PrintThey're Not Refugees
Update: See correction below:
The unaccompanied children flooding our southern border are not refugees and do not qualify for asylum under U.S. law or international law.
It is worth noting that border patrol agents are telling reporters that these “children” often look 24 years old and that some have gray hair. With no documentation, they have been coached to say they are 17. We don’t have any documentation as to what countries they are actually from. Many of these “unaccompanied minors” are accompanied by one or two parents. That’s politics.
In any event, under federal regulations, in 8 CFR § 208.13 (b) (1), “An applicant shall be found to be a refugee on the basis of past persecution if the applicant can establish that he or she has suffered persecution in the past in the applicant's country of nationality or, if stateless, in his or her country of last habitual residence, on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion[.]” (Emphasis added.)
Clearly, none of those coming across our southern border illegally is facing “persecution” on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion. “Persecution” to qualify for asylum does not mean poverty or violence, like that breaking out in Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago, Illinois or in Detroit, Michigan.
Furthermore, a person who would otherwise qualify for asylum cannot be considered a refugee or qualify for asylum if (8 CFR § 208.13 [b][i] [B]) "[t]he applicant could avoid future persecution by relocating to another part of the applicant’s country[.]” If you are fleeing the violence in Chicago caused by liberal gun control policies, you could simply move to Indiana. As a result, those fleeing Chicago or Detroit would not qualify as refugees. If they can move within their own country, migrating people won’t qualify for asylum or as refugees.
This brings home a vitally important part. Yes, absolutely, “the government” should take care of these children and others. But which government? Not ours. The governments responsible for these people are the governments of the respective countries in which they are citizens. That is the crucial error of Glenn Beck, Dana Loesch, and others. Of course these people should be taken care of. That’s what their governments – not ours – are morally obligated to do.
These sometimes 24-year-old “children” are simply coming to the United States to make money – or for “greed,” in liberal-speak. (Resource-rich Mexico’s unemployment rate was 4.7% last fall.) Apparently greed can be good with liberals. At most they are fleeing routine violence like that in the Southside of Chicago and parets of the District of Columbia. But violence that is not systematically caused by a government or a civil war doesn’t count.
These migrants are not fleeing persecution. On the contrary, the Mexican government is helping them, while conspiring with their Central American governments.
Hundreds of migrants ride on the roof of a U.S.-owned “NAFTA Train” called “The Beast,” coming north through Mexico from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. The Mexican government and the train company can see that hundreds of people are piled on top of the freight train as it travels for many days from Mexico’s southern border to the U.S. border. An estimated 20,000 migrants have ridden the freight train in the last four months. This is highly dangerous and illegal.
On July 10, 2014, the train derailed – again. The train also derailed earlier on August 25, 2013, at 3:00 AM, blamed on rain-soaked embankments. But the must-see photographs show that the train toppled over – obviously influenced by the weight of hundreds of migrants riding on top. A freight train is not designed to travel top-heavy that way.
Any normal government would stop the train, arrest those operating it, and put an end to this risky business. Yet in spite of the severe danger, Mexico’s officials allow thousands of invaders to continue riding on top of the freight trains toward the USA. So those governments are helping these migrants, and the migrants are not fleeing persecution.
“The Beast” is owned and run by Kansas City Southern, a U.S. railroad. In 2005, Kansas City Southern bought the Mexican trains to establish a “NAFTA Railroad.” Their goal was to transport Chinese products into the heartland of the United States while bypassing the West Coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Correction. Counsel from Kansas City Southern (KCS), parent company of Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM), informs us:
Neither KCS nor KCSM own or operate “The Beast,” as the article calls it.
The number of Central American migrants coming from Mexico’s southern border, where KCSM does not operate, to the U.S.-Mexico border aboard KCSM trains is minimal and subject to heavy railroad security enforcement. KCSM has a robust security system aimed at preventing illegal migrant trespassing, protecting cargo and preventing vandalism and accidents, and complies strictly with the security rules and regulations in close coordination with public security authorities at three government levels in Mexico.
KCSM has made significant investments to increase the security of railway operations in its service area, which mostly lies north of Mexico City, including technology, security personnel, intelligence, and also operating systems related to security in stations, shipping points and the main points of KCSM’s railway network. For KCSM, this investment and attention to safety and security has resulted in a very good safety and security record.
KCS is and has been actively engaged with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security providing intelligence briefings to the Commissioner of Customs and Border Patrol (“CBP”) and his executive staff and other U.S. intelligence agencies on the illegal immigration issue. KCS is in daily contact with Texas Department of Public Safety (“DPS”) sharing information and conducting continuous research to support and provide timely information to DPS in the Rio Grande Valley.
Similarly, KCSM closely coordinates with Mexican federal immigration authorities to ensure proper respect and treatment to immigrants who illegally use the freight railroad. Being respectful of the Mexican laws and migrants’ human rights, KCSM's substantial security is focused on coordination with Mexican authorities and prioritizes respect for the human rights of people who illegally trespass on the railroad. KCSM regularly provides its security and operations contractors with precise training to respect the physical integrity of any people who trespass on the railway illegally. KCSM also has strict internal controls to monitor and identify any incidents involving its security contractors and enforcing the law accordingly. KCSM acts in adherence to the processes established by Mexican laws related to immigration and railroad security.
The Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCSR) in the U.S. and KCSM in Mexico are responsible corporate citizens who have invested heavily in security technology, staff, intelligence gathering and operating systems. Both companies comply strictly with the respective security laws and regulations in the U.S. and Mexico, and respect the physical integrity of any person who might illegally gain access to one of their trains and travel on the railway. Both companies have coordinated and will continue to coordinate closely with U.S., Mexican, and State of Texas officials to address these issues of public concern.
We want to make you aware that any assertion that KCS, KCSR or KCSM is in any way complicit in the use of the Mexican railroads for transit of illegal immigrants through Mexico, even on railroads not related to KCS, is wrong. Any assertion that KCS, KCSR or KCSM conspire with anyone to violate the human rights of persons illegally riding on KCSR or KCSM trains is also wrong.
Every time the train stops, its operators can see what is happening. The private railroad could always stop the train and force the migrants to get off, for their own safety and the train’s safety. It is reported that illegal riders have been maimed, been killed, and suffered amputated limbs. How long do you think it might take for lawyers with dollar signs dancing in their eyes to find the courthouse in Kansas City, Missouri?
President Obama announced on January 14, 2014, that he was going to go around Congress to implement the Democratic Party’s hunger for amnesty and other goals. “I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone,” Obama proclaimed, promising to take executive action without Congress. He declared 2014 a “year of action.”
It now appears that Obama used his phone back in January to call the leaders of Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico to engineer a “Children’s Crusade” to bust the border and shame gullible Americans into bowing to Obama’s will.
In 1212, as many as 30,000 children massed at Vendomme in France, intent on reclaiming Jerusalem after a twelve-year old shepherd boy named Stephen had a visitation from Jesus and received a letter to King Phillip handed to Stephen by Jesus in person. In poignant irony, the children suffered a drought and very hot summer, and many children died along the way – not unlike those crossing the Mexican border. Most of the children did not make it past Italy, when the pope urged them to go home. But the effort made its mark in history.
Now, advocates for amnesty are trying to play on our emotions, hoping we are gullible. We'll have to see exactly how many they're fooling.
