As hundreds of Hondurans anxiously pace the border between Mexico and the U.S. hoping for protected refugee status, 57,000 of their countrymen, who have ostensibly overstayed their welcome, are marked for deportation.
The announcement from the Department of Homeland Security was not unexpected following similar revocations for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Sudan, Nicaragua, Nepal, Haiti and El Salvador, but open borders proponents are gnashing teeth at Trump’s continuous attempts to legalize or expel international squatters.
Residency status now in limbo, the Hondurans have until January 5, 2020, to obtain legal immigrant status, or leave the country.
\ˈtem-pə-ˌrer-ē \: Limited Time.
Americans opened their hearts and border to Hondurans in 1999 after the second-deadliest Atlantic storm on record, Hurricane Mitch, battered Central America. Over 11,000 people perished; 7,000 in Honduras alone.
Now, two decades later, it would seem the U.S. has granted these refugees plenty of time to gather the proper paperwork to become citizens, and Honduras to rebuild their homeland.
Honduras is not the only country enjoying an American cash influx from employed refugees who sent money home to relatives. It’s a worldwide industry, as Bloomberg’s in-depth report on Western Union clearly demonstrates:
“For years the company has been tracing the movements of “double belongers” and the remittances they send home. These émigrés, expatriates, immigrants, and refugees—the uprooted—are Western Union’s people, and right now we’re living in Western Union’s world. The UN counts 244 million people as international migrants, up 40 percent since the turn of the century, and 65 million people as forcibly displaced, the largest number since World War II. The World Bank estimates that $575 billion was sent in remittances last year, the majority from wealthier to poorer countries.”
Just to put in perspective, that figure, $575 billion, eclipses the sum-total of foreign aid and equates to Western Union holding a massive 13% share of the global money market. Is there any question why Western Union funnels money to immigration causes? In other words, they love unrest and unease, forcing people to flee their homes and seek asylum. It’s good for business.
But it’s not good for America’s economy. And President Trump is threatening to charge remittance fees to gain a bit of lost ground; as he should.
Legal Immigration, if You Please
So, why the panic for Hondurans? They knew this day was on the horizon but failed to pursue a more permanent status; you know, citizenship. Are they deluded into thinking they do not have to pay the piper for the best second-chance at security and prosperity? The short answer is; yes, they are.
President Trump allegedly referred to Honduras, and the many nations taking full advantage of America’s decades-long generosity, as S***hole countries, sparking fury from the left and audible gasping from elite media types. Black people dressed in traditional garb of many of these referenced nations, to show solidarity for refugees and their lovely homelands, for Trump's State of The Union address, to prove how hurtful and wrong the president is in his ignorant ways. But they spoke with forked tongue, decrying that these nations are ever-so-violent and America needs to open the gate and let them all in, which basically confirmed Trump’s alleged crass remarks.
Now we have approximately 400,000 refugees, give or take, from a multitude of ‘lovely' nations, slated to be deported, perhaps to make room for the few hundred asylum seekers languishing in Tijuana, with fingers crossed.
Refugees, take note; it’s time for you to become legal, or go home and help restore your country to the glory of its past, pre-hurricane, pre-war, pre-whatever, or get your papers to stay and become a legal citizen. Or in Trump speak, S*** or get off the pot.
