Trump’s Racist War on a “Migrant Caravan,” Explained
For Donald Trump, nothing resonates as deeply with his voters as baseless xenophobia, which is why, with the midterms in sight, he has spent the past several days shrieking at every opportunity about the "migrant caravan" heading north through Mexico en route to the United States.
Here's everything you need to know.
What is the caravan?
It's a group of about 7,500 people, many of whom are small children traveling with their parents. For the most part, they are from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, and are together fleeing economic hardship and gang violence in their countries of origin. Traveling as a group is a strength-in-numbers tactic to ensure everyone's safety, and some of them have applied for asylum in Mexico; others intend to do so when they reach the U.S.-Mexico border.
Where are they now? And how close is that to the border?
Chiapas, Mexico, near the Guatemala-Mexico border. That's about 1,150 miles from McAllen, Texas; 1,800 miles from El Paso; and 2,400 miles from San Diego.
How are they traveling?
On foot. Temperatures are in the 90s, and many are stumbling or passing out from the heat; others are slowed by blistered, bandaged feet. Everyone camps at night. The Red Cross told CNBC that sick and injured people have refused badly-needed medical treatment at local hospitals because they fear they'll be arrested and deported.
How likely are those asylum attempts to succeed?
Under the Department of Justice overseen by Jeff Sessions? Not likely.
Are you sure we aren't in imminent danger of a permanent foreign occupation?
Again, we are talking about people trekking thousands of miles with only the things they can carry, not an invasive force. Also, there have been caravans before, and as you may have noticed, none of them have resulted in the toppling of the federal government. One caravan ended at the Tijuana border crossing earlier this year, where only about 200 of its participants requested protection in the United States under international law. The Los Angeles Times spoke with a man who made the journey with his wife and four children; he expressed his hope that they would be able to join family already living in Southern California, where "his children could learn English, go to school, play in parks and buy toys—luxuries that are out of reach to them in Guatemala."
Is there any merit to Trump's claim that terrorists from the Middle East have embedded with the caravan?
There is no evidence for this claim.
If a prospective terrorist wanted to surreptitiously enter the United States, why would they elect to do so by flying to a war-torn Central American country, joining a high-profile group of other people who also want to enter the United States, and then walking to one of the most militarized, heavily-patrolled borders in the world, where they know their asylum claims will be subject to intense scrutiny by immigration officials?
Yeah, it's absurd.
Why is Trump framing it that way anyway?
Because there may be some voters who are more afraid of Muslims than they are of Spanish-speakers, so he might as well mash that button on his trusty bigotry control panel, too. From the Washington Post:
Barry Bennett, a former Trump campaign adviser, described the caravan as “a political gift.”
“I wish they were carrying heroin. I wish we had thought of it. It speaks to the dearth of our creativity, unfortunately,” Bennett said.
The White House's only regret about the caravan is that it has not allowed them to engage in as many varieties of fearmongering as it would like.
Other than the angry tweets, how has the president responded to this news story?
By threatening to cut off foreign aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, whose citizens make up most of the caravan.
If your goal is to reduce economically-motivated mass migration to the United States, isn't "eliminating financial assistance to the economically depressed countries from which many of those migrants come" the worst possible strategy for accomplishing it?
Yes.
Is this strategy—making a humanitarian crisis into a midterms wedge issue—actually working with Trump's supporters?
It might be. From the New York Times:
But Mr. Trump’s dystopian imagery has clearly left an impression with some. Carol Shields, 75, a Republican in northern Minnesota, said she was afraid that migrant gangs could take over people’s summer lake homes in the state.
“What’s to stop them?” said Ms. Shields, a retired accountant. “We have a lot of people who live on lakes in the summer and winter someplace else. When they come back in the spring, their house would be occupied.”
How far is the caravan from northern Minnesota?
About 2,800 miles.
Are the president's latest efforts to gin up racist hysteria and exploit human suffering for political gain the cruelest, grossest thing of all the cruel, gross things he's done to people who do not look like him?
This week? Sure. Why not.
