What should be done about the caravan of people coming to the U.S.

[Duchess]

admit that this is NOTHING at all to do with skin colour or race NOR are these poor people all fleeing violence?

I'll do no such thing.



Ahhhh

[Maggot]

It certainly is not Doctors, Engineers, Auto mechanics, nurses, garbage collectors, linesmen, farmers, in that caravan. It is the ones numb enough to walk a thousand miles for a 2.50 dollar an hour job. Not the welfare, food, clothing, shelter ar any of that. 

[Fry Guy]

admit that this is NOTHING at all to do with skin colour or race NOR are these poor people all fleeing violence?

I'll do no such thing.



Ahhhh

I know. Because you can't.

[HairOfTheDog]

but, but, but, trump's got them knocking at our back door. Surely they aren't over 1000 miles away.

Yeah, it seems doubtful that the Republicans are going to get the showdown at the border before midterms, which some of them seem to be hoping for.

Little by little, sickness, fear and police harassment are whittling down the migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. border, with many of the 4,000 to 5,000 migrants who resumed their journey Thursday complaining of exhaustion.

The group, many with children and even pushing toddlers in strollers, departed Mapastepec at dawn with more than 1,000 miles still to go before they reach the U.S. border.



They have advanced just 95 miles (150 kilometers) as the crow flies since thousands burst across Mexico’s southernmost border six days earlier.

With the migrants still weeks, if not months, from reaching the U.S. border, the U.S. administration was planning to send 800 or more troops to the southern border at the direction of President Donald Trump, who has been stoking fears about illegal immigration ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections.

Story:  https://www.apnews.com/1d84f778ad3a45c292c418c378e4656d

[Maggot]

Yeah I'm not surprised but still disappointed that the Democrats have no input on the caravan, and like I said before they may be waiting to pick apart anything Trump does about it. 

[BigMark]

I'll pitch in to bus them to the border...

[BigMark]

Those poor woman, you can see their ribs.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, it's not 'The Wall' that Trump promised his supporters, but it is a fence on the California / Mexico border.  It's 30 feet high and 2 miles long.

Maybe it will motivate more Republicans to vote week after next, which is one of the reasons for this quick new construction, in my opinion.



Sporting a plaque that boasted President Donald Trump's name, it marks the first phase of a wall to block migrants from entering the US.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen inaugurated the Calexico site in Imperial City, California yesterday.  Nielsen also called for more funding for the wall Friday as the US was 11 days away from the mid-term elections.

Further confirming the migrants will not be welcome, the Pentagon approved a request for additional troops at the southern border. It means there could be 800 to 1,000 joining the nearly 2,000 National Guard troops currently on the border.

Full story:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...eiled.html

[Rootilda]

Isn't that the stretch of fencing that was already financed and under construction before Trump claimed ownership?

That plaque is fucking embarrassing.

[HairOfTheDog]

It's a new stretch of fencing, but Nielsen is tying it to "The Wall".

"It's a wall," said Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, standing in the shadow of a newly built stretch of a 30-foot border wall in Calexico, Calif., which she said would help U.S. agents secure the border.

"Let me be clear: Walls work," Nielsen said. "That's not my opinion, it's not a tagline, it's not a political statement — it's a fact."

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/26/661042336...california

All Republican and Democratic congresspersons lobbied for new and improved fences along the borders.  

This fence was built using the $1.6 billion border security funds approved by Congress when they rejected funding for The Wall in the last spending bill.

[BigMark]

[Clang McFly]

[Rootilda]

Having had some experience with federal government, money doesn't usually move that quickly through the system. I doubt a spending bill approved this year would have allowed time for the contracts needed to have this section of "wall" completed so quickly.

Then there's this dated Mar 14:

The new 30-foot steel bollard fencing is not part of President Donald Trump's planned wall. Congress has yet to fund the president's campaign promise to build a wall along the U.S. Southern border that will cost an estimated $18 billion, nor does it use the prototype designs ordered by Trump.

https://abc7.com/politics/border-wall-go...e/3217026/

So basically, Trump is taking credit for something that was already in the works under Obama.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah, there's a lot of misinformation regarding the border barriers.

The authority to replace the 1990s-built wall in Calexico (solid, problematic for border patrol agents who couldn't see on the other side) with a border fence was granted in 2009.

With funding of $18million allotted in 2017, the new fence began construction in February 2018. Several environmental waivers and such were secured to expedite the project.

The $1.6 billion granted for enhanced border security and fencing in the last spending bill only allows for fencing which is engineered in alignment with existing border fencing.

The fence is not part of Trump's "Wall". But, there is a concerted effort by Trump and company to present it as such -- branding ahead of midterms.

https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/201...373465002/

[BigMark]

It's Obama's wall, is that good or bad?

[Duchess]

It's Obama's wall, is that good or bad?

trump continues to take credit for President Obama's work.

[BigMark]

So when Obama does it it's good right?

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't have a problem with border fencing, regardless of which administration starts or completes it. It's necessary.

Just pointing out the facts.

The newly unveiled border fencing in Calexico is a project approved 8 years ago, funded last year, and part of long-standing bi-partisan fencing legislation.

It is not part of the 'The Wall' Trump described and promised. Trump's wall is different and cannot be undertaken without approval and funding from Congress. Thus far, Congress (both parties) has declined to approve and fund Trump's wall concept.

[BigMark]

I'm so confused, is a wall good or bad?

[HairOfTheDog]

It's not confusing.

Effective fencing, where needed, is a good tool for managing/monitoring migrant border crossings.

Combined with other border security tools -- like patrol agents and surveillance technology -- it can be efficient.

A solid wall from sea to shining sea, which is essentially what Trump initially described, is not realistic nor efficient.

Agents need to be able to see what's going down on the other side.

And, a fence or wall is not necessary all along the border because portions of the land are not favorable to border crossing attempts anyway.

Plus, I disagree with eminent domain -- people in border states should not be forced off their land so that it can be occupied by a great big wall when there are better alternatives, in my opinion.