Yet another caravan of illegal aliens is heading north to the U.S., challenging both this nation’s sovereignty and political will to control the flow of migrants into the nation. Already 3,000 strong, the group of mostly Honduran illegal aliens has already doubled in size as it pushes northward with some openly seeking better economic opportunities and others claiming to flee widespread violence.
If past is prologue, the group, comprised largely of adults traveling with children, will attempt to cross into the United States illegally. Although most openly admit that they are seeking better economic conditions, they will, nevertheless, request political asylum if apprehended. U.S. asylum laws have become a virtual guarantee that illegal aliens, particularly those with children in tow, will almost immediately be released into the U.S. Most will likely never appear for their asylum hearings.
With the backdrop of a Congress that failed to pass any legislation tightening the nation’s asylum laws against fraud, or amending the court agreement that mandates that children can only be held for 20 days, it would seem the U.S. is again caught between a rock and a hard place. But is that really the case?
Not really. When faced with situations like this in the past, previous administrations have authorized the immediate construction of tent cities along the border to house asylum applicants. In addition, the Trump administration could dispatch mobile asylum courts that can quickly hear their claims. The mere presence of mobile asylum courts on the border – along with the resulting return to their home countries of those with fraudulent claims – would likely stanch the flow north.
If we don’t act quickly and decisively, many more of Central America’s 41 million residents might be thinking about creating caravans of their own.