Immigration : President Trump Stakes Out His Ground in the Fight with Congress and Mexico

FAKE NEWS OUTDID ITSELF ON APRIL FOOL'S DAY. Even if they were trying to be serious. NBC Nightly News actually saw the Fake catastrophe coming if President Trump closes the southern border. Wait for it -- NO guacamole !!! NO margaritas !!! What they left out -- details, my dear Watson -- was that it would also mean no more 500,000+ illegal immigrants sneaking into the US in 2019. • • • PRESIDENT TRUMP IS DONE BEING THE NICE GUY. That's how Fox News First put it on Monday : "President Trump has threatened to shut down the southern border this week to combat the illegal immigration crisis and in a tweet sent Sunday night, he suggested he was done playing Mr. Nice Guy...'The Democrats are allowing a ridiculous asylum system and major loopholes to remain as a mainstay of our immigration system,' Trump tweeted. 'Mexico is likewise doing NOTHING, a very bad combination for our Country. Homeland Security is being sooo very nice, but not for long!' " • Fox News first also reminded us that President Trump has also vowed "to cut direct aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as their citizens flee north toward the US in caravans. Mexican officials said Sunday they will give out humanitarian visas on a "limited basis" to some of the roughly 2,500 Central American and Caribbean migrants gathered in the southern state of Chiapas. • • • HOMELAND SECURITY IS UPPING ITS ACTION. Newsmax reported on Monday that : "The Trump administration will speed up the deployment of hundreds of officers on the southern border of the United States and will dramatically expand a policy of returning migrants seeking asylum to Mexico, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said on Monday. The US Customs and Border Protection agency first announced the redeployment of 750 officers to process a surge of migrant families entering the United States last week. In a written statement, Nielsen said she had ordered CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan to undertake 'emergency surge operations' and immediately speed up the reassignment. CBP also has the authority to raise the number of redeployed personnel past 750, and will notify Nielsen if they plan to reassign more than 2,000 officers." • Newsmax also reported that DHS "will also 'immediately expand' a policy to return Central American migrants to Mexico as they wait for their asylum claims to be heard....That would be a dramatic expansion of the policy, dubbed the Migrant Protection Protocols, put in place in January. As of March 26, approximately 370 migrants had been returned to Mexico, a Mexican official told Reuters last week. Asked about the numbers, a DHS spokeswoman declined to confirm them and said the policy 'is still in the early stages of implementation.' The policy is aimed at curbing the flow of mostly Central American migrants trying to enter the United States. Trump administration officials say a system that allows asylum seekers to remain in the country for years while waiting for their cases to move through a backlogged immigration court system encourages illegal immigration." • The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups sued the Trump administration over the policy, claiming it violates US law. But, Newsmax states that : "Following a March 22 hearing on whether the program should be halted, US District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco ordered both sides to submit further briefing on the question of whether or not the California court has jurisdiction to preside over the case, likely prolonging any decision on the policy." • • • WILL PRESIDENT TRUMP NAME AN IMMIGRATION 'CZAR' ?? On Monday, in a separate article, Newsmax reported that : "As he threatens to shut down the southern border, President Donald Trump is considering bringing on a 'border' or 'immigration czar' to coordinate immigration policies across various federal agencies, according to four people familiar with the discussions. Trump is weighing at least two potential candidates for the post : Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli -- two far-right conservatives with strong views on immigration, according to the people, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the conversations publicly." Kris Kobach previously served as vice chair of the President's election fraud commission, which was disbanded after many states refused to provide it with needed information and data. Cuccinelli, says Newsmax, "has advocated for denying citizenship to American-born children of parents living in the US illegally, limiting in-state tuition at public universities only to those who are citizens or legal residents, and allowing workers to file lawsuits when an employer knowingly hires someone living in the country illegally for taking a job from a 'law abiding competitor.' " • Thomas Homan, the former acting ICE director, has also been mentioned as a potential pick, people familiar with the talks told Newsmax. • • • OF COURSE THERE IS AN 'EMERGENCY' AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER. Patriot Post's Cal Thomas asked on Tuesday : "If Not an Emergency, What Is It?" Thomas wrote : "The flood tide of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border cannot and must not continue. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has said of it, 'The system is broken and overwhelmed. It is a national emergency.' The definition of emergency might help focus attention : 'A sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action.' This is an issue that should command immediate congressional action. Graham told the Washington Times that virtually every immigrant entering the country illegally over the last six months has ignored deportation orders and failed to appear at court hearings. Graham said he got his information from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Ron Vitiello. The Department of Homeland Security issued a press release last month warning that the situation at the border had reached a 'breaking point.' DHS reported that illegal immigration just hit a 12-year high, with more than 76,000 immigrants illegally crossing the border in February. Agents are overwhelmed, and no one in Congress seems concerned about the cost to local services and American citizens who are footing the bill." • And, Cal Thomas reminds us that : "More migrants are on the way. According to the UK‘s Daily Telegraph, Mexico’s interior secretary, Olga Sanchez Cordero, has warned 'the mother of all migrant caravans' is forming in Honduras. Sanchez Cordero said that the caravan includes about 20,000 migrants, and that another caravan of 2,500 migrants is currently heading north.' If these were members of a military force it would be called an invasion. President Trump has threatened to close the border 'or large sections of the border' this week if nothing is done to stem the tide. He should." • Here is what President Coolidge did, as told by Cal Thomas : "In 1921, during the Warren Harding administration, Congress decided the massive immigration that had occurred in the previous decade should be limited so that newcomers to America could be properly assimilated. During the Calvin Coolidge administration, Congress toughened that law, capping immigration at 2 percent of a country’s residents living in the United States. This lasted until the 1960s, when immigration laws became more liberal. According to the website u-s-history.com, “After July 1, 1927, the two percent rule was to be replaced by an overall cap of 150,000 immigrants annually...'College students, professors and ministers were exempted from the quotas. Initially immigration from the other Americas was allowed, but measures were quickly developed to deny legal entry to Mexican laborers. The clear aim of this law was to restrict the entry of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, while welcoming relatively large numbers of newcomers from Britain (and) Ireland.' Try this experiment to help focus on what America will become without proper border control. Take a glass of milk and begin pouring water into it. At first, the milk is diluted. If the pouring continues, the water will replace the milk. This is what is taking place along the border. It must be stopped or the America we have known and loved will be no more." • • • EVEN OBAMA DHS SECRETARY SAYS THERE IS A BORDER CRISIS. Patriot Post reported on Tuesday : "Illegal entry has been routinely called a non-crisis by much of the media and congressional Democrats. Even Jeh Johnson, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama, has called it that. Appearing on CBS last month, Johnson said : 'The facts are that illegal migration on our southern border is a fraction of what it used to be....But a security crisis per se? No. I would not characterize it that way. I think there is some fear-mongering going on.' HOWEVER, on Saturday Johnson said on Fox News’s Cavuto LIVE, 'By anyone’s definition, by any measure, right now we have a crisis at our southern border. According to the commissioner of [Customs and Border Protection], there were 4,000 apprehensions in one day alone this past week, and we’re on pace for 100,000 apprehensions on our southern border this month.' " • BizPac Review posted an article by Frieda Powers on Wednesday that states : "President Trump’s administration is pursuing an 'aggressive effort' in a crackdown on illegal immigration which Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said has reached the level of a 'Cat 5 hurricane disaster.' This crisis was likened to a catastrophic disaster by Nielson as she spoke with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson on Tuesday, on the situation along the southern US border. 'We are bringing all of the agencies together, we’re asking everybody to chip in,' Nielsen said on Tucker Carlson Tonight....Carlson questioned Nielsen about some of the administration’s plans, asking 'Why wouldn’t we put the US military along our border if it’s really a crisis of that magnitude?' 'I think we’re looking into that. We’ve made the request. I’m in constant contact with the acting Secretary of Defense. I talked to some of the combatant commanders today. We are in fact pushing more and more military resources to the border,' Nielsen replied. She also indicated that other options, such as signing an order to end 'birthright' citizenship and expanding the E-Verify system are under consideration. 'We have to stop the drugs. We have to stop the smuggling and trafficking gangs. He’s very serious about it, so yes, I think everything is on the table,' Nielsen said. • The President repeated his threat to close down the border this week, calling on Mexico to use its own 'strong' immigration laws in the effort to combat illegal immigration. And Mexican officials have sounded the alarm over the forming of another potential caravan of people from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Venezuela, which they believe could reach about 20,000 in number. Trump also cut aid to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. 'We were paying them tremendous amounts of money. And we’re not paying them anymore. Because they haven’t done a thing for us. They set up these caravans,' he said. Trump’s renewed threat to shut down the southern border came as US Customs and Border Protection reported that March was on track to become 'the highest month' for border apprehensions in over a decade. 'We’re going to have a strong border, or we’re going to have a closed border,' Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, according to Fox News. As the White House prepares for a possible shutdown of the border between the US and Mexico, there is also an ongoing effort to utilize the authorities in existing laws to more vigorously combat illegal immigration and legal immigration fraud, senior adviser Stephen Miller told The Daily Caller. 'There’s going to be an aggressive effort to utilize every existing authority in statute,' the senior advisor to the president said, pointing to existing immigration laws, such as the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which are being explored. The White House is 'systematically reviewing all authorities that are already on the books, both in terms of cracking down on illegal immigration and […] the abuse of our legal immigration system,' Miller said, such as immigrants who overstay their visas and 'combating or addressing legal benefit seeking in the legal immigration system.' Miller pointed out an existing statute in a law, mandating a 'significant financial penalty' for each day that an immigrant stays in the country after being ordered removed, as an example of executive action that can be taken by the Trump administration as it seeks to deal with about one million illegal immigrants at large in the US who have already been issued final removal orders. 'This law has been on the books for a very long time and has not been utilized. That’s the example of the kind of legal authority that already exists that is the kind of thing we can deploy to restore integrity to the immigration system,' Miller said. Though he did not specify a timeline for the roll-out of the more aggressive actions, Miller noted that 'this is going to begin right away.' With an eye on more assertively targeting abuses such as 'welfare seeking' by legal immigrants or 'welfare tourism,' Miller expounded on the goal which is to 'dramatically raise the pressure on Congress and, in particular, the congressional Democrats' to pass laws reforming the US immigration system. The latest push to more fervently target abuses comes after many actions already undertaken in the last two years and with more regulations that “are nearing their completion date,' Miller explained. 'Now that this crisis is upon us, it’s the time to take that effort to the next level,' he said. • • • KEEPING ASYLUM SEEKERS IN MEXICO. The Daily Caller reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration is expanding a program that boots asylum seekers back to Mexico : "Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced Monday she will be expanding the 'Migrant Protection Protocols' program, more popularly known as 'Remain in Mexico.' Nielsen, in a memo sent to the federal border chief, ordered Customs and Border Protection agents deployed on the US-Mexico border to begin reviewing hundreds of migrant cases a day to determine if they should be booted back to Mexico. "[The Department of Homeland Security] will require more migrants to wait in Mexico, with appropriate humanitarian protections, during their immigration proceedings to prevent fraud & ensure they don’t escape the law and disappear into the country,' Nielsen tweeted Monday. The 'Remain in Mexico' program, which started in late 2018, bars non-Mexican immigrants from immediately entering the US interior after claiming asylum at the US southern border. Instead, the policy mandates they wait in Mexico as their cases make their way through the immigration court system. The directive is aimed at the vast number of Central American migrants who have reached the US-Mexico border and lodged asylum claims. President Donald Trump has maintained many of the asylum claims are bogus and used simply as a means to enter the US. 'Remain in Mexico' has currently been confined to only several ports of entry in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego. However, the Homeland Security Secretary is now directing officers across the southern border to implement the more stringent program." • DHS Secretary Nielsen also asked lawmakers in a letter sent last Thursday to Congress to allow her department to quickly deport unaccompanied alien children from Central America. The rise in the numbers of families and unaccompanied minors attempting to cross the southern border has, according to Nielsen, overwhelmed existing US resources Neilsen wrote to Congress : "We are grappling with a humanitarian and security catastrophe that is worsening by the day, and the Department has run out of capacity, despite extraordinary intra-Departmental and interagency efforts. Accordingly, DHS requests immediate Congressional assistance to stabilize the situation.” • Patriot Post reported that Chris Farrell of Judicial Watch "visited Guatemala earlier this year to get a firsthand look at the first of several caravans headed toward our southern border. Patriot Post reported that : "Contrary to reports in the media and those who support unfettered immigration that the migrants were mostly women and children, Farrell observed that while there were women and children in the caravan, he estimated that between 90% and 95% of them were men 15 to 45 years old. The children, he said, were 'recovered from a human smuggling operation using the caravan as ‘cover.’ He said that it’s 'A highly organized, very elaborate and sophisticated orchestration,' not a sudden movement of thousands of people who just happened to all decide to travel north at the same time. It’s an 'organized group of people pushing a certain political agenda by a group called Pueblos Sin Fronteras being aided by hundreds of that organization’s workers.' This effort, he estimated, cost several millions of dollars for food, water, transportation, medical equipment, mobile hospitals, and child services, which reminded Farrell of a complex military operation. And while they did walk portions of the tremendous distance through Mexico, they primarily traveled on chartered tour buses. The media reports of the plight of the migrants say that 'they are trying to escape daily violence and daily threats. People are dying left and right. The conditions are extraordinarily dangerous.' Farrell interviewed some of the marchers. He started every interview with, 'Why are you coming to America?' 'They all said that their reason for joining the ‘caravan’ was economic,” he said. 'It was job driven. And then, someone would say, ‘Oh, yeah,...we’re also fleeing violence’ as an after-thought.' And then, Farrell asked the obvious question : 'Well, if things are so bad, why did you leave your family back home? Of course, they couldn’t answer that question,' he said." • • • TRUMP WHITE HOUSE STUDYING BORDER SHUTDOWN OPTIONS. TheHill reported on Tuesday that the White House is studying options to shut down southern border, but : " 'expressed hope the drastic move could be avoided. Eventually, it may be that it’s the best decision that we close the border,' White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters, while adding that 'this isn’t our first choice.' Sanders said President Trump 'is not working on a specific timeline' to decide whether to close down the border with Mexico, as he threatened to do last week. But she said the White House Council of Economic Advisors has begun studying the impacts of shuttering certain entry points in anticipation of briefing Trump on his options. 'We’re looking at all options when it comes to closing the different ports of entry,' she said." • President Trump’s threat to close down the US-Mexico border in order to stop illegal immigration has, according to TheHill, "sparked alarm from congressional Republicans and Democrats, who warned it could deal a serious blow to the US economy. Sanders said Trump 'certainly doesn’t want to hurt' economic growth, but added that his 'No. 1 job as president is to protect life, to protect Americans. Democrats are leaving us absolutely no choice at this point,' she said. But, congressional Democrats and some Republicans have blasted Trump’s proposals for addressing the growing number of migrants entering the US, including the border blockade and cutting off aid to Central American countries, as too extreme. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday called them 'two of the worst ideas' and said closing down the border 'is an applause line, not an idea.' That's the Guacamole-and-margarita crew at work. WH press secretary Sanders expressed hope the Mexican government would continue to apprehend migrants traveling from Central American countries and housing a certain number of people seeking asylum on the US on their side of the border 'so that we don’t have to' take drastic action." • Patriot Post states : "Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom that his state cannot deal with the number of illegals entering it, and the same situation exists for other border states. The Los Angeles Times addressed the border shutdown in February : 'Fortunately for Trump, the law on immigration and related matters favors the President. Legal precedents have traditionally accorded the chief executive complete and nearly unchecked power to deny foreigners permission to enter the United States. The exclusion of aliens is a fundamental act of sovereignty...inherent in the executive power,' the Supreme Court said in 1950. And the [LA] Times added, 'Congress adopted a provision in 1952 saying the President ‘may by proclamation...suspend the entry of all aliens and any class of aliens as immigrants or non-immigrants’ whenever he thinks it ‘would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.’ That does not, however, preclude a block by an activist liberal judge." • • • WILL CONGRESS FINALLY ACT?? Patriot Post says : "Had Congress taken administration warnings seriously and acted to relieve the situation months ago, this crisis could have been resolved. Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) noted that in the heat of summer 'it’s going to be very, very dangerous in this part of the country to have young kids, women and other folks to come in.' Cuellar said, after speaking to Customs and Border Patrol agents, that he had discovered a disturbing trend of adults 'renting' children in Central America in order to increase their chances of being able to stay in the US once they cross over. • The Washington Times writes : "President Trump delivered an ultimatum to Congress on Tuesday, saying either lawmakers change immigration laws to stop the surge of illegal immigrants streaming north from Central America or he will take unilateral action to 'close' the border. The mere talk of such a move set alarms ringing among business groups, which said the economic consequences would be a disaster and would harm the same farmers and manufacturers already reeling from tariff battles. But Mr. Trump said he is willing to take the risk of deeper economic pain if it means stopping illegal immigration. 'Security is more important to me than trade,' he told reporters in the Oval Office. 'We’re going to have a strong border, or we’re going to have a closed border.' " • On Tuesday, DHS Secretary Neilsen announced the creation of a special "Interagency Border Emergency Cell' to coordinate the government’s efforts. She named 30-year Border Patrol Agent Manuel “Manny” Padilla to head the group and gave him use of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response center to use as an operations center. The goal, says the Washington Times, is to "try to change the incentive structure that is drawing Central Americans to make the trip in record numbers through Mexico and to the US. Mr. Trump said Mexico needs to do more, but he added that the nation’s southern neighbor has started arresting migrants in the thousands in the past few days." • BUT, the President has also targeted Congress, notes Patriot Post, "which he said must change the policies that allow illegal immigrants to game the US system and ensure that it takes years to try to deport them. By then, they have put down roots, disappeared into the shadows and ignored their deportation orders, analysts say. The President said he needs to see action by both Mexico and Congress. 'If they don’t, or if we don’t make a deal with Congress, the border’s going to be closed, 100 percent...We’re going to close the border. That’s going to be it. Or, we’re going to close large sections of the border, maybe not all of it. But, it’s the only way we’re getting a response, and I’m totally ready to do it.' " • The Washington Times states that : "Key members of Congress waved aside his ultimatum. 'The economic disaster to the country would be huge,' said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat. 'My guess is cooler heads will prevail upon the president not to do it. It would be a disaster for him and for the country.' Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, also warned Mr. Trump about severe economic consequences. The National Association of Manufacturers said US farmers, manufacturers and other businesses would lose $726 million per day for every day the border is closed. The group said 1 million US manufacturing jobs 'would be immediately at risk' from shutting off cross-border commerce and another 3.3 million jobs related to exports would be endangered. The National Association of Manufacturers and the US Chamber of Commerce said the solution is a broad bill that would combine security with amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants -- and perhaps a new flow for guest workers. Asked about the potential economic impact, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said closing the border is 'not our first choice,” but she added that the President’s top priority is to protect lives. 'Democrats are leaving us absolutely no choice at this point,' Mrs. Sanders said. 'It may be that it’s the best decision that we close the border.' The Homeland Security official who briefed reporters said plans to close border crossings have been in place for years. 'The bottom line is all options are on the table right now,' the official said....White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told CNBC that the administration is looking at ways to minimize economic pain and keep truck lanes open in the event of a border closure. But officials at the US Chamber of Commerce said that won’t help the 500,000 tourists, students, shoppers and others who cross the US-Mexico border each day, nor the stores, schools and other border businesses that rely on that commerce. 'The nature of the US-Mexico commercial relationship, it’s not just about goods being shipped on trucks or trains. It’s broader than that,' said Neil Bradley, executive vice president at the US Chamber of Commerce." • • • IS PRESIDENT TRUMP TARGETING BIG BUSINESS?? American Thinker editor Thomas Lifson thinks he is. On Tuesday, Lifson wrote : "Simply stated, at home, Trump wants big business, as embodied in the US Chamber of Commerce, to grasp that he will not allow them to continue to stonewall on open borders, targeting their donations to prevent any legal reform. Ever since NAFTA, huge investments have taken place predicted on the free movement of good across the border. Those investments are now held hostage by Trump’s threat. The implicit deal: either loudly and emphatically lobby for a simple revision to immigration law to allow asylum claimants to wait on the southern side of the border while their claims are adjudicated or endure a semi-catastrophic disruption. Trump knows that he has an excellent public case to make for this simple reform. With illegals now well aware that bringing along minors and an asylum claim guarantee admission to the USA, a hundred thousand a month are flooding in. The claims of a 'manufactured crisis' look silly. Even Jeh Johnson, Obama’s DHS secretary admits it is real. But with the C of C directing massive donations to Republicans to help sabotage reform, and to Democrats to stonewall it, no progress can be made. If Trump is able to carry out the threat and make it stick, the C of C and its big business constituents might well decide that a push for asylum claim reform is in their interest. Especially since the change in asylum reform would have minimal impact on the availability of laborers. The problem is with families and children....The unlimited flow of phony asylum seekers could easily bring millions of dependents -- not men willing and able to work as before, but dependents who need a lot of social services -- is an existential threat to our social order....Of course, there would be media attention to families 'torn apart by the border closure.' Stand by for comparisons to North Koreans cut off from the relatives in South Korea. But the human interest angle would be secondary to reports of layoffs as factories, cut off from parts and other supplies from Mexico, or factories sending their output to Mexico for final assembly that must shut down. The most serious headlines and pressure will be : 'Trump kills the economic recovery (that Obama started)' and the like. But with his credibility enhanced and that of his Democrat critics diminished, Trump already is thinking the unthinkable and may well gamble on doing it." • • • MITCH FEELS THE PRESIDENTIAL HEAT. BizPac Review's Samantha Chang said it on Wednesday : "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell admits there is a serious illegal-immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border. However, he warned against the 'potentially catastrophic economic impact' if President Trump closed the border. 'We certainly have a crisis on the border,' McConnell told reporters. 'I think the President’s right about that. But closing down the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country. And I would hope we would not be doing that sort of thing.' ....The President was reacting to reports that another massive caravan -- this time an army of 20,000 illegal immigrants from Central America -- is marching to the US to demand entry. ‘Mother of all caravans’ 20,000 strong headed to US border, helpless officials brace for chaos, lawlessness https://t.co/B7tCGVs17g pic.twitter.com/dAqwKJoM6z — Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) March 30, 2019.'....Mitch McConnell got dragged on Twitter for his weak leadership and refusal to back President Trump once again." • Here are some of the tweets Samantha Chang noted : "Mitch McConnell : 'We can't fund the wall. We can't close the border. We can't repeal and replace Obamacare.' What CAN you do?" /// .” /// Put #Mitch #McConnell on the border. He won't let anything pass.#NoWall #FamiliesBelongTogether." • • • DEAR READERS, Patriot Post's Rich Lowry wrote on Tuesday : "When historians look back to this era, they will wonder why we insisted on outsourcing our border control to a foreign country. President Donald Trump’s threat to close down the southern border with Mexico isn’t a sign of strength, but of frustration fading into desperation. He is reacting with understandable alarm at a spiraling migrant crisis on the border, and is looking to Mexico to address it because we are unwilling to do it on our own -- not unable, unwilling....It’s not that border control has been tried and failed; it hasn’t been tried. Thanks to court decrees and congressional enactments, we don’t permit ourselves to quickly return minors from Central American countries, or to detain them for any significant period of time. They get released, along with the adults accompanying them. The asylum process is broken. The initial so-called credible-fear interview to determine whether asylum-seekers get to the next step of the process approves almost all of them, even if they are unlikely ultimately to win asylum. In the meantime, they are waved into the country and probably never removed. The migrants coming in increasing numbers realize that we are helpless to exclude them and, indeed, surrender to Border Patrol agents when they get here." • As Lowry states, "Congress could fix all this in an afternoon, with a few key changes in the law." BUT, the problem is Nancy Pelosi, "since Pelosi is unmovable, Trump has to try to work the Mexican president....Mexico has done more to play ball with the US under Trump than most people would have thought possible, yet all the migrants showing up at our border are still traveling through the country. Mexico doesn’t make controlling these migrants a high priority because they will end up here, not there. The talk of cutting off the border isn’t aimed at the migrants, who largely don’t come through ports of entry, but at forcing the Mexican government to do more. Maybe the mere threat of the resulting economic disruption will work. But if Trump goes through with closing the border, the strategy has some of the same weaknesses as the government shutdown earlier this year. Where does it end? If Mexico doesn’t act quickly, how long are we going to keep the border closed? The longer it’s closed, the more pain will be felt in the US economy at a time when there are already signs of softness. What if Mexico initially buckles, then backslides? Will we shut down the border again, or threaten to?" • As long as the Democrat Party sees open borders and unrestricted immigration into the US as a political plus for their candidates, Pelosi will do nothing to help stem the genuine crisis. President Trump will not shut down the entire border, but use strategic closures to force Congress, Mexico, and Central America to do what is right. The President will have to continue to sweet talk, cajole and bully Mexico to help, even as he shuts off the aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador that lines the pockets of their socialist paradise leaders. In a United States where the Democrat Party actually put America first and tried to help it survive as a constitutional Republic, this would not be happening. Do not blame President Trump. He is the Dutch boy with his finger in the dyke. Blame the outrageously anti-American Democrat Party. The flood of illegal aliens crossing into the US suits their radical socialist-marxist plans for America just fine.