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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

    OPINION: Who is in the migrant caravan? People. People are.

    On+Feb.+11+2017%2C+around+2000+people+gathered+in+Minneapolis+in+support+of+immigrants+and+refugees.+Most+of+the+conversation+around+the+caravan+from+Honduras+has+not+been+supportive%2C+as+of+recently.
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    On Feb. 11 2017, around 2000 people gathered in Minneapolis in support of immigrants and refugees. Most of the conversation around the caravan from Honduras has not been supportive, as of recently.

    Central American migrants, illegal immigrants, “Many Gang Members and some very bad people,” or the slang term “illegals,” as some call them, have joined into a “caravan” of sorts to seek asylum in the United States. 

    Rhetoric has been spread about the kinds of people in the caravan. Some believe “Middle Easterners” have joined in order to create a new caliphate and destroy all order in the United States. 

    Others believe the majority is comprised of gang members or wannabe welfare moochers. 

    The truth? Most of the members of the caravan are from a poverty stricken country south of Mexico called Honduras. According to World Atlas, Honduras has the second-highest murder rate in the world.

    The members of the caravan are not invaders. They are normal, everyday people with the desire to work hard and aspire for the American Dream. You may say that your ancestors came here legally from places like Ireland and Italy eons ago, but nowadays emigrating to the United States is much harder and more exclusive. 

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    The Mexican government truly has no motive to stop the caravan in its tracks. Why should they? Many villages in Mexico view Central American travelers as pilgrims, according to The Washington Post

    Yes, the U.S. has a right to protect its borders and enforce immigration laws. But remember: Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador were engulfed by wars started by the U.S., and the U.S. is a rich, developed country that promises opportunity. Of course this begs an influx of asylum seekers. 

    Really, the question should be how countries like Honduras can be fixed. That is an unpopular opinion in this day and age. I mean, we are trying to stay out of other countries problems and wars. 

    Either way, members of the caravan are not terrorists or gangsters. Narcoterrorism is exactly what they are running from. Stop subscribing to outdated views on illegal immigrants and try to understand their plight instead. 

    Many illegal immigrants face unbelievably arduous circumstances on their journey. Coyotes, or human smugglers, often leave people in the desert with no food or water. Women and girls face the possibility of being raped and sodomized.

    Regular people walking thousands of miles on foot to a far off lands with no guarantee they will make it alive really says something about the situation they’re escaping. 


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