Date: November 27, 2018
Host: Jim Schneider
Guest: Andrew Arthur
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Andrew Arthur is a Resident Fellow in Law and Policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington D.C. based research institute that examines the impact of immigration on American society. He’s worked as a trial attorney in District Counsel’s Office of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service and was promoted as Associate General Counsel and later Acting Chief of the INS National Security Law Division. He has also advised the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General and the INS Commissioner on issues related to national security. He later became a counsel on the House Judiciary Committee and later appointed to the immigration bench serving 8 years as an immigration judge. He left the bench and went back to Capitol Hill where he served as Staff Director of the National Security Subcommittee at House Oversight and Government Reform before retiring from federal service in 2016.
According to Andrew, hundreds of people recently approached the port of entry at San Ysidro. When they were unable to enter, they attempted to breach a fence. Projectiles were hurled at border patrol agents and they responded by firing tear gas.
Much has been made about a woman at the border fleeing with 2 young children. However, as Jim noted, why would any parent who is concerned about the well-being of their children even take them to the front line of a clash? Andrew mentioned a comment from the chief border patrol agent of the San Diego sector who indicated that this group of individuals put women and children at the front, using them as human shields, and that may explain why this woman was there.
Andrew believes this was either an attempt to enter the U.S. illegally without seeking asylum through massive force, or it could be political theater intended to generate a response from the Trump administration and obtain sympathy for caravan members.
Homeland Security officials have said that there are more than 500 criminals traveling with the migrants. Andrew believes there may be more because we only know those that have been identified and we don’t know of the crimes committed by those who’ve not put themselves through the normal screening process of coming to the U.S.
One of Andrew’s colleagues, Todd Bensman, put out a report today talking about 15 known terrorists who’ve been stopped after crossing the border. For more information on this point, you can go to the link below and read Mr. Bensman’s report.
Isn’t asylum available for these individuals in Mexico and Guatemala? What’s the condition of our border wall? What’s been the primary role of the military at the border? Where do we go from here and are there any viable solutions? Get the answers, along with the views of Crosstalk listeners, when you review this important broadcast.
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