The current number of border crossers are not historic high numbers and they were absorbed without a border wall in their way. Historically, the border crossers were in worse health than those today. Our foreign policies work and they have been discontinued.
The President has caused the increasing number of border crossers. Enough of this.
Senate: Democrats needed to override veto - 16
House: Democrats need 42 to 45 more votes for 2/3 majority
March 5, 2019
By Caitlin Dickerson
For the fourth time in five months, (click here) the number of migrant families crossing the southwest border has broken records, border enforcement authorities said Tuesday, warning that government facilities are full and agents are overwhelmed.
More than 76,000 migrants crossed the border without authorization in February, more than double the levels from the same period last year and approaching the largest numbers seen in any February in the last 12 years.
“The system is well beyond capacity, and remains at the breaking point,” Kevin K. McAleenan, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, told reporters in announcing the new data.
Diverted by new restrictions at many of the leading ports of entry, migrant families, mainly from Central America, continue to arrive in ever-larger groups in remote parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. At least 70 such groups of 100 or more people have turned themselves in at Border Patrol stations that typically are staffed by only a handful of agents, often hours away from civilization. By comparison, only 13 such groups arrived in the last fiscal year, and two in the year before....
The cut in USA Aid to the Northern Triad is exactly why there are human caravans to the USA southern border seeking asylum and work. Without this aid the people are facing death from starvation and/or the drug cartels as the only employer available.
This crisis is caused by Trump's horrible foreign policies that CREATE victims seeking personal safety and productive life.
Rather than digging in and finding solutions for these countries, Trump has made it many times worse.
October 22, 2018
President Donald Trump announced (click here) that the U.S. would begin "cutting off or substantially reducing" the "massive" foreign aid it delivered to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, after the U.S. leader accused the three countries of failing to stop a caravan of Central American migrants making its way to the U.S. to claim asylum.
"Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the U.S.," Trump said in a Twitter statement Monday morning.
"We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them," he continued....
The USA budget sequestration was passed in 2013. The article below is from 2014 written by the Heritage Foundation regarding the best outcomes for the Northern Triad.
It should be noted, in 2009 there was a coup d’état of the Honduran government due to ballot initiative that would have convened a National Constituent Assembly to amend the constitution. President Obama suspended funding for the fight against drug cartels. I think President Obama believed the coup would misuse the funding. As a result the cartels moved back into the region once secured away from them.
Suspending assistance to the Northern Triad does not help regardless of the leadership, it creates opportunity for criminals and threatens the USA national security.
These principles are sound and the end of the funding to these countries by Trump has created the influx of people to the USA-Mexican Border. This is a complicated issue and building a border wall only causes more problems without a clear resolve.
We already know what works and it is obvious sabotage of those initiatives will result in problems at the southern border.
Once again, the current administration is creating a greater internal crisis for the USA by detaining asylum seekers that were abandoned by our financial assistance.
...It cannot be denied that Mexico and Central America’s Northern Triangle (click here) countries—Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador—are all facing chronic citizen and economic insecurity crises. Rampant corruption and weak state institutions have made it virtually impossible to combat threats posed by violent transnational gangs and organized criminal groups. Coupled with the issue of endemic corruption, the regional debt crises and weak state institutions plague the region. Honduras has the world’s highest homicide rates, averaging 91 per 100,000 citizens. El Salvador is fourth in the world with an average of 41 per 100,000, and Guatemala is fifth at 40 per 100,000. (In comparison, the U.S. average is five per 100,000.) Located along a critical trafficking route, the isthmus is particularly vulnerable to illicit smuggling. Honduras alone is a layover spot for upwards of 79 percent of northward-bound drug flights....
...U.S. security objectives in Central America are codified in the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), which focuses on:
Creating safe streets for citizens in the region;
Disrupting the movements of criminals and contraband to, within, and between the nations of Central America;
Supporting the development of strong, capable, and accountable Central American governments;
Re-establishing effective state presence and security in communities at risk; and
Fostering enhanced levels of security coordination and cooperation among nations in the region.
Implementation and funding for these programs come from four State Department accounts: International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE); Nonproliferation, Anti-Terrorism, Demining and Relations Programs; Foreign Military Financing; and the Economic Support Fund. In addition, there are various agencies implementing CARSI objectives outside the State Department’s funding purview: the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Department of the Treasury. A number of security assistance accounts, such as the International Military Education and Training (which promotes professional military education) and the Democracy Fund supplement these initiatives....
...Recognize that defense cuts have adversely affected the U.S.’s drug interdiction capabilities. Defense budget cuts are reducing the U.S.’s ability to intercept maritime trafficking, and as a result, profits continue to fuel Mexican cartels and Central American gangs. Current asset shortfalls left the U.S. unable to prevent 25 percent of suspected maritime drug smuggling in fiscal year (FY) 2013.
Support Mexican and Guatemalan border security efforts. In 2013, SOUTHCOM supported the new Guatemalan Interagency Task Force, which provides infrastructure and operational anti-trafficking support along the Mexico–Guatemalan border. Yet despite the heroic efforts of U.S. armed services, civilian personnel, and regional partners, congressional withholding requirements continue to hinder security cooperation efforts.
Increase security cooperation with Honduras. As the home of the world’s highest murder rate, Honduras is also the largest source of unlawful immigrants. Yet U.S. restrictions on security assistance have been in place since FY 2012.
Allow Honduras to repair its fleet of F-5 jet fighters. Congress blocked Honduras’s recent attempts to contract Israel’s repair services. Repairing this fleet would help offset the burden on the U.S. and support the country’s much-needed aerial interdiction capabilities.
Moving Forward
In recent years, chronic insecurity in Mexico and Central America has threatened regional stability and U.S. security interests. This recent crisis on the southwest border has raised concerns about not only U.S. immigration policy and border security, but also the utility of foreign assistance.
When used wisely, foreign aid is a key national security tool. It ensures U.S. partnerships, promotes like-minded democratic institutions, and provides the U.S. with leverage abroad. Congress should understand that as security conditions in the region continue to deteriorate, cutting foreign aid would undermine the U.S.’s security interests....
