{"id":17825,"date":"2018-11-05T13:33:17","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T18:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=17825"},"modified":"2018-12-28T09:33:57","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T14:33:57","slug":"under-reported-details-of-the-migrant-caravans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2018\/11\/05\/under-reported-details-of-the-migrant-caravans\/","title":{"rendered":"Under-Reported Details of the Migrant Caravans"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Central American migrant caravans make their way towards the U.S. border, mainstream media outlets continue to fixate on groups of women and children<\/a>, claiming that the caravans are simply individuals who are seeking better lives and pose minimal risk to the United States. While some members of the caravan fit this narrative, there are several overlooked details of the group that paint a vastly different image.<\/p>\n

1) \u00a0The migrant caravan is made up mostly of young, adult men. <\/strong><\/p>\n

While most mainstream media outlets will highlight pictures and quotes of young children and women in distress, the reality is that 70%<\/a> of the group are young, adult males. In fact, there are so many<\/a> strong-bodied men in the caravans that \u201cmen are pushing women and children to the front of the mass of people to use them as \u2018human shields\u2019 against the police and military who tried to block their progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

2) The migrant caravan houses members outside of Central America and even from the Middle East, with the potential of some terrorists. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently, the Department of Homeland Security revealed<\/a> that individuals from more than 20 countries were discovered in the caravans, with representation from Somalia, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. Additionally, there have been reports of individuals from Haiti and India. Some of these countries are known hotbeds for Islamic terrorism.<\/p>\n

3) The migrant caravan contains members who have criminal records.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the same report provided by DHS, it was listed that at least 270 members had been formally convicted of crimes in the United States, ranging from child sexual assault to armed robbery. This figure does not include those who have committed crimes in their own country as well as those who have committed crimes throughout their journey to the U.S. border.<\/p>\n

4) The migrant caravan consists of violent and disruptive members.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Members of the migrant caravans continue to confront Mexican authorities in dangerous ways. Reports<\/a> indicate migrants have been throwing Molotov cocktails, rocks, and even firing weapons at Mexican authorities to ensure their journey is not impeded.<\/p>\n

While some like CNN\u2019s Anderson Cooper<\/a> will say, \u201cthere simply is no good evidence that the caravan is a danger to this country,\u201d the reality is that the migrant caravans present several national security risks to the United States and should not be taken lightly. Though the caravan will genuinely have innocent members seeking improved lives (understandable, but not grounds for seeking political asylum), the United States must prepare for all types of risks and not be permissive in its border enforcement strategy.