Once again, our emotions have gotten the best of us on immigration.
This time, it is that caravan. Almost a week ago, Buzzfeed reported on a group of mostly Honduran immigrants who were making their way through Mexico. Pueblo Sin Fronteras, an immigrants’ rights group, organizes the caravan each year to draw attention to violence in Central America.
But this year was different. The story about the caravan caught President Trump’s attention. Sure enough, he used the caravan to justify building a stronger border wall.
Once again, our emotions have gotten the best of us on immigration.
“The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our ‘Weak Laws’ Border, had better be stopped before it gets there,” Mr. Trump tweeted.
Buzzfeed has since reported that many from the caravan have been given asylum in Mexico, while others will continue the trek to Mexico City. Only those with “valid asylum claims” will travel to the U.S.-Mexico border.
The caravan has done more to power the Trump administration’s call for border security than to highlight the violence in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Yesterday, Mr. Trump said he would send the military to guard the border.
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It is convenient to blame one person for all this anti-immigrant rhetoric. But it goes far beyond one person. The rhetoric is also fueled by fears of what this nation may become as it grows more Latino or simply less white.
Millions of Americans support Mr. Trump. His Real Clear Politics approval average is above 40 percent. It is foolish to brush away his views on immigration as out of touch with middle America.
It is also foolish to think a border wall will stop this country from becoming more Latino. Two-thirds of our nation’s 57 million Latinos were born in the United States, and more than half of the undocumented immigrants in the United States are here because they overstayed their visas. A border wall will not stop that.
It is foolish to think a border wall will stop this country from becoming more Latino.
Latinos are not all “bad hombres,” though there may be some. Supporters of Mr. Trump are not all racists, though there may also be some. Such stereotypes are products of emotions, not logic.
This immigration stalemate will not be broken by anger. The solution will not come about by giving into our fears. It is long overdue for us to set aside our emotions and partisanship and find a way forward.
Our fear of the unknown and anger toward each other can be vanquished only through genuine encounters. We must push past caricatures and try to understand those with whom we disagree. This issue is ripping our country and our continent apart.
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