opened.
The invasion that isn’t an invasion is an invasion. The problem is the leftist narrative has not been forcefully challenged by the right. I am positive that a large majority want the invasion be repealed with whatever measures are necessary.
Shut down the southern border for as long as necessary and hit the Mexican pocket book with a sledgehammer. Plus, ignore the courts usurping executive authority. This is actually war.
This in today’s Wall Street Journal. (If I can get it to work.)
Sorry, didn’t work, can’t delete, no edit.
Twitchy is usually too inane for my taste, but they posted a couple of good takes on the not-invasion.
https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2018/11/26/report-man-from-migrant-caravan-crosses-border-illegally-climbs-tree-lights-it-on-fire/
“Several previous arrests in Florida and a previous deportation just this summer. We’d be curious to know what the arrests were for — we were assured there were no criminals among the migrants in the caravan the second President Trump tweeted that there were.”
PS crossing the border at places other than the legal POEs (among other things) is, um, illegal; conviction of illegal activity makes you a (can we all say it together?) criminal.
It’s not rocket science.
However, the Prez was referring to people who are already criminals BEFORE joining this particular invading horde, and there has been plenty of evidence of that. The kneejerk boilerplate in every “news” report I’ve seen is that “Trump called them criminals without evidence” — as if a Tweet has to have footnotes and a list of citations to be accurate.
https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2018/11/26/surprising-beto-orourke-admits-we-should-follow-our-own-laws-when-it-comes-to-immigration/
@BetoORourke
It should tell us something about her home country that a mother is willing to travel 2,000 miles with her 4-month old son to come here. How we respond when she arrives tells us something about ours.
“It should also tell us something that she could have ended her trek a thousand miles earlier by accepting Mexico’s offer of asylum and promise of shelter, medical attention, schooling, and jobs made back in October….
The best part of his brief post is the suggestion that we follow U.S. law — and if you cross the border illegally, you’ve broken U.S. law. But that’s not what he means:
Let’s do this the right way and follow our own laws. Allow asylum seekers to petition for asylum at our ports of entry. They must do so peacefully and follow our laws; but we must also ensure the capacity to effectively and timely process those claims (right now 5,000 waiting in Tijuana and only 40 to 100 are processed a day).
Wow, 5,000 asylum seekers are waiting in Tijuana? It’s like they formed a giant caravan of thousands to arrive at the same time and overwhelm the U.S. legal system or something.”
https://twitchy.com/dougp-3137/2018/11/26/oops-msnbc-reporter-in-tijuana-accidentally-shoots-down-the-medias-narrative-about-asylum-seekers/
@RealSaavedra
MSNBC reporter in Mexico shoots down the media’s narrative, says the majority of the migrants in the caravan are men who are not seeking asylum.
Neo…when you think about the times HRC says something you agree with…just keep thinking, “broken clock.” Even those are correct sometimes. 😉
But yes…my sense is she was saying that if Europe couldn’t get immigration under control they’d have a “Trump” of their own. She’s not wrong…
This from people closer to the front lines.
Note the date on the first one.
There were more on the current invasion, but I hit their “three strikes” paywall.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-border-patrol-rock-throwing-san-ysidro-2013nov25-story.html
Susan Shroder and Elizabeth AguileraContact Reporters
“A group of about 100 people trying to illegally cross the border Sunday near the San Ysidro port of entry threw rocks and bottles at U.S. Border Patrol agents, who responded by using pepper spray and other means to force the crowd back into Mexico, federal officials said.”
Must have been Trump forcing Obama to approve such a dastardly thing, three years before the election.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/la-na-san-ysidro-caravan-20181126-story.html
“There were no serious injuries among immigrants or agents; four agents were hit with rocks but were wearing protective gear, McAleenan said during a Monday briefing. He said 69 immigrants managed to cross the border during the confrontation and were being processed and could face criminal charges related to illegal entry and assaults on agents. McAleenan said he was not aware of any migrants who crossed the border and avoided apprehension.
Immigrant advocacy groups and others criticized the Border Patrol’s use of tear gas on the crowd, which included women and children.
California Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom tweeted on Sunday: “These children are barefoot. In diapers. Choking on tear gas. Women and children who left their lives behind — seeking peace and asylum — were met with violence and fear. That’s not my America. … And we will not stand for this.
But McAleenan defended the use of what he called “less than lethal devices” by agents who responded as caravan members — who he said appeared to be grown men — hurled dozens of rocks.
“It was done consistent with all of our law enforcement training and policy,” he said.
McAleenan said the agency uses “CS gas” and “less lethal” projectiles, but not rubber bullets. Weapons like gas may cross into Mexico, he said, “but the intent is to use it at the border.” He said similar “less lethal” force was used to repel a group of migrants in Tijuana five years ago.
U.S. immigration officials had warned as a large group of migrants and asylum seekers moved north that it included hundreds of criminals willing to defy law enforcement. They offered no evidence that criminals were in the so-called caravan.”
Well, there are some NOW.
Here is a very complete report to date, and a companion piece.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/11/25/migrants-make-border-rush-south-of-san-diego-repelled-by-smoke-pellets-pepper-spray/
Migrants make border rush south of San Diego; repelled by smoke pellets; *UPDATE* Mexico will deport perps
By J.E. Dyer November 25, 2018
“This whole thing is transparently political and centrally organized. That doesn’t mean no one in the caravans is legitimately seeking asylum, or that there aren’t any people among the migrants who would make fine Americans. I’ve said that repeatedly. It does mean that what’s happening right now is not spontaneous, it’s not about overriding human need, and that it is false and even vicious to depict it as such.
America needs defensible borders, respected for all the traditional purposes of national borders, just as every other nation does. The radical political attempt to invalidate borders themselves is what we are dealing with here. Deterring the migrants from offering themselves up as a sacrifice to an illegitimate political cause is Job One. Trump is focusing on it, and for that, he is to be commended.”
https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/11/25/the-left-wants-the-truth-about-the-caravan-the-left-cant-handle-the-truth/
The Left wants the truth about the caravan? The Left can’t handle the truth
By Howard Portnoy November 25, 2018
“It’s hard to judge the veracity of Pompeo’s claim because the link provided is to another Politico article, not Pompeo’s source. But at the risk of missing the trees for the forest, is Politico legitimately unconcerned that another 400,000 illegal aliens have poured across the border this year, joining millions from the previous two decades? At what point does abuse of America’s sovereign borders become a crisis for liberals?
To Politico’s credit, not all of the questions are answered in a fashion that will please troubled souls like Nikolas Kristof. Take question five: “Are there MS-13 members in the caravan? Are there Middle Easterners in the caravan?” Here’s paragraph 3 of the answer:
A Homeland Security Department spokeswoman said earlier this week that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in fiscal year 2018 arrested more than 17,000 convicted criminals and 3,000 “special interest aliens” — a broad term that includes many countries around the world, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Somalia (DHS does not disclose the full list of countries).
Once again, I have trouble understanding how these statistics don’t worry even the most die-hard liberal. When we’re dealing with matters of national security, quantity becomes less important than quality.”
* *
There are those pesky non-existent criminals again.
I picked this graf mostly as a hook for this picture from PowerLine last week, but they have several on the immigration-invasion, plus numerous articles.
https://i1.wp.com/www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2018/11/TSA-border.png?w=998&ssl=1
According to Gateway Pundit and others looking at that photo of the woman and children running, it’s staged, and there are others in the background posing for the camera as well. Nor is there anything in the photo to indicate the woman and children are suffering from tear gas.
Kate on November 27, 2018 at 9:18 am at 9:18 am said:
According to Gateway Pundit and others looking at that photo of the woman and children running, it’s staged
* * *
Pallywood — now at a theater near you.
The sad, very sad problem is that so many Dem supporters don’t “want to be confused by the facts”.
They say they want to be good people — so they have the “good people” values & ideas.
They’ve been indoctrinated to be sheeple, in order to be “good”. According to elites who do NOT want normal folk to have the freedom to disagree.
Aesop, maybe you should read what happened between the Nephites and Lamanites once again. Because this kind of sounds familiar don’t you think.