Immigrant Crisis in Mexico

Immigrant Crisis in Mexico

I have lived in Mexico for over 30 years, and I have a local church here in Mexico. While I am not in a position to know everything about this, I do read the news and know things from the perspective of a person living in the middle of this, so I am going to make some observations for those in the United States and other places as far as what I hear and see, and my take on this thing.

Defining the Caravan(s)

Note that this is now various caravans. From the first one, it grew from 4,000 to 15,000. But then it disintegrated into various caravans as some had money to pay for a bus ticket and others didn’t so they walked or hitchhiked.

The numbers are very fluid on these caravans. We see them jump from Mexico City to Tijuana and they are getting transportation, and Mexican police escort. Apparently, there are Mexicans and other nationalities that have previously entered illegally (or with tourist visas and they were caught working or overstaying their visas and were thrown out and they are waiting in Mexico) and are joining these caravans. The idea is that if there are sufficient numbers, the US cannot keep them out. Some or most will just run by the ICE officers, and get in any way, and when the ICE officers see this, they will give up and let them all in.

Last year there was a group of 3,000 from Haiti that tried to enter California and got turned back and set up life in Tijuana. Since there were no jobs for Mexicans hardly, they couldn’t do anything either, so they started prostitution, selling drugs, and stealing. They even took over a neighborhood, and the Mexicans quickly moved out.

2,000 of the immigrant caravan arrived in October, and last week another 3,000 arrived in Tijuana, with somewhere around 4 more caravan groups coming, each between 2,000 to 5,000 from the reports I have seen. Because it appears like most of these people will eventually step on California soil where the Democrats will send in some kind of cavalry to save them from ICE, more caravans are forming every day. We have heard of caravans forming in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

If they get away with this, there will be a half dozen to dozen caravans moving through Mexico every year, and perhaps 50,000 to 100,000 coming in each year. Since Florida and California are playing with giving illegals the right to vote, our electoral system is in jeopardy.

Mexico has an IFE id card, which has the person’s right to vote on it (after he has proved he is a Mexican citizen), his picture and his fingerprints. Each time he votes it is punched and that IFE card cannot vote again, and the voter has his finger inked in blue ink that won’t come off for a day or two. It is ridiculous that Mexico has solved this voter fraud and yet the US cannot do the same?

Is George Soros behind the Migrant Caravan Crisis?

While I do not believe he would do this in a way that is easily seen that he is behind it, there are some odd things about all of this.

Somebody is inserting money to buy food and water along the way, and among the immigrant caravan, there are leaders that seem to have money and are directing the rest as to what to do. Basically, this is a new thing.

Coyotes work for themselves or a cartel (recently only cartels are involved in this), and a typical situation is that they gather 50 or so people wanting to get into the US. They put them into safe houses on the Mexican side for a few weeks, and as they verify their family information (to hurt or kill them if they don’t pay the cartel) then they run them across the border. The Coyotes find out where the ICE agents live and go to their homes in Texas and bribe them with $50,000 or like sums. Because of this, the US government rotates their personnel every day in different places (in a vehicle or at the bridge), and the Coyote waits until their ICE guy is on duty and they run all 50 of them through with the Coyote going first, and the ICE then passes the next 50 people no matter what IDs they have. Some coyotes use tunnels, but they are basically for drugs, and all these illegals have big mouths if they go through the tunnel.

So if you do the math, 50 per group, and 2 groups per night, so that is 100 people times $6,000 or about half a million dollars per night per Coyote, and one cartel may have a dozen individual Coyotes working.

In some cases, they believe that a group pays in cash up front, and the Coyotes take the easy way out. They say they are taking them to a safe house out in the desert or edge of town, and then they shoot them all and dump their bodies in a hole they dig. I have heard many times of clandestine unmarked graves with groups of 40 to 100 bodies in them that are eventually identified as immigrants from some country below Mexico.

Some elements of the Immigrant Crisis in Mexico

None of this is new

First of all, all this immigration problem is not anything new. It is probably at a crisis point which is new, but this is a 100-year-old problem if not further back than that. People see prosperity in the United States and they want to come in to get some. The US allows a tremendous amount of immigrants to come in each year. But many are denied, so they come in illegally. The influx of illegals under Trump is testimony to the fact that Trump has made America prosperous again.

Trump is taking a strong stand

Secondly, Trump has turned this thing on its head. From what I can see, he just said no, and means no, and is putting the force of the United States behind that no. Truthfully, the US should have done what Trump is doing back 50 years ago. The problems we have today is because we have good immigration laws that we don’t enforce.

I think that the way to squeeze illegals out of the US (make them return voluntarily to their countries) is to cut off the US system from them. 1) No bank accounts without citizenship or legal immigration status. 2) no work unless verified by US government ICE that they are allowed to work, and this would be for every US worker. 3) No renting or owning a house or property unless they are legal citizens or immigrants. Tourist visa holders should not be allowed any of these things. 4) No welfare nor public services without a legal status in the country. Hospitals will not see illegals without pay up front.

That is just for starters.

Who are these immigrants?

On the one hand, I have compassion for people who cannot make it economically in life. On the other hand, in 30 years of watching Mexicans move illegally into the US for economic reasons, I note in general that most of the good hard workers stay in Mexico and make it work here. It is not easy but it is not easy in the US either, so let’s be honest. If you are okay living off of welfare then the US is great. But if you are honest and want to work and pay your way from your own labors (i.e. not looking for a handout from others), then life is not easy in the US.

Let me inject something here. A lot of the people I know from Mexico in the US have settled down to enjoy the United States and all it has to offer, especially handouts from the government. To get them to return to their country is going to be extremely hard because they basically have rejected their country and it is just as foreign to them now as it would be for a US citizen 10 generations back living in the US to go live in Russia or China. But there are a lot of immigrants that come to the US, live and work illegally for some years, and then go home because they don’t like it there. That is because of things in the US are not as prosperous and easy as people make it out to be. You don’t cross the border and immediately find a job that pays $1000 a week, an apartment that is for $400/month, and a good Mexican restaurant that has good Mexican food for $5 a plate. That is not going to happen. A lot think that is what they will find without much searching if they can just get into the US.

But most or a lot of immigrants that want to go to the US is because they want more money than what they can make “back home,” and they want that with less effort than what they would normally have to use if they just stayed where they are and make things work.

These immigrant caravans are very different than what has been going on before in that they don’t fit the form factor of a simple immigrant trying to make more money in the US.

Immigrant Millennials

What has happened is that powerful people are using these immigrants for political reasons. First of all, we see videos of somebody giving wads of cash to immigrants.

Counterpoint: These are Latins receiving wads of cash. It could be anywhere and for any reason really. There are not identifying things except that they are apparently carrying clothes. Most government handouts these days are with prepaid cash cards here in Mexico, and I would guess in other central American countries.

Cell phones.  Cell phones are ubiquitous in our culture today. Elementary school and kindergarten kids have cells phone. But it has been observed that a lot of the people in these immigrant caravans have the most recent version of iPhones. That doesn’t make sense if they are so poor.

Rejecting food. One unexpected element in all of this is that they crossed Mexico’s southern border and began walking across Mexico. A really lot of Mexican people have either gone illegally into the US to work for a time and returned to Mexico, or have family and friends that have done so. Many very poor Mexicans that have very little in the way of resources to live themselves bought fruit and tortas (think cheapo Subway sandwiches). They bought bottles of water and went to where the caravan was passing by to give the people this food for free. The immigrants took it and then threw in on the ground without eating it.

Starbucks Coffee.  In Tijuana, the Starbucks stores are overwhelmed by immigrants from Honduras buying coffee. In Mexico, we grow coffee. But the difference between a street vendor selling coffee is about 25 cents US dollars and Starbucks about $5 for the simplest cheapest coffee.

Beggars with a club. This is a saying in Mexico, and it means beggars cannot be choosers basically. A beggar cannot threaten somebody giving them something to give something more expensive. The local and federal governments have set up places for these people to sleep and eat, and in a lot of cases the immigrants have gone to these free help places, and they have refused to eat the food. The famous woman saying that she throws tortillas and beans to her pigs back home. That is not food fit for them. They want their distinctive Honduran food. Really? Wow!

The places improvised for them to sleep, sometimes a Catholic church, a small town square, a baseball field in Tijuana, etc. are usually austere. Remember, the governments nor the Mexican people invited these people, nor expected this. So they have mats and blankets for the cold. Which almost everywhere in Mexico is cold at night. So it is extremely strange to see what is going on here.

Watch the video above. It is in Spanish, but it shows where these immigrants have sleep. What is amazing is to see what these people leave behind. They leave the blankets, clothes, brand new shoes, and good food still unopened in their original packages. Why would poor people do this?

Some are conjecturing on the Mexican side that the Moslems have been infiltrating South American countries for years with their people, and this is the moment that they are going to get into the US by passing in with these immigrants.

When the first caravan passed from Guatemala to Mexico, they did not want to go through Mexican customs and immigration. They rushed the fence and got through and the Mexican officials could not do anything. The Human Rights foundation hounds police and immigration looking for abuses, and they could not use force without starting a legal battle with the Human Rights Foundation. How convenient. Good thing Trump doesn’t recognize them as an authority in the US.

What is the composition of the Caravan?

According to US media, it is a mom and pops families with kids. From what we see from people putting up these people to sleep and feeding them, there are a few women and children among them. They are using them as a shield and PR ploy. At the bridge between Guatemala and Mexico, they were in front. Behind them, young men started throwing rocks at the Mexican police and the police couldn’t use force.

Other say that about 90% of the caravans are young men between 20 and 35. Others say that the few with children are not even their own children. Uncles, cousins, friends of the family, etc. are carrying the children so that when they claim asylum with a wife and child, they are always granted it. That is what they are telling the immigrants in Honduras at least.

Among the caravan, there are a lot of gangs. This is easily recognized by just watching videos of these people talking, and looking at the tattoos. That is another reason why they are not going to go through an orderly customs and immigration session with the US ICE. They would easily be identified. They will have to go across without any regular official processing by the US.

Mexicans are against all this

It started with the immigrants breaking the barriers to enter Mexico. That really didn’t sit well with most Mexicans. From there, the Mexican Federal police held the barriers, and the immigrants began to throw rocks from behind women and children. The Federales took women and children in to process them (leaving the rest out).

Then a lot more violence broke out. Eventually, they pushed the barriers down (on the Guatemalan side and confronted the Mexicans, and pushed their way by them. Then the immigrants threw good food offered to them on the ground because it was not what they like. Those in Tijuana think the Mexican government “owes” them housing and food.

In one video, Mexican state department vehicles carry 80 homosexuals and lesbians to a BnB hotel that is expensive. So the neighbors want to know what is going on. Why is there no money for Mexican needs, but the Mexican government is putting these people up in this expensive hotel? A hurricane hit a state between the center of the country and Tijuana and the federal government could not help get the thousands without housing now any help, and no food. No money. But why then is there suddenly money for these foreigners? The neighbors want to know how they will eat because after a while, they will resort to stealing in order to eat.

According to some videos I saw, the people of Tijuana are organizing marches against the immigrants. The best guess is that they will not cross the border any time soon, and that means they will resort to either taking the few good jobs in Tijuana or stealing. Neither is a very good outlook. They want to know why the Federal Government didn’t stop them at the Guatemalan border. Good question!

Tijuana has a population of about 1 million. Probably 60% of their income and jobs revolve around Americans and legal Mexicans living in California coming down to Tijuana for cheap medical and dental and other similar type services. A lot of Mexicans with Green cards cross over into the US every day to work all day and then return to Mexico at night. Without all this, it is about 2 hours to cross the border. Now, all of that is in serious jeopardy of going away. The Mexicans in Tijuana are not happy. They didn’t ask for this, and the bottom line is that the Mexican immigration system was overwhelmed by the numbers, and these immigrants just walked by them without any resistance in the end.

Mexican highway police are particular about some stuff that goes on as far as transportation. Two dozen immigrants holding on to a truck going at highway speeds is a nightmare. People get hurt. People get killed in those situations. All the blame is thrown back on Mexico when it happens.

To add insult to injury, we just had elections, and the outgoing president has washed his hands of doing anything, so the Immigration and Federal Police are basically on their own without his direction nor support. First of December is done.

Lopez Obrador came into power on a populist agenda, helping the poor people of Mexico. He is offering amnesty and work permit visas as well 1 million jobs for these immigrants. Mexicans want to know “what about us?” Mexicans can’t get jobs, and those that do get a job, most don’t pay well. How does this work then?

Dangers of Mexico

Mexico is a very dangerous place. We have more missing people and kidnapped people than almost any other country in the world, even those in the midst of war. We saw where 2 buses were offered and 100 immigrants left southern Mexico to go to McAllen. Later their families were notified that the Zeta Cartel has these 100 people and that they have to send ransom for them to be freed, or the men will be put to slave labor, and the women into prostitution and the children will be sold (private adoption schemes).

The Mexican cartels make literally billions of dollars crossing people over into the US. The cartels have over 100 tunnels under the Tijuana / San Isidro (San Diego) border. For a price, these people will get into the US one way or another. But to force their way over the border excludes any profit for the cartel, so you can see they are not going to get support from the Mexican cartels.

Going price for a cartel to get you across into the US? 6,000 to 7000 dollars. They get all their personal information of where and who their family is, and then their contacts verify it, and they give them credit. But if they don’t send back $500 or dollars every month, then the cartel starts threatening and then killing their families.

Pakistan immigrants (Muslims). I saw where over 600 Pakistani immigrants have been apprehended in 2018. Going price for them is  $27,000 US cash. The caravans have a lot of Muslims in them, but they are not coming out, they are sleepers. This week (today is November 19) ICE apprehended 6 Pakistanis in McAllen just walking on the streets. They undoubtedly crossed by tunnels.

What is going to happen next

As we watch what is going on, it is becoming apparent that these immigrants are not going to just “slip across the border undetected” like so many before. All along the border, there are deserts on the US side that are natural barriers. Crossing the border from Reynosa Mexico into McAllen Texas is a no brainer. You can do it (at least before Trump), but in that desert, some 40 miles along lonely abandoned highwars there is a check point, and they cannot get through it without the proper immigration papers. So they go 30 miles, get out of the coyote’s (a coyote carries the person across the border), and then they walk 20 miles in the desert, and the coyote goes to the other side and waits for them.

Immigration now have a lot of trucks and even helicopters and to get outside of the area they are watching is getting worse and worse. Instead of 10 miles before the checkpoint, now 15, and the 20, etc. To go laterally from one border town to another is likewise no good because the immigration agents are running back and forth on those singular roads looking for illegals on foot and in vehicles.

So all along the border with Mexico, there are no good places to really cross except California. In a mile or two into the US, you are in San Deigo, and that is a large city, and there is a constant flow of Mexican-Americans and legal Mexican visitors going from Los Angeles to Tijuana every day. An illegal gets into San Deigo, they can make it into Los Angeles, and immigration has a lot of problems to stop every car on that stretch.

The Plan – Use force

So what is becoming apparent is that these illegals are waiting until they have 30,000 on the border, and they are going to rush the border. (30,000 is what I hear from the videos of these illegals waiting on the Mexican side).

1000 immigrants cross Spain’s border in a brute force rush

Storming Spain’s Razor-Wire Fence: Europe Or Die

So Trump’s razor wire will work for only a short time. Notice that this is what the immigrants