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IMMIGRATION

Central American Countries Are Helping Middle Easterners Illegally Enter The United States Panama and Costa Rica are chokepoints on the migrant trail followed by people from other continents seeking easier U.S. entry through our porous border with Mexico. Todd Bensman

http://thefederalist.com/2019/01/02/central-american-countries-helping-middle-easterners-illegally-enter-united-states/

In December 2018, the Center for Immigration Studies dispatched Senior National Security Fellow Todd Bensman to Panama and Costa Rica to investigate President Donald Trump’s widely ridiculed assertions that suspected terrorists had been apprehended among Middle East migrants through Latin America. Panama is a geographic chokepoint, or bottleneck, through which migrants from countries of the Middle East, who are moving out of South America, must push on their way to the U.S. border.

The following article is based on Bensman’s on-the-ground research over two weeks. His video reports, photos, and writings from the trip can be found here.

Golfito, Costa Rica — It was here in March 2017, at the main aluminum structure of a government migrant camp, that federal Costa Rican police arrested Ibrahim Qoordheen of Somalia as a suspected al Shabaab terrorist operative on his way to the U.S. southern border.

Qoordheen had been smuggled from Zambia to Brazil, passed through Panama, and was making his way north through Costa Rica when the Americans had him arrested here, 20 miles inside Costa Rica, according to an American intelligence official with knowledge of the case who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Golfito camp, with a capacity of 250, was set up as a two-day rest station for South America-exiting migrants whom the governments of Panama and Costa Rica register and help move through northward to Nicaragua.

How Two Gustavos Used California’s Sanctuary State Law to Spread Terror Across 200 Miles No sanctuary for the victims of these two illegal alien killers.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272403/how-two-gustavos-used-californias-sanctuary-state-daniel-greenfield

Less than 200 miles separate Tulare County and Stanislaus County. And a little over a week separates the two reigns of terror in these two California counties by Gustavo Garcia and Gustavo Perez Arriaga.

Both Gustavos were dangerous and violent illegal aliens. On Monday, December 17, Gustavo Garcia went on a murderous rampage that killed at least two people and put seven more in the hospital. On Wednesday, December 26, Gustavo Perez Arriaga murdered a law enforcement officer at a traffic stop.

Cpl. Ronil Singh, murdered by the second Gustavo, and Rocky Paul Jones and Rolando Soto, murdered by the first Gustavo, did not have to die. They died because California’s sanctuary state law took their lives.

Gustavo Garcia had a criminal record dating back to 2002 covering everything from illegal weapons to meth. He had been deported in 2004 and then again in 2014. There had been three immigration holds on the illegal alien criminal. Before he began his murderous spree, Tulare County sheriff’s deputies arrested him. ICE put a hold on him as a dangerous illegal alien. But because of California’s sanctuary state law, local law enforcement had to let him loose. A few days later, the illegal alien’s carnage began.

Garcia shot a farmworker picking fruit in the chest, robbed a mini-mart at gunpoint of $2,000, shot and killed a man, shot at a woman in the parking lot of a Motel 6, wounding her in the arm and torso, opened fire at two gas stations, killing Rocky Jones, fired shots into several homes, including the home of his ex-girlfriend, forcing her and her children to flee, opened fire on the deputies pursuing him, stole a car from three other farmworkers at gunpoint, and got into a high speed chase while deliberately trying to hit other cars.

He exchanged fire with pursuing cops during the chase, and smashed into other cars while going 100 miles, taking his own life and putting four other people in the hospital, including one critically wounded.

And that’s actually an incomplete list of the illegal alien killer’s crimes after the ICE hold wasn’t honored.

“Before SB 54, Gustavo Garcia would have been turned over to ICE officials. That’s how we’ve always done it, day in and day out. After SB 54, we no longer have the power to do that,” Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said.

Next Caravan Rising Organizing in Honduras – while Congress sleeps. Matthew Vadum

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272419/next-caravan-rising-matthew-vadum

Another large caravan of would-be illegal aliens is forming down in Central America with the intention of moving north to demand jobs and government benefits, according to media reports.

The formation of this new army of migrants drives home the point that a border wall at the lengthy, porous U.S.-Mexico boundary is urgently needed. The failure to move forward with wall construction sends a message to the world that America is a weak country that lacks the moral fiber and political will to defend its national sovereignty. Not building the wall also provides would-be border jumpers extra incentives to enter the United States unlawfully.

The new caravan is estimated at 15,000 people and is reportedly planning to leave Honduras on Jan. 15.

“They say they are even bigger and stronger than the last caravan,” Irma Garrido, a member of Reactiva Tijuana Foundation has been quoted saying.

Thousands of Central American migrants from previous caravans in the fall are still present in various cities along the border. Many are waiting for U.S. authorities to process their requests for asylum. The migrants have worn out their welcome in Tijuana, Mexico, where overcrowded shelters are taxing local resources.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

Coordinators who helped direct the migrants on the 2,000-mile trek with bullhorns, arranging for buses and giving advice along the way, have mostly vanished. Many of the migrants say they feel abandoned and unsure where to turn next. Some are ready to return home.

Garrido said this new, larger caravan will probably be joined by more people in El Salvador and in Guatemala, but she said they don’t plan on coming straight to the Tijuana-San Diego border, where resources are already stretched nearly to a breaking point.

Last week, the U.S. and Mexico agreed to formulate a strategy to reduce Central American migration. It includes a $25-billion expenditure by Mexico in its southern states over the coming five years. The U.S. has vowed to ante up $4.8 billion for aid programs in Mexico and $5.8 billion for programs benefiting the Northern Triangle of Central America, consisting of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

And yet American lawmakers have still not approved the $5 billion needed to begin construction of a wall on the international border with Mexico. President Trump has said he is considering shutting down the nation’s southern border if wall funding is not approved.

Borderline Christmas Where America meets the sea Clark Whelton

https://www.city-journal.org/mexican-border-christmas

At the southwest edge of the Lower 48, on a sunny, breezy beach where America meets the sea, a green and white van sits on a sandy road, facing south. Behind the wheel is a Border Patrol agent with his eyes on Mexico. The frontier fence stands 100 feet away. On the Mexican side, dozens of people are quietly taking selfies or peeking between the steel ribs of the 20-foot tall barrier. On the American side, three people from New York City look back. Two are visitors from Manhattan. The third is the agent himself—he hails from Brooklyn.

“I thought there would be more people on this side of the fence,” I said, noting that the nearby International Friendship Park was empty.

“More are coming,” the agent replied. “They’re on the way now.” I wanted to ask how he knew, but instead I squinted north, following the wide beach as it curved westward toward Coronado Island and San Diego Bay, clearly visible in the distance. There was no one in sight, and no border security, either—at least, none that I could see. It was three days before Christmas and on both sides of the border all was calm, all was California bright. “Just the way we like it,” the agent said.

At the southwestern edge of America, the border fence continues into the Pacific for 100 yards or so. Next stop, Shanghai. My cell phone flashed “Welcome to Mexico!” I glanced up at the huge Plaza de Toros bullring that towers above the border. Tijuana has worked hard to overcome its seedy reputation as a tourist trap selling souvenirs to norteamericanos. The city is now a thriving metropolitan area, with its own international airport, industrial parks, and condo developments. Tijuanistas are not happy about a politicized migrant march using their home town as a staging area.

But the march got lots of attention in the media, which is why my wife and I are here. After all that coverage of the troubles in Tijuana, we wanted to see what’s happening on the American side. That’s why others are coming, too, even though the automobile road to this part of the border is closed. Reaching the steel fence requires GPS assistance and a strenuous slog southward.

From Border Field State Park, it’s a three-mile round trip on foot, but a steady stream of visitors seemed willing to try. In the parking lot I met a man from Warsaw. “Poland has its own border problems,” he said. “I wish to see how America handles things.”

Parked beside him was a family of five from Australia. Mr. Aussie was also curious about the American side, though he confessed to feeling guilty about Australia keeping out Asian immigrants who arrive there uninvited, “in rickety boats.” Even using the word “rickety” unsettled him. “It’s probably the best they could do,” he said.

A van arrived with seven young people from India, who debated about making the walk to the border. “We want to see what’s happening,” said a man who had come to the U.S. to study at the University of Virginia. Now he worked for Amazon. “In India we are careful about borders,” another man said.

Trump Invites Congressional Leaders for Meeting Amid Shutdown Republicans and Democrats both invited to Wednesday meeting; topics to include border securityBy Peter Nicholas and Natalie Andrews

https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-invites-congressional-leaders-to-meet-with-trump-wednesday-11546374858?cx_testId=16&cx_testVariant=cx&cx_artPos=0&cx_tag=collabctx&cx_navSource=newsReel#cxrecs_s

President Trump has invited a bipartisan group of congressional leaders to the White House on Wednesday in a bid to negotiate an end to a partial government shutdown that is now in its second week, a White House official said Tuesday.

The invitation went to the top eight Republican and Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate, and the meeting is expected to include a briefing on border security from the Department of Homeland Security, a congressional aide said.

It was unclear if Democrats planned to attend the meeting. Since the shutdown began in late December, Mr. Trump and congressional Democrats have largely avoided direct negotiations.

The two sides are at odds over spending for a Southern border wall, with Mr. Trump insisting on funding for the wall and Democrats staunchly opposed.

In recent tweets, Mr. Trump has sought to coax Democrats to the negotiating table while also portraying their opposition to wall funding as an irresponsible acceptance of what he called “open borders.”

“Border Security and the Wall ‘thing’ and Shutdown is not where Nancy Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker!” Mr. Trump tweeted on Tuesday. “Let’s make a deal?”

Congress is scheduled to open a new session Thursday, with Mrs. Pelosi taking over the speakership after Democrats won control of the House in November elections.

As of Tuesday afternoon, it was uncertain who would attend Mr. Trump’s meeting. Some congressional Democratic leadership aides said the meeting might not happen, or would need to be postponed, because all of the lawmakers invited might not return from their New Year’s break to Washington, D.C., in time.

Aides to Mrs. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), as well as their two deputies, all confirmed Tuesday afternoon that they had received the invitation, but declined to say whether they would attend.

CONTINUE AT SITE

The Immorality of Illegal Immigration By Victor Davis Hanson

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-immorality-of-illegal-immigration/

New House majority leader Nancy Pelosi reportedly spent the holidays at the Fairmont Orchid on Kona, contemplating future climate-change legislation and still adamant in opposing the supposed vanity border wall.

But in a very different real world from the Fairmont Orchid or Pacific Heights, other people each day deal with the results of open borders and sanctuary jurisdictions. The results are often nihilistic and horrific. Here in California’s Central Valley over the holidays we were reminded of the wages of illegal immigration in general — and of California’s sanctuary-city laws in particular, which restrict formal cooperation between local and state law enforcement with federal immigration authorities in matters of deporting illegal aliens under detention.

In the first case, one Gustavo Garcia, a previously deported 36-year-old illegal alien, murdered a 51-year-old Visalia resident on December 17, gratuitously shooting his random victim, Rocky Jones, at a gas station. He apparently had been arrested two days prior and released.

Garcia entered the U.S. illegally in 1998 and was deported for a second time in 2014. He has been charged with at least three immigration violations since illegally returning to the U.S., and has been a convicted felon since at least 2002 for assaults with a deadly weapon, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, possession of a controlled substance, etc. In addition to the murder of Jones, Garcia shot a farmworker who was on a ladder working, and followed a woman to her car at a Motel 6 and shot her too. At the beginning of his violent spree, he seems also to have murdered Rolando Soto, 38, of nearby Lindsay.

Indeed, Garcia was a suspect in a number of prior shootings and thefts. During his final rampage, inter alia, Garcia tried to shoot his ex-girlfriend, then stole a truck from farmworkers and led police on a chase, deliberately veering into opposing traffic, and by intent injuring four more innocents, one critically. During the chase, he fired on police, who returned fire, before Garcia finally wrecked the stolen vehicle and perished in the crash.

Unveiling the Left’s Globalist Agenda Frontpage associate editor Christine Williams reveals the real culprit behind illegal immigration.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272391/unveiling-lefts-globalist-agenda-frontpagemagcom

[Below is a Sputnik News interview with Frontpage Associate Editor Christine Douglass-Williams about the Left’s globalist agenda behind the massive flow of illegals trying to break through America’s border.]

On December 25, the US Customs and Border Protection said that the second migrant child died after being apprehended over an illegal entry attempt in the United States over the past month. Sputnik spoke about it to Christine Douglass Williams, a human rights activist and former director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.

Sputnik: In your view, why is the mainstream media not focusing on the fact that children are being used as human shields by parent to cross the border illegally?

Christine Douglass Williams: Mainstream media is primarily Left-leaning and partisan at best, an activist at worst. The globalist, no-borders agenda is the political priority of Democrats. The Left-leaning media feasts on anti-Trump rhetoric to disparage and malign him in the eyes of the general population. Nothing is worse than an uncaring, inhumane bigot who doesn’t care about children dying. So, portraying Trump as “bigoted”, “racist”, “nationalist”, “uncaring” in his opposition to illegal immigration is the worse. Holding the illegal migrants accountable is contrary to the open-door mission.

The mainstream media will not inform about any facts that may sway public opinion away from the Democrat agenda. The recklessness in reporting real news is even immoral. The obsession of the media is “Russian collusion” when it comes to Trump when there is no evidence of such. The Caravan’s violation of American sovereign borders is a crisis, however. The right of Americans to know who is entering their borders, investigations of the political power brokers who are driving illegal immigration activism-and the real victims that stand to lose big from that drive-are important for mainstream media to be focussing on.

But, children being used as human shields to cross the border illegally is not expedient to report about widely. Imagine, throwing rocks at border agents while using women and children as human shields being pushed out in front as they attacked authorities. This is monstrous, but to advance a no-border agenda, it is the Border Patrol agents who are doing their jobs to protect America and uphold the law that is being portrayed in the media as Boogeymen.

BETO O’ROURKE ON THE CASTING COUCH FOR 2020

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/423138-orourke-releases-video-ripping-trumps-border-wall

Outgoing Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) on Friday released a 48-second video ripping President Trump’s demand for a border wall.

O’Rourke’s video, posted on Twitter, listed negative consequences from constructing a wall, asserting it would block access to the Rio Grande River, lead to land seizures through eminent domain, make land inaccessible between the Rio Grande and the wall and seal off wildlife corridors.

“The southern border already has over 600 miles of wall and fence. And since 2007, the undocumented population has grown more through visa overstays than unauthorized border crossings. We need realistic immigration reform, not a symbol of division,” the video concludes.

O’Rourke emerged as a vocal critic to Trump during his Senate bid this year, even suggesting that he would vote to impeach the president if such a motion came to the House floor.

His insurgent campaign to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sparked speculation that the Texas Democrat could make for a potential 2020 challenger to Trump.

O’Rourke’s supporters point to his 3-point defeat in the ruby red state and his ability to energize the Democratic base and rake in a record amount of contributions.

His video released Friday comes as lawmakers continue to remain at odds over funding for Trump’s border wall in a deal to reopen large swaths of the federal government.

Michael Cutler :Pitfalls of the Visa Waiver Program A serious threat to U.S. national security and public safety.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272370/pitfalls-visa-waiver-program-michael-cutler

Immigration is a major factor in ever so many of the issues confronting America and Americans, but all too frequently the media neglects to identify or acknowledge the nexus between those issues and immigration. Consequently, many folks fail to recognize just how significant and pervasive the immigration issue is in their lives and why failures of the immigration system have the potential to profoundly impact them and our nation.

On December 23, 2018 the CBS News program, 60 Minutes aired a report, Inside The Corruption Allegations Plaguing Malta.

At first glance, it would be hard to imagine that Malta’s alleged corruption could have relevance to the immigration issue or that Americans should be concerned about the alleged corruption in Malta. Malta is a small, indeed, tiny nation located on an archipelago in the central Mediterranean between Sicily and the North African coast with a population of fewer than a half-million citizens (460,297 in 2017 according to Eurostat).

However, diminutive as it might be, Malta presents a serious threat to U.S. national security and public safety because of an ill-conceived program known as the Visa Waiver Program that was first implemented as a pilot program by the Reagan administration.

Over the years this program became a permanent program and the number of countries that participate in this program, which enables the citizens of participating countries to enter the United States as tourists for up to 90 days. Malta is one of those countries that participates in the Visa Waiver Program.

Illegal Alien Gang Member Kills 12-Year-Old Boy December 27, 2018 Daniel Greenfield

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/272375/illegal-alien-gang-member-kills-12-year-old-boy-daniel-greenfield

The same media whose tears never dry when it comes to illegal aliens will maintain dry eyes and tight lips when it comes to stories like these.

Police in Connecticut have arrested an 18-year-old undocumented immigrant from Jamaica on murder charges related to the shooting death of an innocent 12-year-old boy a week before Christmas.

He might have murdered a little boy, but not even the Daily Mail will dare call him an illegal alien. He’s an undocumented killer.

Three juveniles who police said were with Chambers that night, ages 12, 14 and 16, are facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder; carrying a pistol or revolver without a permit and larceny.

According to police, at 9pm on December 18, Howell was returning home from getting snacks at a convenience store around the corner when Chambers opened fire, reported Fox61.

Investigators said Howell was an innocent bystander, not Chambers’ intended target, who was the victim’s older cousin.

CTpost.com reported, citing police sources, that earlier that evening, Chambers and his alleged co-conspirators were driving in a stolen car when they got into an argument with some people walking along Willow Street, among them Howell’s relative.

It looks a lot like gang violence. And migration continues to be a major driving force behind gang violence and gang violence drives the high gun violence rate. Plenty of the gang violence is obviously domestic, but plenty of it is coming from foreign gangs.