To The Reader’s Forum:

Well, it’s time once again for another Ronald Reagan redux — “There you go again”; this time it’s for financial-turned-political columnist Tom Morgan. In his 3/11/19 column Tom tries to explain the immigrant “crisis”, thus “emergency”, at the U.S. southern border. His commentary becomes derailed because he simply repeats the rhetoric of DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen without critical thought and spews corresponding thoughtless rhetoric.

First ask: “Why are people coming to America from Central America?” Severe poverty and violence in their home country are key motivators so, unless you control those motivators, people will still come. The “crisis” begins in the migrants’ home country. Then ask: “Does massive spending on a US “wall” control those motivators?” The obvious answer is “no”. Therefore, to control motivators, and the resulting numbers of migrants, the US needs to increase, not decrease, economic and security aid to various countries. Analogy: if smoking is a major cause of house fires, you can’t stop/reduce the number of those fires by enlarging the fire department.

Tom provides proof to my reasoning by restating estimates of how many rapes and murders may occur “along the way” to the U.S.. If the U.S. was truly concerned about what is happening “along the way” we would not build barriers that allow the U.S. to turn a blind eye to that situation. That “crisis” can only be solved by ending people’s motivation to leave home.

Tom fails to mention that most migrant families want to be “caught”. They are turning themselves in to border agents believing they can expedite asylum; not “caught” in the traditional sense. Government evidence shows these families rarely bring drugs, crime and violence to the U.S. and that “illegal” Central Americans generally have a lower crime profile than U.S. citizens. Tom also fails to mention evidence that shows most “illegal” immigrants are those who overstay visas and most illegal drugs come through legal ports of entry.

If there is an “emergency” it is the need to overhaul the entire immigration/border control system and provide DHS with manpower and material to deal with increasing family migration and asylum requests until we act on the real crisis. But, as history reveals, both a Republican Congress for the last eight years and a total Republican government for the last two years refused to act (perhaps compromise?) on comprehensive border security. That is an important fact Tom also conveniently fails to acknowledge.

Paul L. Demler,

Jamestown