Illegal Border Crossings Today:

If It Looks Like An Invasion, It Probably Is

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Inlate 2018, Politifactran an article titled “Is the Migrant Caravan an Invasion.” Unsurprisingly, theso-called “fact checker,” concluded that it is not. According to experts citedby Politifact, “Invasions are armedoperations organized with the intention of taking control of foreign sovereignterritory through the use of force.” And, since “the migrants are notarmed, organized, or intending to take control of U.S. territory,” theirattempts to cross the border – illegally, enmasse – don’t constitute an invasion. 

However, there are a number of border officials who might disagree with the fact checkers. In January of 2019 – shortly after Politifact, and several other mainstream media outlets took umbrage at the comparison of illegal aliens to invaders – a group of caravan migrants attacked border patrol agents with rocks and rushed the border. Their violent behavior was hardly that of people just trying to get away from poverty, crime and civil strife. And, despite pundits’ claims to the contrary it looked an awful lot like an attempted invasion.

Yet another migrant caravan has begun snaking its way from the troubled Northern Triangle, toward the United States. Mexico, finally growing tired of continual assaults on its sovereignty, sent officers from its immigration agency – the Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) – to stop the caravanners. The migrants, ostensibly still peaceful and just fleeing chaos and corruption, viciously attacked the unarmed INM officials with rocks. The Washington Examiner posted footage of the confrontation. Once again, it looked more like an invasion than the arrival of pacifist mendicants seeking alms.

So,maybe it’s time to take another look at the migrant caravans using thestandards relied upon by Politifact:

  • Clearly the individuals making up the caravans have been able to coordinate their efforts and act as a unit. And, as FAIR has noted on several occasions, the migrants are, in fact, very well organized. They have unambiguously articulated what they think the U.S. owes them, even going so far as to suggest that the U.S. pay them each $50,000 to go home.
  • While the caravan may not have firearms, they certainly experienced no shortage of projectile weapons. FAIR has repeatedly pointed out that, “Attacks where illegal aliens use rocks or other debris as weapons to attack law enforcement personnel have long been a major concern in border areas.” Rock-throwing illegal aliens have actually downed several immigration enforcement helicopters along the U.S.-Mexico border. And, in November of 2018, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, was attacked by a rock throwing illegal alien as he toured the San Diego Sector.
  • When the caravan members attacked Mexican and American border officials, they were directly and deliberately attempting to take control of sovereign territory. How else can you characterize a violent assault on the officials of an independent state as they attempt to maintain the integrity of that state’s borders?

There’s an old expression, “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.” And, the fact is, the migrant caravans look so much like primitive invasions, that the only true canard in the room is the mainstream media’s continued insistence that the migrants are nothing other than hapless victims with the purest of intentions.