Rep. Veronica Escobar calls the Mexican border “a wonderful, magical place.” Alas, El Paso’s Democratic congresswoman says the magic has faded under coronavirus and what she calls “incredibly cruel” immigration policies of the Trump administration.
Picking up where her predecessor, Beto O’Rourke, left off, the freshman lawmaker claims Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) and rapid removals from the U.S. endanger illegal aliens. “They’re becoming targets of the [drug]cartels,” she says, as if that were something new.
At a teleconference this week, Escobar professed to be “shocked” by the situation. She alleged that MPP’s Remain-in-Mexico arrangement violates “due process rights” of illegal border crossers seeking asylum. (The program was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last month.) Tweeting #SafeAndTogether, she demands that migrant families be reunited “to pursue their [asylum]claims in the U.S.”
In fact, no one in Mexico’s “squalid camps” (Escobar’s words) is denied due process. Though adjudications have been delayed by the coronavirus shutdown, hearings will resume. That doesn’t mean rubberstamp approval, however. Fewer than 20 percent of asylum claims were being granted before COVID hit.
As for #SafeAndTogether, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has begun returning illegal migrants, including unaccompanied minors, to their home countries to be reunited with their families. The action is taken under guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to limit the spread of coronavirus.
None of this satisfies Escobar, who contradictorily expects freedom of movement for illegal border crossers while defending stay-at-home orders on her El Paso constituents.
As FAIR noted last month, “The open-borders contingent isn’t concerned about the spread of the coronavirus. It is more interested in ensuring that aliens maximize their time in the U.S., [giving]alien lawbreakers a chance to disappear and find a way to remain permanently in the U.S.”
CBP’s security protocols may not make the Mexican border “wonderful” or “magical.” But attempting to break into this country is risky, sometimes deadly, business — even more so during a pandemic. Illegal acts must be treated accordingly.
