Apprehensions and arrests of immigrants attempting to cross the United States&#8217; southern border illegally were down again in October, and arrests have plummeted a whopping 75% since the Trump Administration took action on illegal immigration back in May.
<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-mexico-border-arrests-fall-in-october-11573404080">The Wall Street Journal</a> reports that only 36,000 illegal immigrants were arrested in October, a 10% drop from the number of apprehensions in September, and a 75% drop from the 132,856 illegal immigrants arrested in May.
But that doesn&#8217;t mean 2019 wasn&#8217;t a record year for illegal migration.
&#8220;Overall, more than 850,000 migrants were apprehended at the border in 2019, a 12-year high for the year ended in September, driven by a rise in families fleeing violence and poverty in Central America to seek asylum protections in the U.S.,&#8221; the WSJ says.
October, though, was the fifth straight month of decline, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/11/11/20959291/southern-us-mexico-border-apprehensions-cbp-arrests-migrant-immigrant-numbers-october">even the left-leaning Vox</a> was forced to admit that President Donald Trump&#8217;s anti-illegal immigration efforts appear to be &#8220;having their intended effect.&#8221; Fewer individuals are seeking asylum at the southern border, and many asylum-seekers &#8212; particularly those who snaked their way to the United States&#8217; southern border through Mexico from places like Honduras and Guatemala, are choosing to return to their home countries.
&#8220;The decline in border apprehensions, which have decreased by about 75 percent since their height of 132,856 in May, and 10 percent in the last month alone, appears to be due to more than typical seasonal fluctuations and suggests that President Donald Trump’s immigration policies are having their intended effect,&#8221; Vox wrote Tuesday.
Oddly enough, the drop may have little to do with President Trump&#8217;s signature anti-immigration measure, a border wall. Only a handful of sections have been raised since the President demanded billions for the structure in the 2018 Federal budget, and at least one of those sections &#8212; a prototype wall in California &#8212; was up only a few short hours before smugglers cut the steel slats and bent a hole, allowing for easy entry into the United States.
Instead, the drop may have to do more with Trump&#8217;s anti-immigration policies, including a pair of controversial measures &#8212; the &#8220;Remain in Mexico&#8221; policy, and a pressure campaign on Mexican and Central American governments &#8212; designed to cut down on the number of asylum seekers presenting themselves to American border officials.
Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Remain in Mexico&#8221; policy requires that asylum seekers who, under previous administrations, might have been allowed to stay in the United States pending adjudication of their asylum claims, are now being turned back into Mexico to await asylum hearings on the other side of the border. The result? Many Central American asylum seekers are either taking Mexico&#8217;s offers of temporary work visas or immigration status, or returning to their home countries.
Around 55,000 migrants have been turned away under the &#8220;Remain in Mexico&#8221; policy.
The Trump Administration has also been putting pressure on the Mexican government to step up their own border control and to ramp up efforts to capture and deport illegal immigrants in Mexico before they reach the United States. &#8221; [A]fter Trump threatened to impose tariffs on all Mexican goods in June, the Mexican government deployed a record 15,000 troops to detain over 31,000 migrants that month and almost 19,000 in July,&#8221; Vox reported.
The decrease is also clearly noticeable in Washington, D.C.; Democrats have stopped using immigration and, in particular, overcrowding at border patrol facilities, as a wedge issue. Instead, most 2020 Democrats have pivoted to abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and declaring a moratorium on deportations to appeal to pro-immigration activists on the far left.

United States Border Patrol is seen blocking the wall at the

Border Arrests Fall Again In October, Down Almost 75% Since May

Illegal Immigration

Immigration

Mexico

Last week, nine American citizens — three women and six of their young children — were brutally murdered by a suspected drug cartel in Sonora, Mexico. The attack, which quickly sparked <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/3-women-6-children-from-u-s-mormon-family-massacred-by-mexican-drug-cartel-trump-responds">President Donald Trump</a> to declared &#8220;war&#8221; on the Mexican cartels, received international media attention.
Following the gruesome nightmare of an attack on her family, Kendra Lee Miller, the sister-in-law of victim Rohnita Maria Miller, joined Anderson Cooper on CNN and urged Americans to &#8220;fight&#8221; for their guns.
&#8220;The Mexican people here are oppressed,&#8221; Miller explained. &#8220;They are being abused by the cartels, living in fear for their life. We can&#8217;t drive public roads safely. We&#8217;re being threatened that we can&#8217;t even take some of the public roads or else we&#8217;ll have bad things happen to us.&#8221;
&#8220;So many people are not protected the way they should be,&#8221; she noted.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know where you&#8217;re standing on the whole, people-trying-to-take-the-away-guns-in-America right now, but I say, fight for those guns,&#8221; the sister-in-law told Cooper. &#8220;These things are happening here in Mexico because the people can&#8217;t protect themselves, because by law they&#8217;re not allowed to own these guns.&#8221;
&#8220;So since the government isn&#8217;t doing their job of protection in the way that they should, these cartels can just wreak havoc and the people are left defenseless. So I say, hold onto your guns, people,&#8221; Miller urged.
There has been conflicting reporting regarding the motive of the attack on the LeBarón and Langford families, but according to Miller, it was no accident. Her family was &#8220;targeted&#8221; by the cartel to spark a &#8220;war,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;Our family was picked to stir up trouble and start a war,&#8221; Miller claimed. &#8220;It was an attack on innocent civilians to basically start a war &#8230; between the Chihuahua and Sonora cartels who&#8217;ve been having turf battles.&#8221;
A suspect was arrested in connection to the crime, last week. “The suspect was holding two bound-and-gagged hostages in the hills of Agua Prieta in Sonora state, the ministerial Agency for Criminal Investigations (AMIC) said,” <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/06/americas/mormons-attacked-us-mexico-border-wednesday/index.html">CNN</a> reported Wednesday. “The suspect had several rifles and a large amount of ammunition, including a number of large-caliber weapons, the agency said in a statement posted to its official Facebook page.”
“We are waiting for some more intelligence in order to issue an official statement,” confirmed Chihuahua Attorney General Cesar Peniche Espejel.
&#8220;While some officials have said that the attack may have been a result of mistaken identity, former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda told CNN that the LeBarón family’s history of conflict with the cartels suggests that they may have been targeted,&#8221; noted the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cartel-attack-on-u-s-family-mexico-arrests-suspect-official-says-family-may-have-been-targeted">The Daily Wire</a>.
&#8220;They had stood up to the drug cartels, and they did have certain frictions either with the cartels or with neighboring communities over water rights,&#8221; Castañeda said.
&#8220;Their long-standing tensions, and apparently the woman who was driving in the first car that was attacked was an activist,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;She was someone who was very active in her community, defending her family, her fellow members of the community against cartels, on the issue of water rights.&#8221;
To watch the interview, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2019/11/05/acfc-full-kendra-lee-miller-mexico-ambush-vpx.cnn">click here</a>.

U.S. Citizens Murdered In Mexico

Relative Of Utah Family Killed By Cartel Goes On CNN, Urges: ‘Fight For Your Guns’

Drug Cartels

Gun Control

Second Amendment

The savagery of the Mexican drug cartels revealed itself once again this week, with the vicious murder of a police officer who was involved in the botched arrest against kingpin Joaquin &#8220;El Chapo&#8221; Guzman&#8217;s son last month.
According to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/mexico-police-el-chapo-shot-155-times-cartel-killing">Fox News</a>, a 30-year-old officer, named only by police as Eduardo N., died on Wednesday by 150 bullets during a daylight assassination in Culiacan, Sinaloa. The killing came three weeks after the cartel successfully forced the police into releasing El Chapo&#8217;s son during a violent shootout that left eight people dead and more than 20 wounded. More from <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/mexico-police-el-chapo-shot-155-times-cartel-killing">Fox News</a>:
<blockquote>Mexican newspaper Excelsior shared CCTV footage from Wednesday’s attack that showed the police officer parking his white vehicle outside a shopping center. Moments later, a red vehicle pulls up alongside him and armed gunmen men leap out, firing rapidly from close range.
Within 30 seconds, the gunmen fired 155 shots at the police officer, before leaping into the vehicle and running off, the outlet reported.
Officials said the officer was a member of Sinaloa’s State Preventive Police who had been assigned to protect Undersecretary of Public Safety Carlos Alberto Hernandez Leyva.</blockquote>
The targeting of Eduardo N. undoubtedly sends a message that the cartels will target anyone even tangentially involved in the crackdown on their operation, considering that the officer was only part of an anti-drug security unit patrolling the region at the time of the arrest and was not directly involved in the operation.
As the cartel violence in Mexico boils to unprecedented levels, President Trump has called on the country&#8217;s leader <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/3-women-6-children-from-u-s-mormon-family-massacred-by-mexican-drug-cartel-trump-responds">to declare war</a> on the cartels with the full aid of the United States. His pressing call occurred shortly after three women and six children from a U.S. family were killed in the Mexican state of Sonora earlier this week.
&#8220;A wonderful family and friends from Utah got caught between two vicious drug cartels, who were shooting at each other, with the result being many great American people killed, including young children, and some missing,&#8221; Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
&#8220;If Mexico needs or requests help in cleaning out these monsters, the United States stands ready, willing [and] able to get involved and do the job quickly and effectively,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;The great new President of Mexico has made this a big issue, but the cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!&#8221;
&#8220;This is the time for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth,&#8221; the president concluded. &#8220;We merely await a call from your great new president!&#8221;
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has soundly rejected Trump&#8217;s call to war.
&#8220;The bad cannot be confronted with the bad. The bad needs to be confronted doing the good,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We believe that the most important (thing) is life, protecting the lives of everyone; the lives of the military, the lives of the presumed delinquents, and the lives of civilians. If we had acted as they asked, implored us, there would have been more than 200 dead.&#8221;

MEXICO-US-RELIGION-MORMON-ATTACK

Cartels Murder Cop Who Aided In The Arrest Of El Chapo’s Son

Drugs

On Wednesday, in the wake of the murder of nine Americans in Mexico on Monday, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley issued a blunt tweet challenging the Mexican government, writing, “With Mexico, enough is enough. US government should impose sanctions on Mexican officials, including freezing assets, who won’t confront cartels. Cartels are flooding MO w/ meth, trafficking children, &amp; openly slaughtering American citizens. And Mexico looks the other way.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
With Mexico, enough is enough. US government should impose sanctions on Mexican officials, including freezing assets, who won’t confront cartels. Cartels are flooding MO w/ meth, trafficking children, &amp; openly slaughtering American citizens. And Mexico looks the other way
&mdash; Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1192121566638825472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
On Thursday, the Mexican Ambassador to the United States, Martha Barcena Coqui,  responded with a letter apparently linking the U.S. to the increased violence of the drug cartels in Mexico, bringing up Americans’ demand for black-market drugs. Barcena wrote:
<blockquote>In the wake of the tragic loss of lives during the heinous assault that took place against the binational Mormon community of Lebaron in Mexico, my government categorically rejects your recent mischaracterization on Mexico not actively combating transnational organized crime and suggesting to impose sanctions on Mexican officials.
One of the top priorities of President Lopez Obrador is to promote security with a new approach, not seek a violent confrontation with organized crime groups, a strategy that failed in previous administrations leading to unprecedented escalation of violence.</blockquote>
After writing that Mexico “reiterates its willingness to work with the United States,” Barcena added a handwritten note at the bottom of the typed letter, stating, “I hope to be able to discuss these matters with you personally, including how to reduce drug demand in the U.S.”
Hawley noted, “In response to my call for sanctions, yesterday the Mexican Ambassador responded w/ letter taking zero responsibility, offering no change in Mexico’s failed policies, &amp; suggesting real problem is Americans’ “drug demand.” As if Americans are responsible for the cartels’ crimes.”
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In response to my call for sanctions, yesterday the Mexican Ambassador responded w/ letter taking zero responsibility, offering no change in Mexico’s failed policies, &amp; suggesting real problem is Americans’ “drug demand.” As if Americans are responsible for the cartels’ crimes <a href="https://t.co/zo0jl7u2kG">pic.twitter.com/zo0jl7u2kG</a>
&mdash; Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1192524833340477440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2019</a></blockquote>
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As Tristan Justice reported at <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/08/mexican-ambassador-blames-drug-cartel-violence-on-addicted-americans/">The Federalist</a>, “Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah, one of six Mormons in the House of Representatives, joined Hawley in challenging Congress to consider sanctions on the Mexican government.
McAdams told the Federalist, “The unspeakable violence against U.S. women and children this week in the border region of Mexico shocks the conscience and demands action. These criminals place no value on human life and cannot be tolerated by the U.S. or Mexican governments. I call on Congress to join me in considering a range of ideas, including imposing sanctions on Mexican officials who won’t confront the cartels, and declaring Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations.”
Justice also spoke to Republican Rep. Chris Stewart, (R-UT), who asserted:
<blockquote>Following these horrific attacks, I believe the U.S. must partner with the Mexican government, not sanction them. Sanctioning Mexico will cripple our neighbor and reduce the incentive for mutual cooperation in delivering justice to the cartels who carried out this heinous attack.</blockquote>
On Tuesday, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/newt-gingrich-mexican-drug-cartel-shootout-wake-up-call-mormon-family-homicide-abduction">stated</a>, &#8220;Mexico is a vital American interest. And, our desire to make sure the Mexican government defeats the cartels, should be enormous. And I hope this will be a wake-up call &#8212; that we had better find a way to have a partnership with the Mexican government and help them with whatever intelligence training equipment they need to decisively defeat the cartels who are now, frankly, a state within a state.&#8221;
According to the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/interactive/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/criminal-violence-mexico">Council of Foreign Relations</a>:
<blockquote>By 2016, drug-related homicides had<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-homicides-in-2016-under-enrique-pena-nieto-2017-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> increased by 22 percent</a>, with more than twenty thousand killed, and in 2017 a mass grave containing the remains of more than 250 victims of crime-related violence was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/15/americas/mexico-mass-grave-skulls-found-veracruz/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">uncovered</a> in Veracruz State. Since 2006, crime-related violence has resulted in an <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41576.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">estimated 150,000 deaths</a>. &#8230; In 2018, the <a href="http://secretariadoejecutivo.gob.mx/docs/pdfs/nueva-metodologia/CNSP-V%C3%ADctimas-2018_dic18.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">number of drug-related homicides</a> in Mexico rose to 33,341, a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/01/23/687579971/mexico-reports-highest-ever-homicide-rate-in-2018-tops-33-000-investigations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">15 percent increase</a> from the previous year—and a record high.</blockquote>

Key Speakers At The Economist Mexico Summit

Mexican Ambassador To U.S. Implies Americans At Fault For Increased Cartel Violence

Cartels

Josh Hawley

Violence

In the days after nine American citizens — three women and six of their children — were brutally massacred by a suspected drug cartel in the Mexican state of Sonora, the mainstream media posted widely-ridiculed pieces focusing on the victims&#8217; alleged ties to &#8220;violence&#8221; and &#8220;religious fundamentalism.&#8221;
Members of the related LeBarón and Langford families were victimized by one of the Mexican drug cartels while traveling to a wedding on Monday. The cartel repeatedly shot at their vehicles and set them on fire, killing nine — including a three-year-old — and injuring three others, including a seven-month-old baby girl.
Notably, the seven-month-old who survived, baby Faith Marie Johnson, was reportedly saved by her mother. Christina Marie Langford Johnson, 29, who was killed in the attack, reportedly sacrificed her own life to shield little Faith from bullets flying into one of the cars. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/moms-selfless-act-saves-young-childs-life-in-mexican-cartel-attack-on-u-s-family">The Daily Wire</a> reported Tuesday:
<blockquote>Kendra Lee Miller, a relative of the victims, writes in an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kendraleemiller92/posts/10162303510900316">account</a> on Facebook about the discovery of Faith hours after the attack, her mother’s quick-thinking actions apparently having saved the child’s life. Family members “found Christina’s baby Faith with the vehicle around her riddled with bullet holes,” Miller writes. “Somehow she had remained untouched, and alive. She was in her car seat, which looked to have been hurriedly placed on the floor of the vehicle by her mother for protection.”
After apparently moving Faith’s car seat to a safer position, Christina, Miller explains, “jumped out waving her arms to let the attackers know that it was women and children in the vehicles. She gave her life to try and save the rest.”</blockquote>
The victims had U.S. citizenship and belonged to a religious community in Mexico. As noted by The Daily Wire, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not recognize the religious community to which the members belonged as part of the Mormon Church.
The day following the news of the attack, the Los Angeles Times focused on the deceased&#8217;s alleged ties to violence.
&#8220;U.S. victims in Mexico massacre were tied to family with a long history of violence,&#8221; the headline said. However, the headline, according to Townhall senior writer <a href="https://twitter.com/Julio_Rosas11/status/1192150693676822528">Julio Rosas</a>, was later changed to read: &#8220;Massacre of U.S. citizens aims spotlight at Mormon community with deep roots in Mexico.&#8221;
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U.S. victims in Mexico massacre were tied to family with a long history of violence <a href="https://t.co/tNUdw20wKx">https://t.co/tNUdw20wKx</a>
&mdash; Los Angeles Times (@latimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/latimes/status/1192117695153618945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Some of the victims shared the last name LeBaron,&#8221; the Times story outlined, adding:
<blockquote>&#8220;The LeBarons are among &#8216;a handful of major groups of fundamentalists,&#8217; said Patrick Mason, a historian of Mormonism at Utah State University. But, he added: &#8216;The LeBaron name in recent decades has been most often linked to violence. Unfortunately, this incident only adds to that association.'&#8221;</blockquote>
&#8220;The family is perhaps best known for a series of killings perpetrated in the 1970s and 1980s, in both Mexico and the United States, by Ervil LeBaron — once called the &#8216;Mormon Manson&#8217; — and a group of his followers,&#8221; the piece continued.
Some also took issue with The New York Times for focusing on the victims&#8217; &#8220;religious fundamentalism.&#8221;
&#8220;The brutal killing of [nine] members of an American family in northern Mexico on Monday highlights the long history of religious fundamentalist settlers in the region. Our religion reporter, Elizabeth Dias, details their history back to the early 20th century,&#8221; the Times posted.
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The brutal killing of 9 members of an American family in northern Mexico on Monday highlights the long history of religious fundamentalist settlers in the region. Our religion reporter, Elizabeth Dias, details their history back to the early 20th century. <a href="https://t.co/rfvtzdTN9i">https://t.co/rfvtzdTN9i</a>
&mdash; The New York Times (@nytimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1191822530727829506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The reactions to the pieces blew up online, many accusing the outlets of &#8220;victim blaming.&#8221;
&#8220;Well the NY Times and the LA Times found who is really to blame for a drug cartel brutally murdering and torching 9 people to death, including kids — the victims,&#8221; said FoxNews.com contributor Stephen Miller.
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Well the NY Times and the LA Times found who is really to blame for a drug cartel brutally murdering and torching 9 people to death, including kids &#8211; the victims. <a href="https://t.co/cvDgKKPqA7">pic.twitter.com/cvDgKKPqA7</a>
&mdash; Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) <a href="https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1192127369353416704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Comedian and former Playboy writer Bridget Phetasy bluntly wrote, &#8220;This is disgusting victim blaming [L.A. Times] and you should be ashamed.&#8221;
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This is disgusting victim blaming <a href="https://twitter.com/latimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@latimes</a> and you should be ashamed. <a href="https://t.co/bJWQC5j0sw">https://t.co/bJWQC5j0sw</a>
&mdash; Bridget Phetasy (@BridgetPhetasy) <a href="https://twitter.com/BridgetPhetasy/status/1192136991200006144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Nine Americans, including children, were brutally murdered, and the New York Times doesn&#8217;t call out the evil of the cartels, but labels the family &#8216;fundamentalist settlers?'&#8221; the account for PragerU questioned. &#8220;Shame on you, [New York Times].&#8221; 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Nine Americans, including children, were brutally murdered, and the New York Times doesn&#39;t call out the evil of the cartels, but labels the family &quot;fundamentalist settlers&quot;?
Shame on you, <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nytimes</a>. <a href="https://t.co/CkFUfVhugo">https://t.co/CkFUfVhugo</a>
&mdash; PragerU (@prageru) <a href="https://twitter.com/prageru/status/1192126655478693888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Did the cartel write this?&#8221; Rosas blasted the LA Times.
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Did the cartel write this? <a href="https://t.co/72RB4jaixH">https://t.co/72RB4jaixH</a>
&mdash; Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) <a href="https://twitter.com/Julio_Rosas11/status/1192125884205064194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Breitbart News&#8217; Brandon Darby similarly posted, &#8220;Serious question, [L.A. Times]. Did someone in Mexico promise you access or exclusives if you agreed to help smear these victims of cartel violence? Trying to understand why you’d do this.&#8221;
&#8220;Or is it that &#8216;the border is safe&#8217; narrative means so much to your editors politically that you just decided to piss on the bodies of the women and children killed in order to protect that narrative?&#8221; he added. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Or is it that “the border is safe” narrative means so much to your editors politically that you just decided to piss on the bodies of the women and children killed in order to protect that narrative? <a href="https://twitter.com/latimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@latimes</a>
&mdash; Brandon Darby (@brandondarby) <a href="https://twitter.com/brandondarby/status/1192126127797440514?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Is the idea here that the victims had it coming? This is an insane piece,&#8221; Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro said.
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Is the idea here that the victims had it coming? This is an insane piece. <a href="https://t.co/8xEVTZnVez">https://t.co/8xEVTZnVez</a>
&mdash; Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1192127080625885184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Steve Cortes, a CNN political commentator, posted: &#8220;What a disgraceful tweet and article from corporate media [L.A. Times]. The clear message: &#8216;[W]ell, these women and children who were gunned down by cartel monsters, they themselves had some pretty crazy relatives &#8230; or something&#8217; &#8230;&#8221;
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What a disgraceful tweet and article from corporate media <a href="https://twitter.com/latimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@latimes</a>. The clear message: “well, these women and children who were gunned down by cartel monsters, they themselves had some pretty crazy relatives&#8230;or something”&#8230; <a href="https://t.co/9H6Ddaz721">https://t.co/9H6Ddaz721</a>
&mdash; Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) <a href="https://twitter.com/CortesSteve/status/1192150296656527360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;&#8216;The [eight-]month old baby that was shot by a cartel member deserved it&#8217; &#8211; Journos,&#8221; mocked popular political Twitter account Comfortably Smug, adding: &#8220;&#8216;Actually a family getting pulled from their cars, raped, shot and set on fire is good&#8217; – L.A. Times.&#8221;
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&quot;Actually a family getting pulled from their cars, raped, shot and set on fire is good&quot; &#8211; LA Times
&mdash; Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) <a href="https://twitter.com/ComfortablySmug/status/1192123371041050630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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President Donald Trump&#8217;s reaction was not the same at the media&#8217;s. Taking to his Twitter account on Tuesday morning, Trump declared &#8220;war&#8221; on drug cartels as he recalled what was known at the time of the brutal assault on the &#8220;wonderful&#8221; Utah &#8220;family and friends.&#8221;
“A wonderful family and friends from Utah got caught between two vicious drug cartels, who were shooting at each other, with the result being many great American people killed, including young children, and some missing,” the president posted.
“If Mexico needs or requests help in cleaning out these monsters, the United States stands ready, willing [and] able to get involved and do the job quickly and effectively,” Trump continued. “The great new President of Mexico has made this a big issue, but the cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!”
“This is the time for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth,” the president concluded. “We merely await a call from your great new president!”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/moms-selfless-act-saves-young-childs-life-in-mexican-cartel-attack-on-u-s-family">Mom’s Selfless Act Saves Young Child’s Life In Mexican Cartel Attack On U.S. Family</a>

Members of the Lebaron family look at the burned car where part of the nine murdered members of the family were killed and burned during an ambush in Bavispe, Sonora mountains, Mexico

‘Victim Blaming’: L.A. Times Ridicules Family Murdered By Mexican Cartel, Gets Ripped Online

Los Angeles Times

Media Bias

New York Times

Religion

Mexican officials say they have made an arrest in response to the horrific massacre of nine American citizens — three women and six of their young children — in the Mexican state of Sonora.
&#8220;The suspect was holding two bound-and-gagged hostages in the hills of Agua Prieta in Sonora state, the ministerial Agency for Criminal Investigations (AMIC) said,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/06/americas/mormons-attacked-us-mexico-border-wednesday/index.html">CNN</a> reports. &#8220;The suspect had several rifles and a large amount of ammunition, including a number of large-caliber weapons, the agency said in a statement posted to its official Facebook page.&#8221;
Chihuahua Attorney General Cesar Peniche Espejel confirmed the arrest in a radio interview on Tuesday. &#8220;We are waiting for some more intelligence in order to issue an official statement,&#8221; he said, declining to confirm more details about the suspect&#8217;s potential role in the ambush of the family.
While Peniche Espejel pointed to the Los Jaguares cartel, which CNN describes as a newly formed offshoot of the Sinaloa cartel, as potentially being behind the attack, U.S. officials have indicated that rival cartel La Línea is under scrutiny.
While some officials have said that the attack may have been a result of mistaken identity, former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda told CNN that the LeBarón family&#8217;s history of conflict with the cartels suggests that they may have been targeted.
&#8220;They had stood up to the drug cartels, and they did have certain frictions either with the cartels or with neighboring communities over water rights,&#8221; said Castañeda.
&#8220;Their long-standing tensions, and apparently the woman who was driving in the first car that was attacked was an activist,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;She was someone who was very active in her community, defending her family, her fellow members of the community against cartels, on the issue of water rights.&#8221;
After having received protection from federal police since 2011, said Castañeda, the protection was reduced earlier this year.
As reported by <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/11/05/least-women-children/">The Salt Lake Tribune</a> Monday, a total of nine members of the LeBarón and Langford families — U.S. citizens who are a part of the Sonora-based La Mora community — were killed in the cartel ambush. Gunmen opened fire on vehicles carrying several family members and subsequently lit the vehicles on fire, with some of the victims still inside.
&#8220;Maria Rhonita Miller and four of her children died on a road in northern Mexico, according to [Lafe Langford Jr.] and social media posts,&#8221; the Tribune reported. &#8220;The bodies of Dawna Ray Langford, 43, and Christina Marie Langford, 31, were found later Monday, Lafe Langford Jr. said. The bodies of two of Dawna Ray Langford’s children, Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 3, also were recovered Monday.&#8221; Among the children murdered were Rhonita Miller’s twin 6-month-old babies and two children aged 10 and 12.
&#8220;On the morning of November 4th, 2019, three mothers in three vehicles, with fourteen children between them, set out from LaMora, a small family community in the mountains of northeastern Sonora,&#8221; Kendra Lee Miller, a relative of the victims, wrote in an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kendraleemiller92/posts/10162303510900316">account</a> of the attack posted on Facebook Tuesday. &#8220;Two of them to see family in Chihuahua, and one of them to pick up her husband from the airport in Phoenix, AZ. They never made it. They were ambushed by the Mexican cartels; shot, burned, and murdered in cold blood. These were innocent civilians, American citizens simply trying to live peaceful lives.&#8221;
&#8220;For 11 hours, their families all over Sonora, Chihuahua, and the Midwestern US waited in fear and horror for any news of possible survivors,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;The first vehicle was found full of bullet holes and completely ablaze. Nita and the four of her seven children she had taken on the trip were burned to mostly ashes and only a few charred bones left to identify that all five had been inside. It appeared that one tried to escape as the front passenger door was open and the remains were partially in and out of the vehicle.&#8221;
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<div class="zn-body__paragraph">Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/3-women-6-children-from-u-s-mormon-family-massacred-by-mexican-drug-cartel-trump-responds">Trump Declares ‘WAR’ On Mexican Drug Cartels After 3 Women, 6 Children From U.S. Family Massacred</a></div>
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Cartel Attack

Cartel Attack On U.S. Family: Suspect Arrested; Official Says Family May Have Been Targeted

What is national security if not the obligation of a sovereign nation to secure its citizenry against the threats posed along the border by a lawless neighboring state overrun by murderous transnational criminal organizations?
Following the horrific <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/3-women-6-children-from-u-s-mormon-family-massacred-by-mexican-drug-cartel-trump-responds">overnight news</a> of nine Americans — three women and six children — killed across the Mexican border when they found themselves caught in the midst of a cartel turf war shootout, this is the question that ought to be on the mind of every American policymaker. The bipartisan foreign policy clerisy may seem <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-why-do-political-elites-care-more-about-turkeys-border-than-they-do-about-our-own-border">disproportionately focused</a> right now on a centuries-old Islamic sectarian war raging along the Turkish-Syrian border, but it is long past time for our leading foreign policy and national security hands to turn their attention to a much nearer and more immediately harrowing threat: Mexico.
The unfortunate but sober reality right now is that Mexico is best described as a failed state. One longstanding defining characteristic of a modern nation-state, after all, is a monopoly on the use of force; truly sovereign states are not overrun with drug-peddling marauders, terrorist militias, or other roving bands of vigilantes with the collective willpower and requisite military-style hardware to take &#8220;enforcement&#8221; matters into their own hands. There is a reason that the Old West was called &#8220;<a href="https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-old-west">wild</a>.&#8221;
Under this rudimentary criterion of what is necessary for national sovereignty, modern Mexico fails the test. The Mexican government does not have anywhere remotely resembling a monopoly on the use of force within its own territory. On the contrary, transnational criminal organizations flourish throughout the country, physically hold territory like mini-ISIS &#8220;caliphates,&#8221; literally <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/gun-battle-involving-el-chapos-son-highlights-growing-challenges-to-mexican-government-control/2019/10/19/e39d57be-f1b3-11e9-bb7e-d2026ee0c199_story.html">out-gun the Mexican government</a> in live shootouts, control vast swaths of the the illegal alien human trafficking corridors currently <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/happens-illegal-aliens-mexican-cartels-shut-government/">wreaking so much havoc</a> on America&#8217;s territorial integrity, and collectively have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/conservative-favorite-rep-chip-roys-maiden-floor-josh-hammer">&#8220;operational control&#8221;</a> of large chunks of the U.S.-Mexico border.
And now, American citizens — women and children, that is — are paying the ultimate price due to Mexico&#8217;s inability to control its own emerging anarchy. American citizens are paying the ultimate price due to Mexico being an inveterate narco-state full of kleptocratic politicians who are invariably either too venal or too reckless to actually take the fight to the cartels.
To be sure, President Trump ought to double down in his efforts to build a physical border wall separating our nation from the failed state to our south. But Trump should go further. It is far past time for the U.S. State Department to formally designate the leading Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. As Daniel Horowitz has persuasively <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/time-designate-mexican-cartels-terrorist-organizations/">argued</a>, these cartels are no longer run-of-the-mill drug mules — they are full-on paramilitary terrorist organizations and some even have close organizational ties to international jihadist outfits like <a href="https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/obama-hezbollah-drug-trafficking-investigation/">Hezbollah</a>. Such a State Department formal designation would, as a threshold matter, more easily permit the various levers of the federal government apparatus to crack down on the cartels’ financing sources.
But Trump should go even further still. He should rally congressional Republicans to pass a formal authorization for the use of military force, similar to the post-9/11 AUMF of 2001, that effectively declares war on the leading Mexican cartels. In what world does it make sense to intervene in and referee Islamic civil wars overseas whilst allowing a failed state on our very border to allow murderous criminal rings to run amok and kill vulnerable U.S. citizens? In what world does it make sense to waste precious blood and treasure on trying to make a Madisonian democracy out of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-never-forget-911-we-need-rethink-how-we-josh-hammer">Kabul</a> while there is a corrupt and violent wasteland claiming American lives right in our own backyard?
Ranchers across our beleaguered border have long suffered from the effects of cartel violence; now, they are joined by the members of an innocent Utah family that tragically found itself stuck in the middle of a cartel turf war shootout. The situation in Mexico is rapidly escalating into a national emergency, and the Mexican government itself has repeatedly shown itself over the decades to be incapable of rooting out its own domestic rot. The time has come for the U.S. government to step in and defend its own sovereignty and security alike. Indeed, the U.S. government is actually morally obligated to do so.

Border Patrol truck

HAMMER: The U.S. Is Morally Obligated To Take On The Mexican Drug Cartels

Crime

Foreign Policy

In a harrowing and tragic account posted on Facebook Tuesday morning, a relative of an American family massacred by a Mexican drug cartel in Sonora, Mexico on Monday provided more details about the cartel&#8217;s senseless acts of violence and the families&#8217; selfless acts of heroism in the ambush.
The attack, which may have resulted from the cartel members mistaking the family&#8217;s vehicles for others, left nine people dead — three women and six of their children — but due to the actions of family members, several people caught up in the attack survived, including Faith Marie Johnson, the 7-month-old child of victim Christina Marie Langford Johnson, 29.
As reported by <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/11/05/least-women-children/">The Salt Lake Tribune</a> Monday, a total of nine members of the LeBarón and Langford families — U.S. citizens who are a part of the decades-old La Mora community based in Sonora, Mexico — were killed when a cartel ambushed their three-car caravan. &#8220;Maria Rhonita Miller and four of her children died on a road in northern Mexico, according to [Lafe Langford Jr.] and social media posts,” the outlet reported. “The bodies of Dawna Ray Langford, 43, and Christina Marie Langford, 31, were found later Monday, Lafe Langford Jr. said. The bodies of two of Dawna Ray Langford’s children, Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 3, also were recovered Monday.&#8221; Rhonita’s twin 6-month-old babies and two children aged 10 and 12 were killed in the attack. Lafe Langford Jr., who spoke with the media about the attack, says three other children suffered bullet wounds.
The Tribune noted in its report Sunday that earlier reports that baby Faith had died &#8220;turned out to be incorrect.&#8221; As highlighted by <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/11/05/7-month-old-baby-miraculously-survives-mexico-cartel-massacre/">The New York Post</a> Tuesday, a family member&#8217;s detailed account of the attack reveals how the infant survived.
&#8220;A 7-month-old baby survived a volley of gunfire unleashed by drug cartels in Mexico — thanks to one final, selfless act from her mother before the woman was killed,&#8221; the outlet reports. &#8220;Hours after Christina Marie Langford Johnson, 29, was gunned down, relatives discovered her infant daughter Faith — unscathed and still strapped to her car seat inside the bullet-filled car.&#8221;
Kendra Lee Miller, a relative of the victims, writes in an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kendraleemiller92/posts/10162303510900316">account</a> on Facebook about the discovery of Faith hours after the attack, her mother&#8217;s quick-thinking actions apparently having saved the child&#8217;s life. Family members &#8220;found Christina&#8217;s baby Faith with the vehicle around her riddled with bullet holes,&#8221; Miller writes. &#8220;Somehow she had remained untouched, and alive. She was in her car seat, which looked to have been hurriedly placed on the floor of the vehicle by her mother for protection.&#8221;
After apparently moving Faith&#8217;s car seat to a safer position, Christina, Miller explains, &#8220;jumped out waving her arms to let the attackers know that it was women and children in the vehicles. She gave her life to try and save the rest.&#8221;
&#8220;On the morning of November 4th, 2019, three mothers in three vehicles, with fourteen children between them, set out from LaMora, a small family community in the mountains of northeastern Sonora,&#8221; Miller&#8217;s account begins. &#8220;Two of them to see family in Chihuahua, and one of them to pick up her husband from the airport in Phoenix, AZ. They never made it. They were ambushed by the Mexican cartels; shot, burned, and murdered in cold blood. These were innocent civilians, American citizens simply trying to live peaceful lives.&#8221;
&#8220;For 11 hours, their families all over Sonora, Chihuahua, and the Midwestern US waited in fear and horror for any news of possible survivors,&#8221; the account continues. &#8220;The first vehicle was found full of bullet holes and completely ablaze. Nita and the four of her seven children she had taken on the trip were burned to mostly ashes and only a few charred bones left to identify that all five had been inside. It appeared that one tried to escape as the front passenger door was open and the remains were partially in and out of the vehicle.&#8221;
Along with Christina&#8217;s quick-thinking and selfless acts, Devin, the son of another one of the women murdered in the ambush by the cartel, &#8220;hid his 6 other siblings in the bushes and covered them with branches to keep them safe while he went for help.&#8221; Devin managed to escape and gave &#8220;the first news anyone had heard of his and Christina&#8217;s families.&#8221;
&#8220;Devin&#8217;s uncles armed themselves with guns and returned to try and find the hidden children, knowing many of them were injured,&#8221; Miller explains. &#8220;They didn&#8217;t get far before realizing they would be risking death, since there had been continual shooting for hours, all over the mountains near LaMora. The group of men waited a while for reinforcements, and around 7:30, found the hidden children. They found Christina&#8217;s baby Faith with the vehicle around her riddled with bullet holes. Somehow she had remained untouched, and alive. She was in her car seat, which looked to have been hurriedly placed on the floor of the vehicle by her mother for protection.&#8221;
&#8220;The search didn&#8217;t end there. Mckenzie, the 9 year old who&#8217;d gone for help, was missing,&#8221; Miller continues. &#8220;Soldiers who&#8217;d by then arrived, and the men of LaMora and nearby towns searched for two hours in the dark until they found her around 9:30. The five of Dawna&#8217;s children who were injured were picked up by a waiting ambulance and treated at the local hospital until a helicopter sent by Mexican military came to pick them up. Their father David who had by then arrived from Tucson, Arizona, accompanied them to be life flighted to another helicopter waiting at the US border, from there to be transported to Phoenix. Devin, his brother Jake, and Christina&#8217;s baby Faith, all uninjured, are now in the care of their aunts and grandmas in LaMora.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/3-women-6-children-from-u-s-mormon-family-massacred-by-mexican-drug-cartel-trump-responds">Trump Declares ‘WAR’ On Mexican Drug Cartels After 3 Women, 6 Children From U.S. Family Massacred</a>
Below is the full text of Kendra Lee Miller&#8217;s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kendraleemiller92/posts/10162303510900316">Facebook post</a>:
<blockquote>On the morning of November 4th, 2019, three mothers in three vehicles, with fourteen children between them, set out from LaMora, a small family community in the mountains of northeastern Sonora. Two of them to see family in Chihuahua, and one of them to pick up her husband from the airport in Phoenix, AZ. They never made it. They were ambushed by the Mexican cartels; shot, burned, and murdered in cold blood. These were innocent civilians, American citizens simply trying to live peaceful lives.
For 11 hours, their families all over Sonora, Chihuahua, and the Midwestern US waited in fear and horror for any news of possible survivors. The first vehicle was found full of bullet holes and completely ablaze. Nita and the four of her seven children she had taken on the trip were burned to mostly ashes and only a few charred bones left to identify that all five had been inside. It appeared that one tried to escape as the front passenger door was open and the remains were partially in and out of the vehicle.
On another part of the road, about 10 miles ahead, were Christina, with her baby Faith in her vehicle, and Dawna with nine children in hers. They both were fired upon from ahead and Christina jumped out waving her arms to let the attackers know that it was women and children in the vehicles. She gave her life to try and save the rest. Dawna and two of her boys were also killed in the gunfire.
After witnessing his mother and brothers being shot dead, Dawna&#8217;s son Devin hid his 6 other siblings in the bushes and covered them with branches to keep them safe while he went for help. When he took too long to return, his 9 year old sister left the remaining five to try again. Devin arrived in LaMora at 5:30 pm, 6 hours after the ambush, giving the first news anyone had heard of his and Christina&#8217;s families.
Devin&#8217;s uncles armed themselves with guns and returned to try and find the hidden children, knowing many of them were injured. They didn&#8217;t get far before realizing they would be risking death, since there had been continual shooting for hours, all over the mountains near LaMora. The group of men waited a while for reinforcements, and around 7:30, found the hidden children. They found Christina&#8217;s baby Faith with the vehicle around her riddled with bullet holes. Somehow she had remained untouched, and alive. She was in her car seat, which looked to have been hurriedly placed on the floor of the vehicle by her mother for protection.
The search didn&#8217;t end there. Mckenzie, the 9 year old who&#8217;d gone for help, was missing. Soldiers who&#8217;d by then arrived, and the men of LaMora and nearby towns searched for two hours in the dark until they found her around 9:30.
The five of Dawna&#8217;s children who were injured were picked up by a waiting ambulance and treated at the local hospital until a helicopter sent by Mexican military came to pick them up. Their father David who had by then arrived from Tucson, Arizona, accompanied them to be life flighted to another helicopter waiting at the US border, from there to be transported to Phoenix.
Devin, his brother Jake, and Christina&#8217;s baby Faith, all uninjured, are now in the care of their aunts and grandmas in LaMora.
We lost 9 today. Right now we are waiting, for the morning, for answers, for justice.
Dead:
Rhonita Maria Miller September 15, 1989, 30 yrs 
Howard Jacob Miller, Jr. July 12, 2007, 12 yrs 
Krystal Bellaine Miller, September 25, 2009 10 yrs 
Titus Alvin Miller, March 13, 2019 &#8211; 8 months 
Tiana Gricel Miller, March 13, 2019 &#8211; 8 months 
(twins) 
All shot and burned in their vehicle. Only ashes and a few bones remain.
Father/husband is Howard Sr, who was in North Dakota at the time of attack. The three siblings left behind in LaMora being babysat at the Miller grandparents: Tristan, Amaryllis, and Zack.
Dead:
Christina Marie Langford Johnson &#8211; November 23, 1987, shot dead, 19 days away from 32 years
Survived:
Faith Marie Johnson April 9, 2019, 7 months old &#8211; was found in her car seat that seemed to be put on the floor, by her mother to try and protect her, uninjured,
Dead:
Dawna Ray Langford, June 19, 1976, 43 years 
Trevor Harvey Langford April 4, 2008 11 years old, 
Rogan Jay Langford, February 17, 2017 2.5 years old 
All shot to death
Survived 
Kylie Evelyn Langford, March 8 2005, 14 years &#8211; shot in the foot
Devin Blake Langford, July 6 2006, 13 years &#8211; uninjured, walked approximately 14 miles to LaMora to get help, after hiding his bleeding but living siblings in the bushes, and covering them with branches
Mckenzie Rayne Langford, January 12 2010, &#8211; 9 years &#8211; grazed on her arm- sent by her sister Kylie for help when Devin didn&#8217;t return soon enough, got lost, and walked approximately 10 miles, for about 4 hours in the dark before she was found by the search parties
Cody Greyson Langford, October 1 2011, 8 years- shot in the jaw, and the leg, his condition was worrying, but at last word, not critical
Jake Ryder Langford, May 22 2013, 6 &#8211; uninjured
Xander Boe Langford, June 4 2015, 4 &#8211; shot in the back
Brixon Oliver Langford, February 15th 2019, almost 9 months &#8211; shot in the chest, open flesh wound, bullet graze on wrist</blockquote>

Mexican Federal Police, Sonora

Mom’s Selfless Act Saves Young Child’s Life In Mexican Cartel Attack On U.S. Family

Chaos and violence have broken out in Mexico, even more than usual. The <a href="https://twitter.com/JimmySecUK/status/1185013332769759232">footage</a> looks like something out of a war zone. This latest bit of anarchy began when Mexican law enforcement officers managed to arrest Ovidio Guzmán, one of the top drug lords in the country and son of the notorious kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Unfortunately, Guzmán’s cartel was not willing to let the son end up in a U.S. maximum security prison like the father. Dozens of gunmen, armed with everything from machine guns to grenade launchers to sniper rifles, invaded the city where Guzmán was captured and started murdering police officers. The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-el-chapos-son-arrested-in-mexico-cartel-violence-erupts">reports</a> that the cartel militants also went searching for the family members of Mexican military personnel.
Finally, the Mexican government capitulated, raised the metaphorical white flag, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/17/el-chapo-violence-breaks-out-in-mexican-city-amid-rumours-of-sons-arrest">released the younger Guzmán</a>. The president of Mexico assured the public that his administration is &#8220;doing really well&#8221; in its crime fighting strategy, explaining that they &#8220;don&#8217;t want war.&#8221; But war is exactly what he has on his hands, whether he wants it or not, and releasing a notorious drug lord back into the clutches of his cartel is, one might argue, the exact opposite of doing really well. It is, in fact, a disgrace, a travesty, an embarrassment, and a signal that Mexico is a failed state. The drug cartels run the show, and after having so much success with the &#8220;take over the city and start shooting people&#8221; strategy, they will surely resort to it again.
I don&#8217;t know what Mexico&#8217;s next step should be (though refraining from releasing any more drug lords might be a good start), but I do know what the United States’ next step should be: build the wall, finally. Really build it. Most of the wall building that has happened so far under Trump&#8217;s watch &#8212; despite how Trump himself sometimes presents it — has consisted of <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/trump-administration-border-wall-three-new-contracts-rio-grande-valley-sector-1462252">replacing</a> existing fences with slightly better fences. There has not been much in the way of actually new wall — or fence, or barrier, or whatever we&#8217;re calling it now &#8212; and certainly we haven&#8217;t seen the grand, 2,000 mile-long wall across the entire southern border like we were promised.
Of course, every thinking person always knew that the Great Wall of America wasn’t going to happen, but there are still plenty of places along the border where a wall can be, should be, and so far hasn&#8217;t been built. It would seem that now, with the Mexican government all but officially surrendering to the cartels, is as good a time as any to get started.
There has never been any rational objection to building the wall. There are some practical reasons why a wall across all 2,000 miles probably isn&#8217;t feasible (or necessary, given the natural barriers that exist along some portions of the border), but there is no valid argument in principle against erecting physical barriers wherever they are possible and needed. Those arguments always come down to vague emotional appeals and clichéd sloganeering about &#8220;building bridges, not walls.&#8221; But this is not the time for clichés. Mexico is collapsing, and we have to shield ourselves from the debris.

Border wall prototypes.

WALSH: Mexico Is A Failed State Run By Drug Cartels. It’s Time To Finally Build The Wall.

Southern Border

Serious gun fire erupted on the streets of Culiacan, Sinaloa, after Mexican law enforcement officials reportedly captured Ovidio Guzman, the son of convicted Sinaloa cartel drug lord Joaquín &#8220;El Chapo&#8221; Guzmán.
Journalist Robert Arce was the first to report the unredacted mugshot of Ovidio Guzman who &#8220;sought to take control of the Sinaloa cartel along with his older brother, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, after their father was captured and extradited to the United States in 2017,&#8221; according to the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-10-17/chaos-in-mexico-as-el-chapos-son-a-leader-of-the-sinaloa-cartel-is-reportedly-captured">Los Angeles Times</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
SCOOP: Here is the unredacted mugshot of Ovidio Guzman, the son of convicted Sinaloa Cartel drug lord El Chapo, who was just arrested in Culiacán, Sinaloa <a href="https://t.co/ILD5XICR48">pic.twitter.com/ILD5XICR48</a>
— Robert Arce (@robertrarce) <a href="https://twitter.com/robertrarce/status/1184987109947363328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
In his report at Breitbart, Arce <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/10/17/el-chapos-son-captured-sinaloa-cartel-assaults-police-hq-for-rescue-attempt/">wrote</a> that sources confirmed that the arrest is what &#8220;sparked an intense deployment of Sinaloa Cartel gunmen to the scene of the incident and later the offices of the Federal Prosecutor’s office in [an] attempted rescue effort.&#8221;
A source told The Daily Wire that family members of military personnel were being warned that truckloads of cartel gunmen were searching for the relatives of Mexican army personnel in retaliation for the capture of El Chapo&#8217;s son.
On social media, numerous posts showed intense gun fire erupting around the city as innocent bystanders rushed to find cover.
Cartels appear to have set fire to numerous vehicles in a road block that they set up in an effort to prevent backup from Mexican authorities from arriving on scene.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Continúan las agresiones en <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Culiac%C3%A1n?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Culiacán</a>. <a href="https://t.co/3sHdy8d750">pic.twitter.com/3sHdy8d750</a>
— Juan Pablo Pérez Díaz (@PerezDiazMX) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerezDiazMX/status/1185005020355293184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nuevo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Nuevo</a>: Fuentes de la SEIDO señalan que el detenido es Ovidio Guzmán López.
Se espera su arribo a la Ciudad de México.
En un intento por detener su traslado, quemaron autos para usarlos como barricadas. <a href="https://t.co/zonxKKU3ZH">pic.twitter.com/zonxKKU3ZH</a>
— Carlos Zúñiga Pérez (@Carloszup) <a href="https://twitter.com/Carloszup/status/1184975977975300099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
Other footage showed what appeared to be automatic fire:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Así las cosas al norte de <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Culiac%C3%A1n?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Culiacán</a>. Momentos exactos de la balacera captados por el compañero reportero Policiaco, Ernesto Martínez. <a href="https://t.co/o53uBLqCWr">pic.twitter.com/o53uBLqCWr</a>
— Juan Pablo Pérez Díaz (@PerezDiazMX) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerezDiazMX/status/1184946085468332032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
Other photos showed vehicles that were apparently destroyed by the cartels:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Culiac%C3%A1n?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Culiacán</a> zona de guerra. Enrique Cabrera y Enrique Félix Castro. <a href="https://t.co/OUzFLtk08X">pic.twitter.com/OUzFLtk08X</a>
— Juan Pablo Pérez Díaz (@PerezDiazMX) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerezDiazMX/status/1184967639640076288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
Bystanders trying to flee the area after intense gun fire breaks out:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
Reportan enfrentamientos entre militares y hombres armados en <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Culiac%C3%A1n?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Culiacán</a>.
No se sabe el origen del enfrentamiento. <a href="https://t.co/s4iFLTl4Nm">pic.twitter.com/s4iFLTl4Nm</a>
— Carlos Zúñiga Pérez (@Carloszup) <a href="https://twitter.com/Carloszup/status/1184954604657827841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
A man opens fire using what appears to be a .50 caliber sniper rifle:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/M%C3%A1s?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Más</a>: El enfrentamiento inició en el Sector Tres Ríos, pero se ha extendido a otros puntos de <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Culiac%C3%A1n?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Culiacán</a>.
Vean el tipo de armas que se están usando. <a href="https://t.co/sLXtMeUTHk">pic.twitter.com/sLXtMeUTHk</a>
— Carlos Zúñiga Pérez (@Carloszup) <a href="https://twitter.com/Carloszup/status/1184955221161730054?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
Other video showed cartel gunmen armed with .50 caliber machine guns mounted on top of trucks driving around the area:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/M%C3%A1s?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Más</a>: Otro video de los hombres armados que participan en las balaceras en <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Culiac%C3%A1n?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Culiacán</a>. <a href="https://t.co/UNDnnYR0yX">pic.twitter.com/UNDnnYR0yX</a>
— Carlos Zúñiga Pérez (@Carloszup) <a href="https://twitter.com/Carloszup/status/1184958364993933313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
More intense gun fire:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nuevo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Nuevo</a>: Versiones a través de whatsapp y radio, señalan que autoridades federales detuvieron a Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, hijo de “Él Chapo” Guzmán.
Los enfrentamientos siguen. <a href="https://t.co/vsEiNhFFz5">pic.twitter.com/vsEiNhFFz5</a>
— Carlos Zúñiga Pérez (@Carloszup) <a href="https://twitter.com/Carloszup/status/1184960633202192387?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
The Mexican military arrives on scene:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/M%C3%A1s?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Más</a>: Sigue el despliegue de militares por <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Culiac%C3%A1n?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Culiacán</a>. <a href="https://t.co/Eoyna6wZXZ">pic.twitter.com/Eoyna6wZXZ</a>
— Carlos Zúñiga Pérez (@Carloszup) <a href="https://twitter.com/Carloszup/status/1184963628564434945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
Innocent bystanders hide in a supermarket as gunfire erupts:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/M%C3%A1s?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Más</a>: En medio del miedo y el caos, habitantes de <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Culiac%C3%A1n?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Culiacán</a> intentan resgardarse de las balaceras en un centro comercial. <a href="https://t.co/l6rrNgf9nU">pic.twitter.com/l6rrNgf9nU</a>
— Carlos Zúñiga Pérez (@Carloszup) <a href="https://twitter.com/Carloszup/status/1184967879478972416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
The fighting continued into the night:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Al norte de <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Culiac%C3%A1n?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Culiacán</a> sector Humaya siguen las balaceras. <a href="https://t.co/zJw1K8CJFo">pic.twitter.com/zJw1K8CJFo</a>
— Juan Pablo Pérez Díaz (@PerezDiazMX) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerezDiazMX/status/1185006815651565568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
The Los Angeles Times added that the Sinaloa Cartel – which has long been the most prolific drug trafficking organization in the world – has faced increasing challenges to its dominance from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
The CJNG is suspected to be behind a massacre on Monday in the western Mexican state of Michoacan.
&#8220;The federal public security ministry said 14 police were killed, though its Michoacan state counterpart reported that 13 officers were confirmed dead and three injured,&#8221; <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-violence/more-than-a-dozen-police-killed-in-ambush-in-violent-mexican-state-idUSKBN1WT23A">Reuters</a> reported.
Reuters added that photographs of the crime scene &#8220;showed large placards signed by &#8216;CJNG&#8217; left on police vehicles.&#8221;
CJNG reportedly warned law enforcement in the area to not support rival criminal organizations.

Mexico Drug Cartel Violence

WATCH: El Chapo&#8217;s Son Arrested In Mexico, Cartel Violence Erupts

On Thursday, Mattel launched a Dia de Muertos Barbie, a version of the iconic doll that celebrates the Mexican &#8220;Day of the Dead&#8221; holiday, and it was immediately the target of cultural appropriation accusations &#8230; kind of.
According to the official Barbie <a href="https://barbie.mattel.com/shop/en-us/ba/barbie-dia-de-muertos-doll-fxd52">website</a>:
<blockquote>Barbie™ celebrates Dia De Muertos with a collectible doll inspired by the time-honored holiday. Dia De Muertos is a two-day holiday in early November when families gather to celebrate the lives of their departed loved ones. This colorful and lively event is filled with music, food, sweets, offerings, and flowers. Barbie™ Dia De Muertos doll honors the traditions and symbols often seen throughout this time. Barbie™ doll’s long, ruffled, embroidered dress is embellished with heart and butterfly details. Her face is painted in a traditional skull mask, and she wears a crown with monarch butterflies and bright marigolds.</blockquote>
The $75 doll sold out quickly, with the website stating: &#8220;Due to high demand, we are currently sold out of this doll and are working hard to get more in stock!&#8221;
A cursory search on Twitter doesn&#8217;t bring up many accusations of cultural appropriation, however, an article by Sandra E. Garcia of The New York Times, titled: &#8220;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/us/dia-de-muertos-barbie-mattel.html">Día de Muertos Barbie: Respectful Tribute, or &#8216;Obviously Cultural Appropriation&#8217;?</a>&#8221; brings the issue to the fore.
Garcia speaks with several individuals, including Juan Carlos Aguirre, the executive director of an organization &#8220;that works to preserve and present Mexican culture in New York,&#8221; who share concerns about Dia de Muertos being exploited or there being a &#8220;loss in translation.&#8221;
That said, Garcia also speaks with the man who designed the Dia de Muertos Barbie, 34-year-old Javier Meabe, who said that he &#8220;pulled a lot of &#8230; inspiration&#8221; from his childhood visits to Mexico, and modeled the dress after those of his mother&#8217;s.
The piece even gives voice to those who do like the doll. Lil&#8217; Libros Founder Patty Rodriguez said she thinks the Dia de Muertos Barbie is &#8220;beautiful.&#8221;
Garcia concludes by quoting Pablo A. Piccato, a professor specializing in Mexican history at Columbia University, who offers a rather nonchalant take on the doll: &#8220;It&#8217;s always been linked to an essential Mexican identity, too, although the definition of that identity has also changed over the years. &#8230; I don’t think that a new toy with a Día de Muertos theme will change things much.&#8221;
A Yahoo article also notes the supposed cries of cultural appropriation in a piece titled: &#8220;<a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/mattel-barbie-day-of-the-dead-cultural-appropriation-141700623.html">Mattel&#8217;s sold-out &#8216;Day of the Dead&#8217; Barbie called &#8216;cultural appropriation at its worst&#8217;</a>&#8221;
Yet another piece alleging outrage, this one from New York Daily News, is titled: &#8220;<a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-barbie-day-of-dead-doll-sparks-cultural-appropriation-backlash-20190910-6nxnuod6gvao5okej763odyj5q-story.html">Barbie’s new Day of the Dead doll sparks cultural appropriation backlash</a>&#8221;
Although the titles of the articles from The New York Times, Yahoo, and New York Daily News make it seem as though the concern regarding cultural appropriation is pervasive, it takes a lot of digging on social media to find people troubled with the latest Barbie:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">2) while Mexicans come in all colors, a more brown skin doll would have been appropriate, especially because this tradition goes back to preColumbian times. Colorism is a huge problem in Mexico, so if you really wanted to make a statement a more indigenous looking doll would work
— Job (@g_i_job) <a href="https://twitter.com/g_i_job/status/1172166184373903360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote>As a Mexican, I’m definitely conflicted about the doll. Two thoughts that come up for me: 1) I need to know how much Barbie and Mattel have done to be more pro-mexican in this current socio-political climate. 2) while Mexicans come in all colors, a more brown skin doll would have been appropriate, especially because this tradition goes back to preColumbian times. Colorism is a huge problem in Mexico, so if you really wanted to make a statement a more indigenous looking doll would work.</blockquote>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">No!Day of the dead is a religious celebration for the indigenous ppl of Mexico. It is being used by Mattel or whatever corp. owns Barbie to make $ . No one believes Ken &amp; Barbie celebrate Day of the dead. Cultural appropriation at its worst! <a href="https://t.co/HWprhUxGqb">https://t.co/HWprhUxGqb</a>
— DianaOG (@Sfdog60) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sfdog60/status/1168759539853754368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote>No!Day of the dead is a religious celebration for the indigenous ppl of Mexico. It is being used by Mattel or whatever corp. owns Barbie to make $ . No one believes Ken &amp; Barbie celebrate Day of the dead. Cultural appropriation at its worst!</blockquote>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Cultural Appropriation Barbie is coming out soon. Don&#8217;t worry! No proceeds will go to indigenous people that sell this kind of thing much cheaper. For only $75 you can help a multi million dollar corporation get richer! <a href="https://t.co/2tTvVOM9jb">https://t.co/2tTvVOM9jb</a>
— Thomas Tijerina (@thotij) <a href="https://twitter.com/thotij/status/1171613487027695619?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote>Cultural Appropriation Barbie is coming out soon. Don&#8217;t worry! No proceeds will go to indigenous people that sell this kind of thing much cheaper. For only $75 you can help a multi million dollar corporation get richer!</blockquote>
It appears that most others on social media either don&#8217;t care, or are delighted by the Dia de Muertos Barbie (the following tweets are just a fraction of the positive reaction/backlash to accusations of &#8220;cultural appropriation&#8221; on Twitter):
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">We beg and plead to have actual Mexican representation in main media and when we get it people complain about cultural appropriation?! Why?!<a href="https://t.co/n5Kb6tGiCu">https://t.co/n5Kb6tGiCu</a>
— Alexis Cabello (@_alexiscabello) <a href="https://twitter.com/_alexiscabello/status/1172526127941767169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote>We beg and plead to have actual Mexican representation in main media and when we get it people complain about cultural appropriation?! Why?!</blockquote>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">For real c&#8217;mon I&#8217;m Latino and I&#8217;d be super happy to see little kids of any color play with this doll, it only helps spread cool things from our culture. Give it a break with this, my guess is a bunch of white Americans are getting insulted for the rest of us.
— Redacted Rhino (@RedactedRhino) <a href="https://twitter.com/RedactedRhino/status/1172041834270314497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote>For real c&#8217;mon. I&#8217;m Latino and I&#8217;d be super happy to see little kids of any color play with this doll, it only helps spread cool things from our culture. Give it a break with this, my guess is a bunch of white Americans are getting insulted for the rest of us.</blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">As a Mexican, I can assure you we don&#8217;t really mind and many may actually like it
— Iván (@ivanbakufun) <a href="https://twitter.com/ivanbakufun/status/1172044525927391232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote>As a Mexican, I can assure you we don&#8217;t really mind and many may actually like it.</blockquote>
There are always going to be people who feel aggrieved by what they perceive to be cultural appropriation – as has been seen numerous times elsewhere – but when it comes to the Dia de Muertos Barbie, the outrage seems manufactured, or at the very least, hyper-inflated.

Dia_de_Muertos.jpeg

‘Cultural Appropriation’ Outrage Over ‘Dia De Muertos’ Barbie? Not So Fast

Media

Earlier in September, residents living just outside Guadalajara began to complain of a horrid smell. Forensic scientists were brought in to determine the source and made a horrifying discovery.
Buried in a well were 119 black bags containing human remains. So far, scientists have pieced together body parts of 44 different bodies, all cut up. As the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-latin-america-49704720">reported</a>, there are still many body parts that have not been identified.
“A local organisation which searches for missing people has appealed to the government to send more specialists to assist with identification,” the outlet reported. “They say the local forensic department is overwhelmed and does not have the necessary skills to complete the operation.”
The outlet also reported that the Mexican state of Jalisco “is the heartland of one of Mexico&#8217;s most violent drug gangs and this is the second major find of bodies in the state this year.”
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/mexico-well-bodies-black-bags-human-remains">reported</a> that in May, at least 34 bodies were discovered at two different locations in the state. From Fox:
<blockquote>Prosecutors revealed Saturday that most of the remains were found buried at a ranch in Zapopan, a city in central Mexico next to Guadalajara.
Among the dead, 27 had been tied up and two had been identified, the attorney general of Jalisco, Gerardo Octavio Solis, reportedly said at a news conference. Solis added that the number could still rise as the investigation continued.
Solis said the skulls of seven other people and other human remains were discovered on the property of a house located in Guadalajara, Mexico&#8217;s second most densely populated city. Solis added that another body was recovered from the Tlajomulco municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico.</blockquote>
The outlet reported that investigators were unsure how long the bodies had been buried.
Tens of thousands of people have disappeared as Mexico has attempted to crack down on drug cartels in the past 13 years. As Fox reported, families “with missing relatives reportedly rushed to officials in Jalisco asking for details on the bodies found.”
Last December, the BBC published <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46384405">an article</a> about a group of more than two dozen women who have come together to search for the some 40,000 missing people. From the BBC:
<blockquote>Most of the missing are thought to be dead. The women who form part of The Searchers are well aware of the statistics and in many cases what they are searching for is certainty.
Miriam Reyes, wearing a hat to shield her from the relentless sun of Sinaloa, is searching for her ex-husband who has been missing since 2015.
&#8220;My son needs a father, or at least his body to bury him,&#8221; she says.</blockquote>
The women, known as The Searchers, use shovels and pickaxes to dig in areas thought to be mass graves, using tips from locals who discover human remains on their property. Despite the extreme heat, the women search for their missing loved ones and the loved ones of people they don’t even know.
“People who are thought to have money are kidnapped for ransom. Young men are sometimes forcibly recruited to join criminal gangs. Or they are killed for belonging to a rival gang. Young women are abducted to be trafficked,” the BBC reported. “In most cases, the family will never find out what happened to those who disappeared.”

Graveyard

Mexican Officials Find 119 Bags Of Body Parts In Well

The Trump administration may finally be able to celebrate a win on immigration: border crossings fell by nearly half in August after the White House inked a deal with Mexican officials that improved that country&#8217;s interdiction of so-called &#8220;migrant caravans&#8221; before they reach the United States&#8217; southern border.
<a href="https://hotair.com/archives/jazz-shaw/2019/09/09/illegal-border-crossings-drop-hugely-august/">Politico reports</a> that only 51,000 arrests were made at the southern border in August, &#8220;down more than 60 percent since a peak in May,&#8221; when border arrests jumped over 100,000. Of course, 50,000-plus arrests is by no means a small number, and it&#8217;s still clear that there&#8217;s much work to be done to curb a sharp jump in illegal immigration that&#8217;s taken place over the last year, but the decline is significant.
Politico notes that experts attribute the drop in arrests to efforts on the part of the White House to come to a deal with Mexican officials — specifically Mexico&#8217;s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office back in December of 2018 and pledged to improve his country&#8217;s relations with the Trump administration.
Earlier in 2019, the White House announced that it would seek tariffs on Mexican goods — and, perhaps, shut down commerce with Mexico altogether — if Mexican officials didn&#8217;t begin taking the threat of illegal immigration seriously.
Since mid-2018, caravans of thousands of migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, and other central American countries have been snaking their way through Mexico towards the United States, often without any significant resistance from Mexican authorities. Although Mexico offered migrants the opportunity to remain in Mexico on work visas and provided free transportation back to Guatemala for the occasional migrant who ran afoul of Mexican law enforcement, thousands upon thousands of migrants were still making their way to the U.S.-Mexico border per month, clogging border patrol facilities and forcing immigration enforcement to a near standstill.
Mexican authorities responded to the White House&#8217;s threats, however, and began intercepting caravans in southern Mexico and improving immigration control at their own southern border, adding thousands of border patrol officers and empowering individual immigration offices in Mexico&#8217;s southern provinces to turn migrants back.
&#8220;Amid pressure from Trump, officials from the U.S. and Mexico reached an agreement in June that required Mexico to deploy 6,000 members of its newly formed National Guard to intercept migrants, including many from Central America,&#8221; Politico reports.
There&#8217;s also another key change in how the U.S. treats migrants that&#8217;s making a difference: &#8220;The U.S. also moved unilaterally to expand its &#8216;remain in Mexico&#8217; program, which forces certain non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in that country pending the resolution of their cases.&#8221;
Now, migrants seeking asylum are no longer being immediately welcomed into border patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities along the southern border on the American side, making it less likely that unserious asylum seekers — those who do not meet the standard for claiming or being granted asylum — will be released into the United States pending an adjudication hearing.
President Donald Trump acknowledged the drop in a press conference, telling reporters that “The numbers are really good. I want to thank again the country of Mexico. They have 25,000 soldiers now right protecting our border. And they&#8217;ve done a fantastic job, so we appreciate that very much.&#8221;
The administration plans to assess the impact of the new measures with delegates from Mexico this week, but the plan seems to be chipping away at what was once a major problem — and it&#8217;s clear that the president&#8217;s opponents have noticed. Although immigration issues were front and center among Democrats before the summer recess — even spurring emergency congressional appearances at the border and a heavily attended protest against the administration&#8217;s immigration policies outside a Democratic debate back in June — even progressive Dems like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have remained mostly mum on the issue.

Trump Win: Border Crossings Fall In August After Admin Strikes Mexico Deal

Donald Trump

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Actress Eva Amurri Martino, the daughter of Susan Sarandon and Italian director Franco Amurri, faced severe backlash on social media for the crime of throwing her five-year-old daughter a Mexican-themed birthday while not being of Mexican descent herself.
The outrage began when Martino posted several photos of the party on Instagram, which featured her daugher, Marlowe, wearing sugar skull face paint. Critics accused her of cultural appropriation while perpetuating Mexican stereotypes. In a lengthy response, the actress said she never wished to offend anyone and only hosted the party due to her daughter&#8217;s love of the Disney animated film &#8220;Coco.&#8221;
&#8220;With everything going on in this political climate, I thought now would be a great time to celebrate Mexico and the role it has had in our country culturally,&#8221; Martino said in her post. &#8220;Anybody who knows Marlowe knows she is obsessed with Mexico — she has had incredible Latin women taking care of her from three weeks old, and one in particular from Mexico who would always call her &#8216;cinco de Marlowe&#8217; on May 5th.&#8221;
Martino added that her daughter Marlowe actually learned Spanish before English, which made her &#8220;really proud that she was getting so much from another culture.&#8221;
&#8220;When the movie Coco came out, Marlowe loved it and felt really connected to it because she had heard about a lot of the themes of the movie from people she cares about,&#8221; continued the actress. &#8220;She wanted all these things brought together for her fifth birthday since she was finally, actually turning &#8216;cinco!&#8217; Of course this party was a rudimentary representation of Mexican culture since it was for young kids.&#8221;
The actress also defended herself against charges of insensitivity by noting that she and her husband have been working to help alleviate the crisis at the southern border.
&#8220;This aside, we don&#8217;t only think it&#8217;s important to highlight the beauty of Mexican culture, or the horrors of the attack on Mexicans of late, with a bday party,&#8221; she concluded. &#8220;From when this all first started, we have been donating to those effected — and I also wrote a blog post which I&#8217;m putting in my bio. We also have been calling our senators &#8230; Regardless of that, I know so many emotions are running high right now surrounding this topic, so sorry to anyone we offended!&#8221;
People on social media largely responded to Martino&#8217;s post with grace and enthusiasm, thanking her for highlighting the beauty of Mexican culture.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t understand why some were offended. It&#8217;s a party, a little girl party not an exhibition of Mexican culture, not a museum &#8230; it&#8217;s beautiful to know that not Mexicans like the Mexican culture,&#8221; said one user.
&#8220;Such a beautiful party and such a sweet touching post. As another Mexican follower this is so heartwarming. I wish more people wished to understand each other&#8217;s culture,&#8221; said another.
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B1VtWcwh4TC/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A little note on our Mexican themed party for Marlowe: with everything going on in this political climate, I thought now would be a great time to celebrate Mexico and the role it has had in our country culturally. Anybody who knows Marlowe knows she is obsessed with Mexico- she has had incredible Latin women taking care of her from three weeks old, and one in particular from Mexico who would always call her “cinco de Marlowe” on May 5th. Spanish was actually Marlowe’s first language before English, which made me really proud that she was getting so much from another culture. We moved from Los Angeles, but when the movie Coco came out, Marlowe loved it and felt really connected to it because she had heard about a lot of the themes of the movie from people she cares about. She wanted all these things brought together for her fifth birthday since she was finally, actually turning “cinco”! Of course this party was a rudimentary representation of Mexican culture since it was for young kids. This aside, we don’t only think it’s important to highlight the beauty of Mexican culture, or the horrors of the attack on Mexicans of late, with a bday party. From when this all first started, we have been donating to those effected- and I also wrote a blog post which I’m putting in my bio. (unfortunately this has been going on a long time so the post is from a while ago. Please comment on it with additional charities you love). We also have been calling our senators. Somebody reached out to me directly (in a kind way) to let me know that Marlowe’s theme offended them. They didn’t know the reasoning behind why we picked it, but I wanted to take a minute to say that this theme was picked because of a love for Mexico and its people and a desire to celebrate in the midst of a lot of hate.. Regardless of that, I know so many emotions are running high right now surrounding this topic, so sorry to anyone we offended! (also I wanted to note that I shared all the birthday wishes with Marlowe yesterday and she says thank you)</a>
A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thehappilyeva/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> HAPPILY EVA AFTER</a> (@thehappilyeva) on Aug 19, 2019 at 1:40am PDT
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The incident echoes the outrage that actor Kevin Hart endured from social justice warriors after hosting a &#8220;Cowboys and Indians&#8221;-themed birthday party for his son. Hart said the outrage showed &#8220;just how stupid our world is becoming.&#8221;
&#8220;The reason why I&#8217;m even bringing this dumb s**t up is because it shows just how stupid our world is becoming with opinions,&#8221; Hart <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2018/11/28/kevin-hart-defends-son-birthday-party-cowboys-indians-racist-backlash/">said on SiriusXM</a>. &#8220;People are at a point of an all-time high, to throw racial judgment into the development of a one-year-old&#8217;s birthday party where the theme is Cowboys and Indians, and it&#8217;s based around the outfits that are given to these young kids.&#8221;

Eva Amurri

Actress Blasted For Daughter’s Mexican-Themed Party. She Fires Back.

Cultural Appropriation

Political Correctness

Despite a <a href="https://variety.com/2019/film/box-office/box-office-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-quentin-tarantino-biggest-opening-weekend-lion-king-1203282402/">solid opening weekend</a> for &#8220;Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,&#8221; actor Leonardo DiCaprio has had some rough skirmishes on the internet. After a cadre of Twitter trolls <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49919/woke-police-comes-leo-dicaprio-paul-bois">criticized him</a> for having not worked with a female director since 1995, the actor is now getting attention for confusing Salvadorian pupusas with Mexican food.
&#8220;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/leonardo-dicaprio-model-camila-morrone-bogey-bacall-hidden-meaning">Leonardo DiCaprio</a> caused a stir on social media Saturday when he disclosed in an interview with the cast of &#8216;Once Upon a Time in Hollywood&#8217; that he prefers <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink">pupusas over tacos</a>,&#8221; reports <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/social-media-freaks-out-after-leonardo-dicaprio-says-he-like-pupusas-more-than-tacos">Fox News</a>.
Leo&#8217;s gaffe occurred during an interview with Univision, in which both he and Brad Pitt were asked about their favorite Mexican food. While Brad Pitt played it safe by saying tacos, DiCaprio surprised his interviewer by saying pupusas.
&#8220;I’m a pupusa man, myself. Better than tacos to me, I gotta go with them,&#8221; Leo said, according to <a href="https://remezcla.com/culture/leonardo-dicaprio-pupusas-better-tacos/">Remezcla</a>.
A Salvadorian dish, pupusas typically consist of a thick corn tortilla stuffed with beans or cheese, and are often cooked on a griddle.
Honest mistake. It&#8217;s not as if the guy said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t speak Mexican.&#8221; Since the comment went viral, Twitter has been abuzz with fun jokes, with perhaps the most critical coming from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
&#8220;And y’all think *I’m* controversial,&#8221; said AOC.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">And y’all think *I’m* controversial <a href="https://t.co/ZdtnPI5r1f">https://t.co/ZdtnPI5r1f</a>
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1154932812631486464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Others were more gracious and even thanked Leo for giving El Salvadorian culture a nod — at least inadvertently.
&#8220;Leo DiCaprio, I felt some sort of pride in my heritage moments ago when I heard you say you prefer pupusa, the food of my mothers land, over a very popular Mexican taco,&#8221; said one user. &#8220;I&#8217;ve always been a fan of you work and movies and today I&#8217;m an even bigger fan of yours.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/LeoDiCaprio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LeoDiCaprio</a> I felt some sort of pride in my heritage moments ago when I heard you say you prefer pupusa, the food of my mothers land, over a very popular Mexican taco. I&#8217;ve always been a fan of you work and movies and today I&#8217;m an even bigger fan of yours. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/pupusas?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#pupusas</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ElSalvador?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ElSalvador</a> <a href="https://t.co/JYq2LrMRYy">pic.twitter.com/JYq2LrMRYy</a>
— Jairo Mulato (j0k3R) (@Charizardlife92) <a href="https://twitter.com/Charizardlife92/status/1154815421838766087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;What else are you waiting for to declare the &#8216;Leonardo DiCaprio avenue&#8217; in El Salvador?&#8221; said another user.
&#8220;Thanks Mr. Di Caprio for preferring PUPUSAS rather than &#8216;tacos.'&#8221; said another. &#8220;We flatten Salvadoreans with their preference. Visit us and learn more about this succulent culinary delicacy. Welcome to PUPUSAS COUNTRY!!&#8221;
Fortunately, the response to Leo&#8217;s love for pupusas has largely been affectionate and proves that sometimes people can make an honest cultural gaffe and not have to issue some groveling apology for it. The &#8220;pupusas&#8221; moment comes on the heels of film critic Guy Lodge of The Guardian and Variety blasting DiCaprio earlier this week on Twitter for not working with a single female director since 1995&#8217;s &#8220;Total Eclipse.&#8221;
&#8220;This is all well and good, and some fine work has come out of it, but I wouldn&#8217;t call his choices adventurous either: huge studio prestige productions with established male directors,&#8221; Lodge wrote on Twitter, according to <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2019/07/leonardo-dicaprio-called-out-not-working-woman-director-1202160522/">Indiewire</a>. &#8220;He hasn&#8217;t acted in a film with a female director since 1995, which I don&#8217;t think is an insignificant fact … I like that he&#8217;s choosy, and resistant to franchise fodder: he&#8217;s played his career well. But at this level of stardom, he has the clout to get riskier ideas (and talents) off the ground.&#8221;
&#8220;He is the safest actor in Hollywood,&#8221; said ScreenRant and Pajiba writer Kayleigh Donaldson. &#8220;Not that many major American names on his level truly take risky or dangerous roles, but I wouldn&#8217;t say he risks much working consistently with Scorsese, QT, Inarritu, etc.&#8221;
&#8220;Once Upon a Time in Hollywood&#8221; enjoyed a <a href="https://variety.com/2019/film/box-office/box-office-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-quentin-tarantino-biggest-opening-weekend-lion-king-1203282402/">solid opening weekend</a> of $40 million, making it both a critical and financial hit, thus solidifying Leo DiCaprio&#8217;s status as one of the final few movie stars in existence.

Leo DiCaprio Thought Pupusas Were Mexican. Internet Goes Wild.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Much to the chagrin of The Washington Post, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/unauthorized-immigrants-face-public-backlash-in-mexico-survey-finds/2019/07/16/f7fc5d12-a75e-11e9-a3a6-ab670962db05_story.html?utm_term=.3f2042ad4fea">their own poll</a> of roughly 1,200 Mexicans found that a majority say immigrants are a burden on their country and favor deporting migrants who travel through Mexico to reach U.S.
The Washington Post/Reforma survey asked, “What should Mexico do with the migrants from Central America that cross through the country trying to reach the United States? Give them residency in Mexico, give them temporary residency while the United States decides if it will accept them or not, or deport them to their countries of origin?”
Only 7% of respondents said they would like the illegal immigrants to stay, 33% said they would prefer giving them a temporary place to stay, and a whopping 55% said they wanted to see the illegal immigrants deported.
Further, the pollsters asked, “With which of these phrases do you agree the most? The migrants strengthen our country with their work and skills or the migrants are a burden on our country because they take jobs and receive benefits that should belong to Mexicans.” Only 20% of respondents felt the migrants strengthened Mexico while a huge 64% said the migrants were a burden.
The Post admitted, “Those findings defy the perception that Mexico — a country that has sent millions of its own migrants to the United States, sending billions of dollars in remittances — is sympathetic to the surge of Central Americans. Instead, the data suggests Mexicans have turned against the migrants transiting through their own country, expressing antipathy that would be familiar to many supporters of President Trump north of the border. “
The Post noted that Mexicans have changed course regarding illegal immigration, citing a 2018 survey by the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/03/14/around-the-world-more-say-immigrants-are-a-strength-than-a-burden/pgmd_2019-03-14_global-migration-attitudes_0-01/">Pew Research Center</a> in which 57% of Mexicans felt immigrants chiefly strengthen Mexico.
The Post may not have noticed, but last month <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/48634/new-poll-shows-mexicans-increasingly-want-keep-hank-berrien">a new poll</a> by the Mexican newspaper <a href="https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/mexicanos-quieren-que-se-impida-paso-de-migrantes">El Universal</a> showed that since October 2018, more Mexicans supported stricter immigration enforcement to keep illegal immigrants from entering Mexico. Last October, the percentage of Mexicans in the same poll who agreed that tougher immigration was necessary was 49%; that percentage rose to 61% in June.
In April, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/04/12/migrants-force-way-guatemala-mexico-join-caravan-us-immigration-policy/3451674002/">USA Today reported</a>, &#8220;Mexican authorities said a group of about 350 migrants broke the locks on a border gate Friday and forced their way into southern Mexico to join a larger group of migrants trying to make their way toward the United States. The National Immigration Institute did not identify the nationalities of the migrants, but they are usually from Central America. A similar confrontation occurred on the same border bridge between Mexico and Guatemala last year.&#8221;
The Washington Post/Reforma poll also did its best to paint a picture of President Trump in a negative light, asking, “Are you aware that Mexico and the United States signed an agreement to combat migration of undocumented people from Central America to Mexico and prevent them from getting to the United States?” that was followed with this question: “Do you believe that this agreement was negotiated by the two countries or that the United States imposed it on Mexico?”

WaPo Poll Finds Majority Of Mexicans Want Illegal Immigrants Deported

Washington Post

A new poll shows that a strong majority of U.S. veterans approve of how President Trump is handling the military, and even more veterans want President Trump to send troops to the U.S-Mexico border.
The <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/07/10/trump-draws-stronger-support-from-veterans-than-from-the-public-on-leadership-of-u-s-military/">Pew Research Center poll</a> found that 57% of veterans surveyed approve of Trump’s performance as Commander in Chief of the U.S. military, while 58% want Trump to send the troops to the southern border. A giant schism was revealed between veterans who are Republicans (59%) and those who were Democrats (39%). 92% of Republican veterans approved of Trump as Commander in Chief; a paltry 6% of Democrats felt the same way.
Additionally, 89% of Republican veterans approved of sending the troops; only 12% of Democratic veterans agreed. A majority of veterans (53%) also approved of Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. Again, there was a partisan divide; 82% of Republican veterans approved; only 11% of Democratic veterans agreed.
Pew noted, “Fully 78% of Republican veterans say Trump respects the country’s veterans a great deal, compared with just 4% of Democratic veterans who say this. Instead, a majority of Democratic veterans say the president doesn’t respect veterans much (43%) or at all (43%).”
Another salient difference: 95% of Republican veterans thought military spending should either be increased or stay the same; only 63% of Democrat veterans agreed.
In April, one day after acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he “would expect us to do more” on the southern border, considering “how much the situation there has deteriorated,” President Trump said, &#8220;I’m going to have to call up more military … Our military, don’t forget, can’t act like a military would act. Because if they got a little rough, everybody would go crazy … They have all these horrible laws that the Democrats won&#8217;t change.” <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/04/10/trump-again-looks-to-boost-troop-deployments-at-us-southern-border/">Military Times</a> noted, “About 5,000 military personnel are currently deployed to the border mission. Of those, about 3,000 are active-duty troops and 2,100 are National Guard members. The number has fluctuated by several hundred individuals over the last six months.”
Later in April, the Pentagon acknowledged it was sending over 300 more troops to the southern border, as <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/pentagon-approves-more-troops-for-southern-border-11556580425">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported:
<blockquote>The Pentagon has approved a request from the Department of Homeland Security for 320 additional U.S. troops at the southern border, and has approved expanded authorities that allow them to come into direct contact with migrants and asylum seekers, defense officials said. Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan, who signed the order Monday to send lawyers, cooks and drivers, also agreed to provide the waivers on troops’ interactions with migrants and asylum seekers.</blockquote>
<a href="https://thehill.com/latino/452054-dhs-asks-for-1000-more-national-guard-troops-at-southern-border">The Hill</a> reported on Monday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had asked for 1,000 additional Texas National Guard troops &#8220;to provide supplemental holding and port of entry enforcement support&#8221; to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the state.
Maj. Chris Mitchell, a Pentagon spokesperson, said, &#8220;Supplemental holding support is requested for CBP holding facilities located at Donna and Tornillo, Texas. These holding facilities house single adult migrants who have illegally entered the United States, been processed by CBP, and are awaiting transfer to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities. These holding facilities will be owned, operated, and managed by CBP.&#8221;

Poll: Majority Of Veterans Want Trump To Send Troops To Southern Border

Veterans

According to the media and firebrand leftists like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the migrant detention centers at the U.S. southern border are deplorable &#8220;concentration camps&#8221; with some of the worst living conditions imaginable. But several Latino pastors who visited the facilities have refuted that claim and extolled the federal agents for their efforts in keeping conditions there humane.
&#8220;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/rev-rodriguez-open-borders-advocates-are-supporting-sex-trafficking-its-morally-reprehensible" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rev. Samuel Rodriguez</a> was &#8216;full of indignation&#8217; when he saw the reports and heard from politicians about the deplorable and inhumane conditions for illegal immigrants at an El Paso County, Texas migrant detention center,&#8221; reports <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/immigration-border-facility-aoc-hispanic">Fox News</a>. &#8220;But what he saw at the same facility toured by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. with a group of pastors was &#8216;drastically different.'&#8221;
As the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Rodriguez has advised Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump on immigration before. In a press briefing on Monday, he refuted the claims that detained immigrants are being mistreated after seeing the situation firsthand.
&#8220;I read the reports, saw the news clips. I just wanted to see what was actually happening in order to better enable our efforts to find a fair and a just solution to our broken immigration system,&#8221; Rodriguez said. &#8220;To my surprise, I saw something drastically different from the stories I’ve been hearing in our national discourse. Even as a veteran of immigration advocacy in the U.S., I was shocked at the misinformation of the crisis at the border.&#8221;
&#8220;We found no soiled diapers, no deplorable conditions, and no lack of basic necessities,&#8221; Rodriguez declared.
When he asked federal immigration agents if they staged the facility for the visit, Rodriguez said &#8220;they unequivocally denied it.&#8221;
&#8220;We were witnessing the identical conditions the attorneys saw when they toured the facility days earlier,&#8221; he added, noting that people reporting on such horrific conditions &#8220;never toured the areas of the facility that we toured.&#8221;
Rodriguez even wondered aloud if the naysayers had political motivations for their smear campaign. He also highlighted the fact that most &#8220;are Latinos&#8221; and lamented to him personally about being unfairly maligned by the press.
&#8220;Pastor Sam, what they&#8217;re saying about us is completely false. We care about these kids and have a passion for our calling,&#8221; Rodriguez said one distraught agent told him.
Both Republicans and Democrats were responsible for the broken immigration system, according to Rodriguez. &#8220;What&#8217;s heart-wrenching is that we have both Republicans and Democrats alike in Congress, who can&#8217;t come together for the purpose of doing the right thing and finding a solution to our immigration crisis,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Please, President Trump, please White House, work with the Republicans and the Democrats [and] please, please, please, please, Nancy Pelosi, Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, please come together to solve this crisis, immediately.&#8221;
Rodriguez was not alone in his praise of the federal immigration agents and the humane conditions of the migrant detention centers. Joining him was Pastor Carlos Moran, an immigrant himself, who called upon political leaders to stop employing heated rhetoric and to actually solve the underlying problem.
&#8220;We as evangelical leaders that serve in different segments, are very committed to helping children regardless of their status and we commend those officers that are trying their very best to serve and fulfill their duty at the border,&#8221; said Moran. &#8220;However, we do call on our political leaders to set aside their personal agendas and begin focusing on resolving this immigration crisis.&#8221;

Latino Pastors: Border Facilities Were Humane, Not Concentration Camps

Latinos

On Monday’s episode of “The Michael Knowles Show,” Knowles explains how the Democrat Party presidential candidates are pandering to their base by speaking in Spanish when responding to questions from moderators. Video and partial transcript below:
So, I&#8217;m watching this Democrat primary debate. I was playing the drinking game last Thursday. The Democrat debate drinking game where I pour a lot of booze into my cup and then whenever they start talking, I drink. It&#8217;s a pretty fun drinking game, I highly recommend it. I had deja vu all over again when that debate started. Because the second night of debate began in exactly the same way as the first night of debate, with Pete Buttigieg this time instead of Beto O&#8217;Rourke randomly speaking Spanish.
Why do you have to do that? This is America. We don&#8217;t speak Spanish here. Now in Buttigieg&#8217;s defense, he was at least asked the question in Spanish. The night before when Beto started randomly butchering the Spanish language, he just did it. He just voluntarily did it. In this case, the moderator Jose Diaz-Balart asked him. He said, &#8220;Buenos Noches! Mayoro Peto&#8221; or whatever, you know. So Buttigieg responded that way. This is very offensive. Jose Diaz-Balart should not be asking questions in Spanish. If you want to ask questions in Spanish of presidential candidates, then you should moderate debates in Spanish speaking countries. Anywhere in Latin America, South America, I guess not Brazil. You could go to Spain and moderate a debate, but not in America. We speak English here.
Now, Buttigieg doesn&#8217;t totally get off the hook here. If I were in this debate — I guess I was in this debate because Eric Swalwell was there, and I am Eric Swalwell. But, if I had been standing there in my own body and I was asked a question in Spanish, by Jose Diaz-Balart, I would answer in English and I would say also, Jose, I&#8217;d just like to ask that you ask questions in English here because we&#8217;re in America and I&#8217;m running to be president of the United States, not president of Mexico or of Guatemala or of El Salvador.
Now obviously the Democrats can&#8217;t do this because basically, the only tool they have left is racial pandering. Pandering to allegedly aggrieved victim groups. But the pandering got a whole lot crazier than just Buttigieg speaking in Spanish. The moderator asked a question of the entire panel. She said, &#8220;How many of you in your health care plans would provide free health insurance for illegal aliens?&#8221; Guess how many candidates raise their hand?
Spoiler alert, it&#8217;s all of them. Every single one of them raised their hand and told one hundred percent of potential voters that they would take their money and give it away to criminals. To people who their first act in America is violating our laws. I guess maybe not 100 percent of potential Democrat voters because of illegal alien voter fraud, motor voter, and digging up dead bodies in Illinois. So maybe not 100 percent maybe only ninety-seven percent of voters they were telling that. But that is really awful and it&#8217;s so easy to do. It&#8217;s so easy to say I&#8217;ll give away everything for free. Hey, do you want more free stuff? Yeah, I&#8217;m the &#8220;more free stuff candidate.&#8221;
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But think about what that also says. When you give away something as valuable as free health insurance to any illegal alien who breaks our laws, you are creating an incentive to keep breaking the laws. So not only are they saying that they&#8217;re not going to secure the border, they&#8217;re not going to build the wall, they&#8217;re not going to get US border protection, in some cases they&#8217;re saying we need to decriminalize border crossing. They&#8217;re also saying we&#8217;re going to create a huge financial incentive for people to cross that border illegally.
Don&#8217;t forget, when you encourage people to cross that border illegally you are empowering some of the worst people on earth. Drug traffickers who are poisoning our entire country. Sex traffickers who are abusing women and girls. According to Fusion and Amnesty International and The Huffington Post, 60 to 80 percent of women and girls who cross that border illegally are raped along the journey. When you create that major incentive for them to do it, you are increasing the likelihood that that is going to happen. You are empowering the abusers and the predators who are preying on these vulnerable people.
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-michael-knowles-show/id1266577963?mt=2">Download full episode of &#8220;The Michael Knowles Show&#8221; on iTunes.</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/show/michael-knowles-show">Watch &#8220;The Michael Knowles Show&#8221; on-demand!</a>

KNOWLES: Why Moderators Shouldn&#8217;t Ask Candidates Questions In Spanish

Democratic Party

Eric Swalwell

Indiana

Michael Knowles

Pete Buttigieg

Trump Administration

Verifying claims by U.S. border authorities that some illegal immigrants are using children who aren’t theirs to try to enter the United States, Mexican authorities have come forward to assert that illegal immigrants in Tijuana are preying on vulnerable single mothers in shelters by suggesting they sell their children to them.
The <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/authorities-investigate-reports-of-migrants-trying-to-buy-children-to-enter-the-u-s/">Seattle Times</a> reports that Tijuana law enforcement authorities are “warning migrant mothers to keep their children close by and supervised, after reports of men offering to purchase migrant children in order to cross.” The Seattle Times quoted one woman from Honduras confessing, “I can’t go to work because I can’t take my eyes off my boys,” adding that the men have offered roughly $350 to buy children at the Iglesia Embajadores de Jesus shelter in Tijuana. She concluded, “They want to rob our kids so they can cross into the United States.”
Pastor Gustavo Banda, who supervises the Iglesia Embajadores de Jesus shelter and secures the shelter with a chain lock, stated, “These are cases of desperation. Of course, the women have not accepted any of these offers, but clearly this is a huge concern because of the danger to the children.”
When she served as Homeland Security Secretary in 2018, Kirstjen Nielsen was slammed for acknowledging the reality of the problem. She <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2018/06/18/secretary-kirstjen-m-nielsen-remarks-national-sheriffs-association-conference">told the National Sheriffs’ Association</a>:
<blockquote>Let me take a minute to walk you through a few of the legal loopholes that DHS must confront every day and the solutions we have requested from Congress. The effects of our broken system are felt in all communities – not just those on the border.
First, under existing law, certain unaccompanied alien children from Mexico and Canada who enter illegally and have no valid claim to stay can be quickly returned home, but unaccompanied children from every other country in the world must be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) within 72 hours and then released to parents or guardians in the United States. This is a significant pull factor that encourages these children to make the dangerous journey north.
Additionally, when a child is apprehended with their parents, DHS is required – due to various court rulings – to release that child within 20 days. As I mentioned earlier, this effectively creates a “get out of jail free” card for families and groups who pose as families. Unsurprisingly, word of this loophole has spread across the world. From October 2017 to this February, DHS saw a staggering 315 percent increase in illegal aliens fraudulently using children to pose as family units to gain entry into the country, compared to the previous year.</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/18/us/politics/nielsen-family-separation-factcheck.html">The New York Times</a> admitted, “The numbers Ms. Nielsen cites are correct. Katie Waldman, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, told The New York Times that there were 46 cases of fraudulent family claims in the 2017 fiscal year, which began in October 2016 and ended in September 2017. In just the first five months of the 2018 fiscal year, there were 191 cases — a 315 percent increase.” But then the Times countered, “But those instances of family fraud are a tiny fraction of the total number of families apprehended at the southwestern border: 0.06 percent of <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2017-Dec/BP%20Total%20Monthly%20Family%20Units%20by%20Sector%2C%20FY13-FY17.pdf">nearly 76,000 families</a> in the 2017 fiscal year and 0.6 percent of <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/usbp-sw-border-apprehensions">31,000 families</a> apprehended in the first five months of the 2018 fiscal year.”

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