On January 11th, the US State Department put out its highest “do not travel” advisory, placing the Mexican states of Colima, Michoacán, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Guerrero at the same warning level as war-ravaged Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Illegal aliens, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), immigration policy reforms, border security, and prioritizing American citizens first are all part of a raging debate at more levels than usual these past days. On January 9th, President Trump had a great bipartisan meeting on the subject in which he opened up to the press and received rave reviews, even by some of the press he has rightly labeled fake news!
Things seemed as though our nation might actually make progress to secure our very porous Southern border, end chain migration, end the visa lottery that has enabled terrorists to attack us, and maybe even come to some sort of agreement on DACA, even though many Trump voters disagree with any form of amnesty.
As the administration was riding high on last Tuesday’s open meeting results, according to Reuters, early January 11th, the US State Department put out its highest “do not travel” advisory, placing the Mexican states of Colima, Michoacán, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Guerrero at the same warning level as war-ravaged Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The department increased its overall travel advisory for Mexico to level two of its four levels.
President Trump has never been my favorite person, but he is absolutely correct on this issue; our border security must be made whole, and quickly.
President Trump even had a closed-door bipartisan meeting in the Oval Office the afternoon of January 11 to listen to the “Immigration Reform Gang’s” pitch for a DACA agreement, ending chain migration, ending the visa lottery program, and funding the famous border wall. Unfortunately, all progress halted after the meeting when two of the senators (Durbin D-IL, Graham R-SC) came out and reported that the president had used the most “hate-filled, vile and racist” language they had ever heard a president say.
Needless to say, progress was immediately politicized, with the president hitting back and all major news outlets attacking him for allegedly calling Haiti and African countries “shitholes.”
As it turned out, others who were in the room either say they didn’t hear the president say that term or don’t recall, but he did talk very strongly about the proposal and objected to bringing in too many immigrants from places like Haiti and some African countries. Of course, in my experience in the military, I have been to a lot of shithole countries, so the so-called “vulgar language” outrage is over the top.
Heck, the president is correct about those countries—that’s why folks want to LEAVE them! Keep in mind, the #1 duty of all American elected officials is to safeguard the security of the United States, period. That is why the president focused on border security through the use of a wall, technology, and manpower increases first. All these other issues don’t resolve the problem of illegal aliens entering our country.
That is why the State Department’s highest “do not travel” advisory to these Mexican states is so important to me, as a national security professional and someone who has sought public office.
That is why the State Department’s highest “do not travel” advisory to these Mexican states is so important to me, as a national security professional and someone who has sought public office. Amazingly, it should be high on all of our priorities to get control of our southern border immediately, but it’s not. This situation has barely been covered by any media in the USA, and that is sad. Why is this information so important for you to know, you ask?
Here are the reasons these Mexican states are at the new status and how the situation can impact our citizens.
First, because they are so dangerous, even US government employees aren’t allowed to travel there. The area includes the famous Acapulco resort that was once the playground of the rich and famous from not only the USA but the world over. Reuters reports that “the resort in Guerrero state now has one of the highest murder rates in the world, having fallen victim to vicious gang warfare in recent years.”
Second, “armed groups operate independently of the government in many areas of Guerrero. Members of these groups frequently maintain roadblocks and may use violence towards travelers,” said the State Department.
Third, most immigrants, legal and illegal, come to the USA from Mexico. The data below clearly shows that Mexican legal immigrants dwarf all other entry counties from 2015–2016:
Top 10 New US Citizenship by Country of Birth from 2015-2016
- Mexico (209,508)
- India (88,401)
- Philippines (82,100)
- China (67,035)
- Dominican Republic (57,985)
- Cuba (57,871)
- Vietnam (46,824)
- Colombia (35,808)
- El Salvador (34,143)
- Jamaica (33,338)
With so much traffic between our two countries, gang members and operations can and do easily spill over into the United States. That is why you rarely find anyone living near the border who doesn’t support increased border security, including physical barriers or improvements to existing ones.
As a former commander of the major strategic installation Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, within reasonable travel range of our southern border, it was at the top of my priority list—along with ensuring our personnel were educated—to take protective measures against the gang member presence (deadly gangs like MS-13) in the city of more than a million people we were part of.
President Trump has never been my favorite person, but he is absolutely correct on this issue; our border security must be made whole, and quickly. He needs to use his bully pulpit to avoid the political quagmire that the bipartisan immigration reformers Senators Durbin and Graham have created for him.
He also needs to take the truth out to the American people so all political cretins who stand in the way of our national security pay a swift political price or get on board and negotiate in good faith on border security first, then DACA, chain migration, and the visa lottery.
Doing anything less is a dereliction of duty to the American people.
