The Very Hungry Caravan
You’ve probably heard the talk about immigration in our country (unless you live under a rock.) America is kind of divided into two stances: do whatever it takes to keep those dirty, illegal rule-breaking aliens out of our country.
And hey, let’s acknowledge these are humans and they’re looking for asylum from their unsafe countries.
Unfortunately, to combat illegal immigration, Donald Trump’s policy is to take children away from their parents and put them in the custody of a government that apparently doesn’t care about their well-being.
As in the words of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, “if you are smuggling a child then we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law.” Reforming our border is necessary, but the way the president is going about it is disgusting and frankly, inhumane.
In recent developments, there’s a caravan of about 7,000 people that’s been working its way up to the US from Central America (mostly Honduras and Guatemala) and is currently in Mexico. Trump is urging Mexico to stop the migrants before they get to the US-Mexico border.
Most of the people in the caravan are seeking asylum because of the horrible conditions from which they come, especially because Honduras has one of the highest murder rates in the world. *They’re also trying to leave behind gang violence, poverty and the seemingly lack of interest from their government about these issues.
There’s already been around 1,000 applications for asylum in Mexico, though who knows how long those could take to get approved. Unfortunately, stories have already surfaced of these migrants being beaten and detained while being threatened with deportation.
Some of these migrants are seeking asylum from the US, but judging that Trump has some questionable, discriminatory views and tactics, I don’t see that going over too smoothly. Additionally, Sessions tweaked the definition of “asylum” to constrict eligibility for it, so the odds of having a successful (and timely) approved application are slim.
Trump is using this caravan to encourage his conservative base to vote in midterms. He’s playing on their fear of the unknown and the stereotype of immigrants being drug lords and criminals. Immigration is a big deal with Trump—building a pointless and expensive wall, heartlessly repealing DACA and taking children from their parents at the border—and this caravan came at the perfect time to get his voter base to the polls.
So please, counteract the hate and VOTE. You can look up your state’s ballot online to view their stances then vote with an absentee ballot or in-person on Nov. 6. Your vote does make a difference; don’t let it go to waste.
https://www.osac.gov/Pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=23798
Ashley Bower is a junior studying english language arts education.