On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, the United States of America was never the same, social media was in an uproar and Donald J. Trump became the 45th President of the United States of America. With President Trump’s campaign came promises to build a wall on the US Border and a promise “To Make America Great Again.” Two years later, in 2018, Donald Trump and his administration tackle one of the most talked about political issues during his Presidency being the 2018 migrating caravan.

     The migrating caravan has had quite an impact on United States politics whether you believe it or not and has continuously proven to be a momentous event in Donald Trump’s Presidency. Crowds of immigrants are walking unbelievable distances seeking asylum in the United States and Donald Trump has continually shared his thoughts about the matter through social media. Donald Trump has made sure his feelings are expressed through Twitter by writing jawbreaking tweets about the caravan and immigrants altogether. Does the caravan deserve a chance to reach the US Border?

Background Information

     The caravan was formed around October 12, 2018, in San Pedro Sula, a city in northern Honduras, and it is now making its way to the United States as migrants seek out a better life. According to BBC, the people taking part in the caravan are “fleeing violence” and unfortunately leaving their home country because it “has one of the highest murder rates in the world”(BBC). Following the incident of the migrating group making its way to the southwest border of the United States, Donald Trump took to Twitter and said:

Our military is being mobilized at the Southern Border. Many more troops coming. We will NOT let these Caravans, which are also made up of some very bad thugs and gang members, into the U.S. Our Border is sacred, must come in legally. TURN AROUND!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2018

     Donald Trump, the cunning businessman he is, tried to take advantage of the migrating caravan and even attempted to manipulate the headlines in order to blame the Democratic Party for the mass of “bad thugs and gang members” making their way to the border. In addition, Donald Trump also attempted to hold the Democrats accountable for the amounts of immigrants in America today. He insisted that the reason the caravan is so-called trying to invade America is because the Democrats instituted “weak laws” for border control (Semple). Furthermore, Donald Trump ventured to the media to deceive voters during the recent upcoming midterm elections of 2018. Donald Trump took to Twitter and posted a controversial video trying to frame Democrats on his Twitter account @realDonaldTrump. According to Jim Rutenberg, a media columnist for the New York Times, during the final weeks of the midterm elections, “President Trump tweeted a 53-second video that interspersed footage of the caravan with a courtroom scene featuring Luis Bracamontes, an undocumented immigrant and convicted murderer. After Mr. Bracamontes boasts of killing two police officers, these words appear on screen: ‘Democrats let him into our country. Democrats let him stay.’”

It is outrageous what the Democrats are doing to our Country. Vote Republican now! https://t.co/0pWiwCHGbh pic.twitter.com/2crea9HF7G

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2018

Donald Trump took images from the caravan and footage from the courtroom, out of context, to try to get the United States to turn their backs on migrants who are seeking a better life away from gun violence. Donald Trump took Luis Bracamontes, a single person, and stereotyped hundreds of people. One man’s actions should not defame a whole nation and it should not defame the caravan. Some have argued that there may be a possibility of having bad people in the caravan, but some aren’t. The people on the caravan are not so different from us their just trying to make it in the world and are seeking an opportunity to improve their lives. Wouldn’t you do the same if you were them? Instead of having the caravan turned around or stopped, immigrants should have the chance to be able to come to America.

The Role of Government

     If someone tries barging into your house your immediate reaction is to stop them at all cause. But take a minute and try to think about the reasons for their actions. Are they trying to find protection and security? Are they seeking a place free of violence and economic distress? Similarly, Latino immigrants have the same story. As stated in the Migrant caravan: What is it and why does it matter?, an article published by BBC, “There is a legal obligation to hear asylum claims from migrants who have arrived in the US if they say fear violence in their home countries.” Despite this Donald Trump continues is against the caravan and wants the caravan to be stopped. Semple writes “[Trump has] warned …  that he would shut down the southwest border of the United States if Mexico did not halt the group. He also reiterated his threat that unless the governments of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador stopped the caravan’s progress, he would suspend foreign aid to them.”

Caravan Conditions

     The Latinos and any others taking part in the caravan have gone through unbelievable hardships along the way. They have covered miles as shown below in this map:

Along the way, migrants have also faced many challenges. Some of the challenges migrants face are weather conditions, hygiene, and not knowing or having a place to sleep at night. Many of the migrants bathed in nearby rivers on their journey. An investigation by the New York Times found that a lot of migrants were receiving medical attention for blisters, sunburns, and dehydration (Semple et al.). In addition, to the nurses and first responders that are treating the injured many people have stepped up and helped the travelers along the way. People have lent a helping hand to help the caravan by giving them a place to stay or set up camp for the night. To demonstrate, one the ways people have aided the caravan was “When the exhausted migrants streamed into Huixtla … [and] the town’s officials directed them to a sprawling sports complex already stockpiled with bottled water, thousands of sandwiches, medical crews and security” (Semple et al.). Daniele Volpe and Luis Antonio Rojas, photographers for The New York Times, captured these moments on camera as it is shown below:

     Although many have chosen to help the caravan others have seen the caravan as a group of people trying to invade the United States illegally. They ignorantly assume that everyone on the caravan is a criminal or gang member. Although that might be a possibility, people fail to understand that they are others who are seeking a chance to improve their lives. The caravan might have not been the best plan to try to make it the United States, but to some, it was their only plan of hope to live a better life. The caravan started out small and like an avalanche started to pick up more and more migrants along the way to the US Border who shared the same dream.

     As stated in Semple’s article, What is the Migrant Caravan and Why does Trump Care?, “It originally numbered fewer than 200 people — in line with most past caravans. But as word spread, the mobilization quickly grew. By the time the group had crossed the border into Guatemala, its members traveling by foot and vehicle, it had ballooned to more than 1,000. More migrants have joined this week — by some estimates it now numbers an extraordinary 4,000 people” (Semple).

     The migrants of the caravan deserve a chance to be trialed for asylum. An asylum is the protection granted by a nation to someone who has left their native country as a political refugee. In other words, it is what the migrants on the caravan are seeking in the United States. They are leaving their home country because of the violence there and are seeking a place where they can feel safe. The majority of their faith is driven by their determination to escape from the violence and poverty that they had unfortunately been born into. Migrants deserve a chance to prove that they can benefit the United States. Migrants can help the American economy by working at minimum wage as it satisfies what migrants want to do, which is work to get out of poverty. President Trump continues to make this political issue and caravan movement a lot more difficult as he constantly places attacks and threats on the caravan by threatening to mobilize military to the border making the environment hostile to migrants. Donald Trump seems to dismiss the fact that they are mothers and children on this caravan who just want their best for the children. He fails to understand that surprisingly not everyone from the caravan is a thug or criminal. It is crucial to see that the migrants of the caravan aren’t showing up to the border with threats by any means, but as they are just working class individuals seeking to improve their lives. Getting a chance to be trialed for an asylum helps ensure them to have the opportunity that most don’t get to have in the world. Let’s hear them out. Let’s give them an opportunity.  Let’s really Make America Great Again not just say it!

 

 

Works Cited

@realDonaldTrump (Trump, Donald J.) “Our Military Is Being Mobilized at the Southern

Border. Many More Troops Coming. We Will NOT Let These Caravans, Which Are Also Made up of Some Very Bad Thugs and Gang Members, into the U.S. Our Border Is Sacred, Must Come in Legally. TURN AROUND!” Twitter, 31 Oct. 2018, twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1057614564639019009.

@realDonaldTrump (Trump, Donald J.) “Many Gang Members and Some Very Bad People Are

Mixed into the Caravan Heading to Our Southern Border. Please Go Back, You Will Not Be Admitted into the United States Unless You Go through the Legal Process. This Is an Invasion of Our Country and Our Military Is Waiting for You!” Twitter, 29 Oct. 2018, twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1056919064906469376.

@realDonaldTrump (Trump, Donald J.) “It Is Outrageous What the Democrats Are Doing to Our

Country. Vote Republican Now! Https://T.co/0pWiwCHGbh Pic.twitter.com/2crea9HF7G.” Twitter, 31 Oct. 2018, twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1057728445386539008.

Rutenberg, Jim. “You ‘Approved this Message’? Seriously?” The New York Times, The New

York Times, 4 Nov. 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/04/business/media/midterms-campaign-ads-trump.html

Semple, Kirk, et al. “Migrant Caravan Driven by Hope but Uncertain of Success.” The New York

Times, The New York Times, 23 Oct. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/world/americas/migrant-caravan-mexico-trump.html.

Semple, Kirk, and Elisabeth Malkin. “New Migrant Caravans Trek North, Ignoring Political

Repercussions.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 31 Oct. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/world/americas/migrant-caravans-border-mexico-usa.html.

“Migrant Caravan: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?” BBC News, BBC, 5 Nov. 2018,

www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45951782.