Getting Real about Mexico, Illegal Immigrants, Palestinians, the Progressive Agenda, and the Wall

SECURING AMERICA'S BORDERS IS NOT AN EASY JOB. Not for President Trump and not for the US Border Patrol agents who are on the front line every day. • • • THE SOUTHERN BORDER IS TOUGH WORK BECAUSE IT'S BIG BUSINESS. For Mexican cartels, drug smugglers and human traffickers. Their bottom line is directly tied to the amount of drugs, humans, and other contraband they can push over the border into the United States. Ask Art Del Cueto. He gave an interview to Charlotte Cuthbertson of Epoch Times last Sunday. Del Cueto is a Border PAtrol agent stationed near Yuma, Arizona, by the US-Mexico border. He told Cuthbertson how he had arrested a Mexican national who had illegally crossed the southwest border in the Tucson, Arizona, sector. Cuthbertson tells the story : "Del Cueto said the man told him, 'You guys as Americans are weak with your laws, and we love it.' 'I laughed at it,' Del Cueto said. 'I’m sitting there going, how ironic is this that I’m explaining to a Mexican national how his country’s laws are tougher than ours and he turns around and just tells me, ‘Well, it’s not my fault you guys are weak. You guys need to toughen up.’ ” • Cuthbertson relates a long list of encounters with illegals on the southern border : "On June 24, in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, Customs and Border Protection agents at a vehicle checkpoint discovered an illegal alien underneath the sleeper compartment of a tractor trailer unit. They also found 31 bundles of marijuana weighing over 230 pounds total, along with five pounds of cocaine hidden in the cab. On the same day, at a different checkpoint, agents stopped a tractor trailer that was hauling several vehicles. They discovered 18 illegal aliens within three of the vehicles. On June 19, in Del Cueto’s sector, a 6-year-old boy was found in the middle of the desert by Border Patrol agents. He was wandering alone in the 100-degree heat, according to a Customs and Border Protection report. 'All he had in his pocket was a little note, and it had his mom’s name and his mom’s phone number, and he was just pretty much placed over the fence into the United States from his uncle in Mexico,' Del Cueto said. 'This is in the middle of nowhere. It’s crazy. What if we wouldn’t have been there to find this child?' ” • The 'what ifs' pile up for Border Patrol agents. They not only deal with human smuggling and crime on the border, but now they’re being attacked by some of the nation’s politicians and liberal activists. Del Cueto, who has been on the Border Patrol for 15 years and is the vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, says : “They make it a race issue, it’s a race issue to them....We don’t arrest based on race. We arrest people that break the law. People like these movie stars that think it’s fun to be on TV and attack immigration laws that they don’t know nothing about...nobody really wants to hear the reality of what’s going on.” Del Cueto told Cuthbertson that Border Patrol agents deal every day with adults and children who claim to be related but are not. The smuggling organizations know there is a high chance that adults with children will be released into the United States after a brief period of detention -- usually no longer than 20 days. “So we have to be very, very inquisitive when we question these people,” Del Cueto said. He said he has questioned many minors after apprehending them and asked if they were related to the adult accompanying them. He said the minor might, at first, say it is their parent, then after being questioned, they would say it’s their uncle. After more questioning, they might say he’s from the same village. “And you keep pressing the issue and they would turn around and they’d say, ‘You know what, I just met him on the road,’” Del Cueto said. “These individuals that are out there protesting and attacking Border Patrol agents specifically, they don’t realize that we conduct investigations and sometimes these investigations take time,” he said. “So when we are separating the adults from these children, a lot of times what’s happening is we’re saving these kids and taking them out of harm’s way.” • • • DHS HELPS UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says most minors currently in detention crossed the border illegally as unaccompanied minors : “The vast, vast majority of children who are in the care of Health and Human Services right now -- 10,000 of the 12,000 -- were sent here alone by their parents. That’s when they were separated. So somehow we’ve conflated everything, but there’s two separate issues. Ten thousand of those currently in custody were sent by their parents, with strangers, to undertake a completely dangerous and deadly travel, alone. We now care for them.” • Cuthbertson states that in fiscal year 2017, Homeland Security saw 46 cases of children being used fraudulently by adults crossing illegally. In the first five months of fiscal 2018, 191 such cases have been reported. Neilsen says that since this time last year, the number of unaccompanied minors crossing illegally has increased by 325%, while family units have jumped by 425%, according to Nielsen, who satates : "Since 2013, the United States has admitted more than half a million illegal immigrant minors and family units from Central America -- most of whom today are at large in the United States." • Del Cueto told Cuthbertson he gets asked all the time by the media and activists how he would feel if it was his child being separated from him. “And the only answer I can truly come up with is, I would not be the type of parent that would expose my child to an environment where she could die through the desert. I would not impose my child into an environment where I’m handing her over to a smuggling criminal organization that could hurt her, that could put her in the trunk of a vehicle, that could molest her,” he said. "It is difficult because you see what these parents expose their children to, without caring at times." Del Cueto told Cuthberson about the family that dropped the 6-year-old over the fence and into the desert alone, asking : “I mean, who does that to their child? It’s frustrating for us and it bothers us because these are the kids that people in America are now attacking us for and saying, ‘Hey, give that child back to the mom. You took that child. No, I didn’t take the child from the mom, the mom chose to put a kid in danger, and if a United States citizen would do the exact same thing, we would be screaming on all the social media about how horrible this mom is. Border Patrol is the one that’s assisting these people and helping them and making sure that they’re OK.” Del Cueto said activists complain that tighter border security would force people to cross the border illegally in more dangerous and remote areas. His answer is this : “Well, it’s supposed to be harder for them. Right, that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re not supposed to simplify it.” • • • PROGDEMS CALL FOR ABOLISHING ICE. President Trump told Maria Bartoromo on Sunday in a long Fox interview about growing Democratic calls to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency : "I hope they keep thinking about it because they're going to get beaten so badly. You know, ICE -- these are the guys that go in and take MS-13, and they take them out, because they're much tougher than MS-13, like, by a factor of 10. You get rid of ICE, you're going to have a country that you're going to be afraid to walk out of your house....Because you are going to have a country that's crime-ridden." • The NYPost says : "As more Democrats join the parade of liberal pols calling for the end of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, President Trump is pushing back. “To the great and brave men and women of ICE, do not worry or lose your spirit,” he tweeted Saturday. “You are doing a fantastic job of keeping us safe by eradicating the worst criminal elements. So brave!” The anti-ICE message is becoming a liberal litmus test since new Dem darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s upset victory over Queens power broker Representative Joe Crowley. Upping the ante, Trump tweeted that all law enforcement is in the Democrats’ crosshairs. “Next it will be all police,” he posted. “Zero chance, It will never happen!” • And, said the NYPost, the President revisited the explosive immigration controversy, tweeting : “When people come into our Country illegally, we must IMMEDIATELY escort them back out without going through years of legal maneuvering. Our laws are the dumbest anywhere in the world.” • Of course, the ProgDems don't see it that way. But just what way they do see it is up for grabs. Even BuzzFeed noticed on Tuesday : "The Democratic Party is suddenly dealing with an internal conflict over how to handle one of the agencies responsible for enforcing the country’s immigration laws: leave it be, seriously reform it, or shutter it entirely. The debate over abolishing the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is pitting potential future party leaders against the Democratic old guard and against one another, as the party tries to find a winning message and platform against President Donald Trump. 'I think the focus should be on President Trump’s hard-line immigration policies, and not on ICE,' Texas Representative Henry Cuellar, a relatively moderate Democrat, told BuzzFeed News on Monday. He noted the agency is just in charge of enforcing the administration’s policies, and said the calls to abolish ICE are 'dangerously misguided.' " • But, two Democrat House members are drafting legislation that would create a commission to “redesign and restructure” the agency. “Where we really come down to is, you need to start over,” Wisconsin Representative Mark Pocan, who is working on the bill with Washington Representative Pramila Jayapal, told BuzzFeed News. “The President has broken ICE so badly that their brand is damaged beyond repair.” Senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, both seen as potential 2020 presidential candidates, support abolishing ICE. Warren on Saturday called for “replacing” ICE with something more effective, and last week Gillibrand told CNN “you should get rid of it, start over, reimagine it, and build something that actually works." Senator Kamala Harris of California told BuzzFeed : “I think there’s no question that we’ve got to critically reexamine ICE and its role and the way that it is being administered and the work it is doing, and we need to probably think about starting from scratch." Harris is another ProgDem 202 contender. • Just what does ICE do that is so distressing to ProgDems?? ICE is charged with enforcing “federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration to promote homeland security and public safety.” It was established in 2003, and while immigration is its “largest single area of responsibility,” it is also in charge of stopping a range of other illegal activity, including “human smuggling,” and preventing terrorism. That doesn't sound so drastic, does it??? • And, President Trump was quick to point out that very thing. He tweeted Senator Warren : "@WhiteHouse.@SenWarren, why are you supporting criminals moving weapons, drugs, and victims across our nation’s borders? You must not know what ICE really does. Here is a link to help you out: https://www.ice.gov/best." • However, Washington Representative Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told the media last week : "We need border security, OK? I’ve heard there’s some people out there saying we should get rid of ICE. That’s kind of like Republicans saying we should get rid of the IRS. We need immigration enforcement, though not like this. ICE does not have to do what President Trump is telling them to do.” And, nutty Nancy Pelosi is calling for an “immediate and fundamental overhaul” of ICE, whereas, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for “reform” last week, but reportedly noted that ICE has “functions that are very much needed.” The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a Democratic group, circulated talking points on the subject that were provided to BuzzFeed News by a senior Democratic aide and first reported by the Daily Beast, show that the CHC criticizes the agency, but argues that abolishing ICE “without changing President Trump’s disastrous, underlying immigration policy will not solve the problem.” • • • THE NEW MEXICAN PRESIDENT WON'T HELP THE US BORDER PATROL. Mexico’s new president has said that he isn’t afraid of a fight, but after being elected president of Mexico, he will have to fight with Donald Trump. Andrés Manuel López Obrador -- AMLO as he is called -- swept to an overwhelm victory in Sunday’s election. Winning with 53.8% of the vote, AMLO, a populist, brings the Left to power in Mexico after a century of rule by the Right. It begins a new era in Mexican politics that could have profound implications for Mexico’s domestic and international policies -- and obviously for its relationship with the United States. Lopez Obrador’s projected final margin of victory is predicted to be the largest in Mexico’s recent electoral history. His opponents conceded before any actual results were released. Obrador’s National Regeneration Movement -- a political group known as Morena founded by Obrador in 2014 -- also garnered significant victories in congressional and gubernatorial races, according to exit polls. It is still unclear whether Lopez Obrador’s party and its allies will win sufficient seats to hold an absolute majority in Mexico’s Congress. • The BBC reported on Tuesday that Obrador, and US President Trump have already spoken on the phone. During the campaign, Obrador often used confrontational language when referring to Trump but struck a more conciliatory note in his victory speech, saying he would seek "friendly relations." Trump said earlier that he looked forward to working with Obrador. Trade and migration disputes have strained US relations with Mexico, but, in a tweet on Monday, Obrador, 64, said that he had spoken with Mr Trump for half an hour, adding : "I proposed exploring a comprehensive agreement on development projects which will create jobs in Mexico, and with it, reduce migration and improve security." Obrador highlighted the "respectful" nature of the conversation, having previously pledged to build a relationship of "mutual respect" with the US. BBC's Will Grant wrote that the phone call message is very much in keeping with Obrador's focus on providing ordinary Mexicans with decent jobs, something he repeated often during the campaign. Trump said the two leaders had spoken about the potential for a separate trade deal between their countries. • The new Mexican president-elect, who will be sworn in on December 1, has said he will make tackling corruption his top priority, a given because of the exhaustion with the widespread corruption, violence and impunity toward the law in Mexico. Obrador said about corruption : "We are absolutely convinced that this evil is the main cause of social and economic inequality, and also that corruption is to blame for the violence in our country. No-one involved in corruption will be spared, not even "brothers-in-arms." Mexico is perceived as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to Transparency International, which ranked it 135 out of 180 states last year, with 180 being the most corrupt. • On combating Mexico's record levels of violence, much of it related to drug cartels, Obrador said he would have daily meetings with his security cabinet. During the election campaign, dozens of office-seekers were slain, mostly candidates for local posts in provincial areas where organized crime holds sway. Police were out in force on Sunday throughout the nation. • Obrador also tried to reassure the business sector, saying there would be no nationalization, private business would be respected and taxes would not be raised. • On social policies, he promised to double pensions for the elderly as a first step to reducing the country's disparate income levels. Some opponents have expressed fears that his leftist and populist policies could damage the already sluggish economy. • Obrador was born to a family of shopkeepers on November 13, 1953, in the rural community of Tepetitán, in southern Tabasco state. He was elected Mexico City mayor in 2000, and lost in the presidential elections in 2006 and 2012. This time, he ran under a three-party coalition led by "Morena." The self-styled anti- establishment figure has now ended the dominance of the PRI and PAN parties he called the "mafia of power." • What is sure is that Mexico will change if Obrador has his way. He ran on an anti-status quo message that overwhelmed similar vows of “change” from the presidential aspirants from more traditional parties. His promises include increasing social welfare payments to the poor and elderly, providing scholarships to the young and reviewing various projects of the current government, including energy and education reforms and the construction of a new Mexico City airport. The LA Times says : "Lopez Obrador’s fiery rhetoric has clearly drawn many supporters, but his candidacy has also stoked deep concern among many who view him as a potential autocrat and as an unreconstructed leftist who could wreck an already shaky economy." In the wealthy Mexico City enclave of Bosques de las Lomas, one voter who didn't vote for Obrador, told the LA Times : "He wants to turn Mexico into Venezuela. He wants to take Mexico backward to a situation where the poor won’t be rich and the rich won’t be rich either," adding that many in this neighborhood of lush haciendas tucked behind high walls were nervous about what will happen to the economy under Lopez Obrador. • • • POMPEO TO MEET WITH PRESIDENT-ELECT. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Mexico on July 13 to meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador. TheHill reports that the State Department and the Mexican Foreign Ministry announced the trip on Tuesday. Pompeo will also meet with Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Luis Videgaray Caso. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said : "Secretary Pompeo will reaffirm the partnership with Mexico to combat transnational criminal organizations and also the opioid epidemic. He will also discuss efforts to enhance trade, curb irregular migration and manage our shared border." IS THERE A NEW POLITICAL REALITY IN MEXICO ABOUT IMMIGRATION? Foreign Affairs tried to answer the question in a Tuesday article by Andrew Selee, who says that the Trump administration emphasis on stopping illegal border crossings from Mexico is both working and has been implemented in a period of low attempts by illegals to cross into the US. Selee says : "What makes this sudden attention to the border so unusual is that there are now fewer people trying to cross illegally than at any time since the early 1970s, for two reasons. Not only has Mexico ceased to be the source of most migrants trying to cross the border but it has become a largely effective buffer against the newest migration flows from Central America." • That is a huge set of facts, but let's try to deal with them. • The Palm Springs Desert Sun newspaper published an article on Monday that stated : "While people fleeing southwestern Mexico have for years crossed into the US, since January, migrant shelter operators in Tijuana say they have seen a pronounced increase in families from the states of Michoacán and Guerrero seeking asylum. The asylum seekers tell similar stories of violent criminal gangs who have become more brazen in recent months. Practically all of them recount stories of extortion, kidnapping or murder....Michoacán and Guerrero have been consistently and unrelentingly violent for more than 10 years, said Everard Meade, director of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego. In March, the US State Department listed Guerrero and Michoacán as two of five Mexican states to which US citizens should not travel. In Guerrero, armed groups operate independently of the government, according to the State Department advisory. Recently, Pepsi closed its distribution center in Guerrero amid drug gang extortion demands, according to the AP. The company's decision came months after Coca-Cola closed its distribution center, also in Guerrero." The Desert Sun quotes Marla Conrad, a coordinator with the Kino Border Initiative, a Catholic-run group that operates two migrant shelters in Nogales, Arizona : "Unlike in Tijuana, most of the 150 families who've arrived in Nogales since May are from Guatemala." • In its own way, the 'refugee' flight to the southern US border is reminiscent of the flight of Syrians in the period through 2015 -- terrorized and fragile civilians seeking help for their families. But, just as the Syrian refugee flight led to a mass movement toward Europe of economic migrants and young unaccompanied men with jihadist-terrorist connections, the flight of Central American and Mexican refugees has become a highway for Mexican cartels that transport drugs and M-13 gang members and traffick human beings accross into the US for mega-profits. • Volunteers maintain a list of asylum seekers outside Tijuana's El Chaparral port of entry -- people from Central America, AFRICA and the MIDDLE EAST seeking asylum. There are persistent but hard to substantiate rumors that Iran is transporting jihadist terrorists from the Middle East to South America and helping them move north through Venezuela to the US border. • As for the size of the illegal entry problem, the latest data from US Customs and Border Protection reported last week show a 37% increase in attempted crossings from February to March, and a 203% increase over March, 2017. Border-crossing attempts from Mexico rose sharply in March after falling to a historic low last year under the Trump administration -- reaching an all-time low last April, a phenomenon many top DHS officials dubbed the "Trump effect," over the President's tough stance on immigration, including increased deportation efforts. • • • WILL OBRADOR MAKE A DIFFERENCE? With the election of Obrador, the status quo could soon change. Obrador says he does not want Mexican immigration policies to be merely an extension of US enforcement policies. DHS estimates that today it successfully detains a far greater percentage of unauthorized border crossers than ever before. Mexicans once constituted almost all of the undocumented immigration flows, but today they make up less than half because of better economic conditions at home in Mexico and the significant sums of money that Mexican immigrants living in the US sent back to their families and home communities. Over the past five years, migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, three of the region’s poorest and most violent countries, have constituted the majority of unauthorized US border crossers. Although some of these migrants make it to the US border, an even larger number do not. Foreign Affairs calculates -- based on Migration Policy Institute data -- that the Mexican government may have deported more people to Central America than the US government since 2014, the year that the significant Central American migration flows started. • So, Mexico itself is increasingly becoming a country of asylum for Central Americans, receiving 8,656 applications last year from nationals of those three countries, up from 1,769 in 2014. And there is some evidence, though most of it still anecdotal, that increasing numbers of Central American migrants are staying in Mexico rather than trying to cross into the United States. • Mexico is becoming more like Turkey, whose role vis-à-vis Europe is to stop and house migrants. In addition, there are now a million US citizens living in Mexico, either the children of Mexicans who have returned to their parents’ home country or Americans who have moved to Mexico to pursue either job opportunities or a comfortable retirement. All of this, says Foreign Affairs, gives the US two alternatives -- continue to criticize the Mexican government for not doing enough to stop Central American migrants on their way through Mexico before they reach the US border and pressure it to do more, or try to engage the new government of Mexico in a joint strategy that looks at Central American migration flows more comprehensively. That would have to include a willingness from US authorities to help the Mexican government develop its immigration system by expanding asylum capacity and further professionalizing immigration enforcement to meet international standards. It would also have to include efforts to create integration programs for those Central Americans who choose to stay in Mexico and a renewed effort with regional partners through the failed Alliance for Progress to help El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras develop their police and judicial institutions to rein in gang violence, as well as generate some measure of economic development. • • • US POLICY TOWARD ILLEGALS AND THE PALESTINIANS. American Thinker's Lauri B. Regan wrote on the 4th of July that : "The Democrat, left-wing media, and progressive activists’ current freak-out over what is at least a decade-long crisis on our southern border is not just hypocritical....It mirrors the liberal response to, and furthering of, inflammatory and intentionally misleading narratives regarding Palestinian refugees. Both crises represent the politicization of cultural and ethnic tragedies that seek to blame a strong horse for the wrongs of the true perpetrators of crimes against humanity. And both crises serve as winning strategies for leftist political operatives seeking absolute power. Palestinians are portrayed as victims of an all-powerful government infringing on their human rights, notwithstanding their culpability and that of their 'elected' leaders. Similarly, Democrats are using illegal immigrants as tools to demonize Republicans, intentionally fueling their ongoing war against conservatives with the specific goal of influencing the midterm elections. Arab governments have exploited Palestinians for decades in their never-ending quest to annihilate Israel....Democrats similarly purposely avoided numerous opportunities for immigration reform including when they controlled both houses of Congress and the White House under Obama." Regan says : "Since its formation in 1949, the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), mandated with providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees, has grown into a bureaucratic monstrosity that sucks money from donor nations to feed its 35,000 mostly Palestinian employees. It supports Palestinian terrorism through coordination with Hamas, indoctrinates Palestinian children to commit jihad against Jews, and allows its facilities to serve as weapons depots.... Palestinians are the only refugees with their own UN agency. That agency is the only refugee organization that does not work for integration, resettlement and assimilation of its refugees into host countries....Our own government is now feeding a similar conglomerate in states across the country. Southwest Key Inc., a Texas not-for-profit, received half a billion dollars this year to house migrant children. It has received $1.5 billion over the past decade for the 'Unaccompanied Alien Children Program.' The CEO of Southwest earned almost $1.5 million in total compensation in 2016 while his wife earned almost $300,000 as its VP in 2015. This is how government bureaucracies form and welfare programs are established....Bleeding hearts bemoan the migrant children, ignore their crimes and accompanying health issues, and champion the facilities in which the children are housed. In Westchester County, the feds have set up migrant housing in which most Americans could only dream of living. Gyms replete with weight rooms and indoor swimming pools, cell phones, medical care, and top-notch education..." For Regan, the Palestinian and illegal immigrants into the US are both "portrayed atrocities with no end. Liberals perpetuate the narratives. Just as many Latin American countries do not wish to rectify their economic, social, and political calamities leaving citizens few choices but to attempt an escape, Arab countries and Palestinian leaders do not wish to address the struggles facing Palestinians. Deported illegals return again and again until finally jailed for serious crimes; liberals form sanctuary cities to protect them. Palestinian refugees seek a right of return while blowing up buses and restaurants; the UN passes resolutions condemning the Jews. Trump suggests building a wall; he is labeled a tyrant. Netanyahu builds a fence; he is accused of running an apartheid state. Both leaders strive to protect their citizens. Liberals wish to perpetuate victim classes as a means to attain power." For Regan : "When Trump asks why everyone screaming about the poor immigrant children ignores the children murdered by MS-13 gang members, liberals have no response. When the UN, Arab nations, and Western progressives single out Israel for demonization while ignoring the untold numbers of innocent Israeli civilians murdered in terrorist attacks, they fail to recognize this as blatant anti-Semitism....The Palestinians have their Nakba; the Democrats have their Resistance." • • • DEAR READERS, Obrador told his supporters after the election : “We will respect everybody but we will give a preference to the humble and forgotten." President Trump has consistently singled out Mexico and Mexicans for withering criticism on issues of free trade, drug trafficking and illegal immigration. And, it may be that as president, Obrador will be less deferential to Washington than his predecessors. How his presidency will play out in US-Mexico relations remains to be seen. • TheHill's Rafael Bernal wrote on Monday that preliminary election results show that Obrador won among voters outside Mexico, in the first Mexican election to feature significant voting opportunities for expatriates. ExPats voted for Obrador by a ratio of almost 3-to-1 over the runner-up. That, says TheHill, is a sign that Mexicans living in the US are expecting him to fulfill his promises to protect migrants from the actions of the Trump administration. • President Trump said after his election night phone call with Obrador that he believes Obrador “is going to try and help us with the border.” But Obrador has repeatedly criticized Trump’s push for a border wall -- instead, saying that illegal migration could be better addressed with economic development programs that help lift Mexicans out of poverty. “Those that want to leave and emigrate, let them do it by choice, not because of necessity,” López Obrador said in his victory speech at the historic Zócalo plaza in Mexico City on Sunday. • That sounds very much like a call for expanded US-Mexican cooperation for economic development in Mexico. And, that could in the mid-term decrease somewhat the flow of Mexicans into the US. But, it offers nothing to stem the tide of migrant marchers who are heading from Central and South America, and from Africa and the Middle East, northward through Mexico to the US southern border. That will need to be a different discussion with different goals for US-Mexico cooperation in the minefield issue of the full range of illegal immigrants -- from real asylum seekers to traffickers to drug cartels to terrorists -- using Mexico as the transit route to the US. This is an issue in which Obrador will find himself, very much like German Chancellor Merkel, trying to protect his newly-won position as the de facto leader of Latin American Leftist governments and groups who will push him to keep the transit route open, while the US undoubtedly will make economic development cooperation contingent on Mexico closing its own southern border to northward marching illegals. • The art of the deal will be front and center on both sides of the southern border. But, one thing should remain constant. Build the Wall. American Thinker's Colin Flaherty said on Tuesday : "Among the fashionable [Mexican] public officials and academics, scorn has been the ruling emotion for decades....The new president declares he is a socialist, but he will be hard pressed to show how his new socialist policies are at all different from the old socialist policies that govern so many parts of Mexican life. That's what we said about Venezuela, come to think of it....But at least admitting they are socialists has the added benefit of sticking a finger in the eye of their terrible neighbors to the north -- who everyone knows ruined Mexico by stealing a good chunk of the country in 1848. Anyone who reads the daily papers in Mexico is reminded of that 157-year-old treaty every day : for most of the country, the national slogan and curse remains "Mexico, so far from God, so close to the United States." We can even hear it today from Mexican nationals and their descendants in the US who glorify La Raza at the expense of their adopted country." Oh, and by the way, says Flaherty, "Americans are still waiting for any kind of public display of support for those who died on 9/11. Mexicans largely ignored it, when they were not supporting it behind closed doors at their local universities." Flaherty says something not reported elsewhere : "The newly elected president, Andrés López-Obrador, was gleeful during the election when he told his compadres they should all move to America, illegally. His encouragement along with his pro-poverty policies will set the stage for another tsunami of illegal immigration....the new president of Mexico is encouraging his countrymen to invade the United States. Not with guns and soldiers, but with campesinos and huaraches. It's a bitter and hostile act that we should treat as such." For Flaherty : "Mexico is run by a collection of drug cartels and other violent outlaws. This collection of criminals has killed thousands of public officials, policemen, and reporters -- all in the name of preserving a criminal status quo that no one even feels like pretending does not exist anymore. They even write songs glorifying them." • Assuming that even half of what Flaherty says is true -- and most of it certainly is true -- President Trump cannot build the Wall fast enough.