Not a flood of refugees, but an invasion of economic migrants

The latest figures from the Border Patrol are mind-boggling - and they should concern every American.

The U.S. has set a new record for the number of migrant families caught crossing its southern border over an entire year. It took just five months.

From the start of the federal fiscal year in October through February, the Border Patrol arrested 136,150 people traveling as families for crossing the border illegally, according to data released Tuesday. The prior record for a 12-month period was 107,212, during the fiscal year that ended last September.

. . .

The number of families caught at the border has been steadily rising since the 2015 fiscal year, when fewer than 40,000 such migrants were arrested. Since U.S. Customs and Border Protection began counting family units in 2013, there have been 2.6 million apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border.

At the current pace, the number of families arrested at the border could double or even triple the record by September. Maureen Meyer, Mexico and migrant rights director for the Washington Office on Latin America, a human-rights advocacy group in Washington, said there is no sign that the pace is slowing.

There's more at the link.

These people are mostly not refugees at all - at least, they're unable to prove that they qualify as refugees under the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, even though they may claim that status.  They're frequently coached by pro-illegal-immigration activists as to what words and phrases to use to Border Patrol officers, to ensure that they're treated as refugees.  It's rumored that their passage from their countries of origin to the USA is also subsidized by such activists.  I haven't seen proof of that, but it won't surprise me if it's true.

These numbers are simply staggering, and most of those involved will, in one way or another, most likely end up as burdens on the US taxpayer.  I don't see how anyone can argue in good faith that this doesn't constitute a legal and humanitarian emergency, as President Trump has officially proclaimed.  If this rate of crossing is maintained, the US population will be increasing by the equivalent of 1% every year before long - almost exclusively by people who are uneducated and unqualified to take part in a First World economy.  They'll drag down the average level of education, health and everything else in this country;  indeed, it's been suggested that many recent health scares - the current measles outbreak, the increasing occurrence of acute flaccid myelitis, etc. - may be largely the result of illegal immigration.  There's no official confirmation of that, of course, and there isn't likely to be.  It would be politically incorrect to say so.

Irrespective of whichever political party is in power, this wave of illegal immigration is a huge burden on our economy and our legal system, and is basically, fundamentally unsupportable.  If we don't stop it at the border, we'll have to pay for it internally - and we simply can't afford to do so.  We can't afford the scope of our present government and population.  How on earth can we afford to pay for more of the same?

Effective border and immigration control - be it by a wall, or anything else - is no longer a political option.  It's a practical necessity . . . and if we don't do it, our descendants (who will have to deal with the subsequent problems) will curse our memory.

Peter