Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), a frequent flier on cable talk programs, has had very little to say about the massive march of migrants making their way to the U.S. border. But that changed this morning when he seriously questioned the “timing” of the caravan.
“Usually there’s been smaller ones that have been about safety. This one seems much, much larger and seems an unusual time,” speculated the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee on CNN’s “New Day.”
So confident is Warner in the conspiracy theory that the Trump administration timed the caravan for political reasons, he is “trying to get the intelligence community to see, why now?”
His assertion was so out of the realm of reason that anchor John Berman followed up to clarify he understood Warner’s claims.
Asked by Berman if he were “suggesting that it was ginned up for political purposes,” the Virginian clumsily responded that “usually there’s been smaller ones, that have been about safety. This one seems much, much larger, and at an unusual time.”
He added that he had “no proof” and was simply asking questions.
Warner’s wild fantasies about an October surprise is laughable. What is not as funny is the unserious manner in which Warner, his colleagues in Congress and the open border activists are treating the caravan and those migrants in it.
They have taken no effort to dissuade thousands of migrants in the original caravan (or the thousands joining subsequent efforts) from putting their and their children’s lives in jeopardy in pursuit of an asylum few will get.
Although a majority of claims will get a hearing and for those who choose to make their court appearances, the odds are against them. According to statistics from the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), immigration judges approve asylum in 20 percent of cases in Fiscal Year 2017 and 17 percent of cases in FY 2016.