Nevermind the fact that Donald Trump hadn’t tweeted a word about the fakakta “caravan” since the midterm election. Nevermind the fact that all of the immigrant-bashing was just an electoral strategy that only worked in a few Senate races. Nevermind that the immigrant-bashing and the fact that the Trump regime puts babies into cages is one of the reasons why the GOP lost the House so thoroughly. Nevermind all that – clearly, the GOP sees anti-immigration and anti-brown-people as their only political North Star, the only thing they can cling to at this point. So with that in mind, the Trump regime’s agents carried out a chemical attack on women and children on foreign soil.
The Mexican border was closed for hours Sunday at the San Ysidro Port of Entry after a group of migrants in Tijuana stormed the area, prompting the U.S. Border Patrol to fire tear gas at the group.
The incident marks a serious escalation in the tensions that have roiled Tijuana in recent weeks as thousands of migrants from Central America have amassed there with hopes for entering the United States. President Trump has vowed to seal off the Mexican border in recent days and pushed to keep any migrants in Mexico as they await the immigration process.
Board Patrol officials said they used the tear gas after migrants threw objects at them. The gas was used to “dispel the group because of the risk to agents’ safety. Several agents were hit by the projectiles,” the agency said in a statement.
So that’s where we are. Nothing shocks me, and I’m not saying that in a wise, cynical way. Nothing shocks me, because we can’t even get through a long holiday weekend without agents of the Trump regime committing war crimes. Trump and his political supporters are going to burn in hell, obviously, but what was going through the minds of those Border Patrol agents? Or are they like ICE agents, in that they’re the worst of the worst and the Trump regime has made them feel like they’re off the leash?
The United States Border Patrol is shooting tear gas at children pic.twitter.com/Qa17GzsgMk
— jordan (@JordanUhl) November 25, 2018
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
This is insane. He’s threatening to close the border permanently now. We are seeing all the worst scenarios come true.
He can’t and it will end up in court. It is a legal point of entry. Dumb Bas***d
It makes me sick.
Attacking on foreign soil, isn’t that an act of terrorism/war?
I hope Trump & his supporters suffer hell on earth..
I hope this spurs the Grim Reaper to get a move on. And to the Trumpanzees and Third Partiers who used to visit this site, if you’re still lurking-Fvck you!
I don’t know if I can ever forgive what Trump voters have done and continue to do to this country. Heartless monsters.
@Kitten I feel the same way. I was reading an article recently about the Trump-lovin’ farmers who are now suffering because of the tariffs and I felt zero sympathy. Nothing. I never thought in my lifetime that I would feel that way, but here we are. They knew exactly who he was, they are responsible for the evil that’s happening, and tough sh*t for them.
@BCity some of those trump loving farmers are still standing by him even as he is the reason they are losing everything. Zero sympathy for them.
@Tate Exactly!! Even the taxpayer-funded bailout they were supposed to receive was a scam. Turns out only a few giant corporate farms have seen a dime. Who could have predicted that? Bless them for feeling entitled to our tax dollars to bail them out of their own stupidity/racism/delusions though. Let them scream George Soros conspiracy theories at a giant pile of soybeans and see if that fixes it? Burn a case of birth control pills as an offering to Mike Pence maybe? We all reap what we sow, really and truly.
He does exactly what is expected of him
and the Trumpies probably joyfully shout “yeah, give it to them dirty ‘migrants”
Oh absolutely. The deplorable pundits on twitter certainly seemed supportive.
I have no words anymore.
Is not only the trumpsters that are defending this but also many commenters in HP. It’s horribke.
And you can be sure of one thing : Next time tear gas will be thrown at US citizens. And Trump will say they were threatening. Mark my words.
I went on faux & fiends to check it out. It’s said the migrants are economic opportunists, not asylum seekers, because Mexico already gave them asylum. Also the caravan puts women & children in front of cameras for sympathy. They didn’t have to storm the border, they had housing in Mexico, they just didn’t want to stay there.
Just think of the Americans stuck at that border crossing.
Absolutely horrific. Anyone who calls themselves a Christian and supports this evil administration are absolutely the worst hypocrites in the world.
This, this, THIS. All day, every day.
Nice distraction from events in international waters near Ukraine also.
Coincidence?
No
Coordinated?
Me thinks so.
Proof?
Tweet out against NATO, shrug at CIA intelligence re Khassogi’s murder, condemn and teargas women with babies.
Something big about to drop?
You betcha!
Very much so on all counts.
I agree.
But who is it? Tom Riddle or Uday? It has to be someone in the family to get him sh!tting his diapers like this.
Emperor Zero is mid tweet thread right now scolding Mueller, so it appears something is about to happen.
Haha!
“President T” is shook Muller’s gonna spill his tea.
So sickening.
What is the correct protocol for those seeking asylum to enter the US? I’m sincerely asking because I don’t know the laws.
I may be wrong as this is all so confusing, but as I understand it, the migrants are expected to seek asylum in the first country willing to grant it. In this case, Mexico.
Do they have to apply/fill out paperwork first or contact their country’s embassy in the country they want to enter before they approach the boarder? I’m trying to make sense of this so I can make an informed opinion.
Mexico, did in fact, offer asylum. Apparently they prefer the US.
Anybody can present oneself at a legal point of entry for asylum (which these people have done). There are two issues:
1.) How to deal with them while their asylum claims are being processed. The prior process involved entering the US and either a.) being held in an immigration detention facility until one’s claim was heard or b.) being released into the US with the understanding that if the claim was denied, one would have to leave. Trump does not want either of these options. He wants them to remain in Mexico while the claims are being processed.
Asylum is an extended process, but it starts with an initial interview, in which US officials determine if there is sufficient grounds to allow preliminary entry into the US. Right now, that is what is happening. The issue is that it moves very slowly.
2.) The other issue is what constitutes asylum? Generally, one can claim asylum if they are being persecuted, on certain grounds. If you are being targeted due to your religion, sex political affiliation, tribe membership, race, etc. The definitions can change with each administration. The issue for these people is that they largely cite poverty and violence as the reasons, but this administration argues that poverty or violent crime along are not grounds for asylum – you’d have to show that you are being targeted based upon some protected status. So it may be very difficult for them to get asylum. Then, the final issue is, if they are denied, what happens? I presume some will still attempt to enter outside of legal means. Some may try to stay in Mexico, and some may go elsewhere. But right now, it’s just a big mess.
@Sam, thank you for explaining the process to me. You’re absolutely right. This whole thing is a complete mess.
Whatever the process is I’m pretty sure seeking asylum is not supposed to involve being tear gassed! Trump and his minions will have a special place in the Hereafter. A nice condo right next to the Lake of Fire!
The tear gas ONLY happened because the fence was literally crashed and cut into with wire cutters. They didn’t present themselves. The asylum app are happening 100 per day and the migrants have housing in a stadium. I guess the stadium feels too temporary. The arrangement is to stay in Mexico during the process, sadly the border was rushed at, rocks and bottles were thrown, then the tear gas. This is per MSNBC, NOT FOX.
I found this helpful, Skipper/Dietcokehead. Re: paragraph A, Safe Third Country, to my understanding the US doesn’t view Mexico as “safe” for asylum purposes. Please correct me if I’m wrong, Commenters.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1158#
I think a major reason these people want to apply for asylum in the US is simply that they have family already here. That makes it so much easier to make such a major move, since family will let you stay with them as long as needed. My family’s migration within the US followed this pattern also. One person got a job elsewhere and others looking for work could migrate later and stay with the original relative. It’s hard to even rent an apartment without a job in hand unless you’re super rich.
Also the places in Mexico where their government has offered asylum are very poor. There would be the concern about how they would find any paying work eventually. In contrast, the US actually needs immigrants, our economy would take a major hit if even just the undocumented vanished . They pay loads of taxes without getting tax refunds, stimulate the economy, and provide needed labor at all levels. Our hospitals and other medical services and our scientific and engineering work would collapse without immigrants. The US simply does not have enough people with the required education and skills and that won’t change any time soon even if we magically made education accessible to everybody and got over our cultural anti-intellectualism. Farmers find it hard even to replace migrant labor in the fields – the migrants are skilled and experienced and work very hard at difficult jobs. The available non-immigrant labor sources for seasonal work can’t make up for that.
There also might be some fears that Mexico is too close to where the people who are threatening them live and it’s too easy for the violent folks to move between those countries.
Has any reliable independent source confirmed that migrants were tossing anything at the agents? Seems a tad counterproductive if you’re applying for asylum, as well as a tad convenient for Trump’s rock-throwing migrants who must be shot scenarios. I wonder what objects were meant? If they were rocks, I would assume the report would say so. Can’t be snowballs…
MSNBC reported the rock & bottlle throwing, the rising at the gates and cutting the gate literally. I -get- the need to leave a violent place. I grew up in a barrio and migrated to the white parts of America. I know it’s hard, but we have violent drug cartels within our own borders. I know the Honduran people suffer, but dear white people. WE SUFFER HERE AS WELL. Before we take on the problems of other nations, from 1st hand experience, we have violence HERE. We need resources HERE.
It’s just insane that this administration seemingly has no Central American diplomatic personnel, policies, or strategy to ask or explain why massive groups of people are fleeing their own countries in such a desperate manner and what the United States could do at the origin to remedy the situation. Instead, our administration just sits there for months blaring about it and demanding that Mexico do something, which it won’t because Mexico is also in complete disarray. And, of course, seemingly no one in our administration admits that it is likely our earlier foreign policy for decades that largely contributed to the deteriorating situation in the countries that the migrants are fleeing.
The United States could stop overthrowing Democratically elected governments for a start.
Yes…The United States can STOP being one of the MAIN REASONS why so many South American countries are going to hell and a handbasket…but HEY…that would be too much like RIGHT! Besides…fascism can’t flourish if there isn’t chaos and despair….
DEAR WHITE PEOPLE. I know your strip mall seems all boring, but HELL EXISTS RIGHT HERE IN THE US. Every asylum seeker story- I’ve LIVED, right here in the US of A. The barrios, the inner cities. Drug cartels and dirty cops. Mainly for us brown/blacks. Why so much sympathy for the migrants “who need a better life”. How about focus slightly less than two feet in front of your face?? We do indeed have a crisis of too many illegals not participating in civics. Too much taking and not enough giving- tho you don’t see it cuz your cash wages are low?? How about keep working to vote in diversity in the Senate and show up for candidates who want to improve life for working people?
He’s disgusting! They’re gassing human beings who are planning on seeking asylum after leaving their dangerous countries, and it’s is cruel and crazy.This counts as him overusing power and taking it way too far. This isn’t a dangerous group of criminals like Trump claims, I see babies and toddlers with their families looking for safety
This truly sickens me. He is using MY money to do this and doing i it in our name.
And Lindsey Graham expressed full support for hurling chemical weapons at toddlers yesterday. South Carolina, please remove that pig from the US Senate in 2020.
I read on Daily Fail that they’re using rubber bullets too. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if at some point he orders the military to do something even worse to them.
The military stationed down there has been authorized to use lethal force if it’s deemed necessary.
It makes me want to puke.
These people spend went down to the US-Mexican Border to assault and harm migrants on the day where they show gratitude for their ancestors who migrated to the US from European countries. Happy Thanksgiving Border Patrol.
This is a way more concerning than where Harry and Meghan are going live (though I do enjoy the gossip…). He is truly insane.
How is this shit legal??
It’s not. I hope the UN steps in.
Wait, these people are trying to force their way across our border and you are wondering if this shit is legal? No, it’s not legal to cross the border into the US without proper authorization. And from what I’ve seen, the men more than outnumber the women and children. They chose to put their children at risk by forcing themselves on the border and it’s not like they haven’t been warned. If you are so concerned about them, why don’t you offer to put them up at your house?
It is the same shortsightness in Europe. Migration =\= Asylum. People just mix it up.
There’s a good article on the intercept that discusses how many of these asylum seekers having been waiting in limbo at the boreder for weeks. They’re given the run around by both the American and Mexican officials.
If you ever want to make yourself nauseous with horror, read accounts from people who have been tear-gassed to see how bad it really is. A lot of people have criticized its use as the “nonviolent” option.
My grandson, who joined the Navy this past spring, had to go through tear gas training. He said it isn’t pleasant and it’s controlled not like this. I can’t imagine it.
I was teargassed in Colorado Springs in 2003 during an Iraq war protest. It was absolutely horrible and it was almost a week before my eyes stopped burning, and my chest was so sore from coughing.
I only hope it was really breezy that day and the wind carried the worst of it away from those poor folks (and the children. I’m still in ‘THEY TEAR-GASSED CHILDREN!’ horrified mode)…
Also it counts as a ‘chemical weapon’ according to the Geneva Conventions.
I’m not a asylum seeking expert but I’m pretty sure it’s not supposed to involve being tear gassed! I’m ashamed to be an American when these things happen from Trump.
While I agree that tear-gassing people is wrong, I also understand why some peoole do not want floods of migrants coming into their country, especially when there are already people who need help/are in poverty in said country. Is the USA supposed to take in every single person who wants in? Is such a notion fesible or even safe? Mexico might not be the dream destination for these people but it is likely better than where they originated so why not stay in Mexico?
Anyways, with that idiot POTUS in charge, things will only get worse and these people will likely regret ever attempting to enter the US 😣
Your concerns are exactly why a caravan of refugees should be met with organized assistance and legal process, not tear gas. The Government was not caught unaware by this influx of migrants, and could have prepared an orderly procedure to make sure that each migrant is assessed and given a hearing to make a case, in order to decide if they are suitable and if there is means to keep them here. Instead, tear gas, which is just gonna cause chaos and disorganization, meaning more people will be in here without our knowing than if we met them with lawyers and judges. That doesn’t make us safer, imo.
I agree with you in that the government knew this was coming and Trump instead chose to go to rallies nonstop before the midterms. To help him did not fit into his agenda to fire up his base. This was totally avoidable.
Should the USA take in every immigrant no, but seeking Asylum is a legal way of entering this country. Should every person be granted Asylum, again no, but Trump and this administration are trying to stop any immigrants from certain countries( i.e. Black and Brown) being able to enter this country legally. Should the immigrants just stay in Mexico again no because Mexico is only behind Syria with the most killings in the world. You also ask is it the USA’s responsibility to take in immigrates when it has its own citizens to worry about, but have you looked into the USA’s role in why all Central America and Mexico are in such turmoil and have such poverty. The USA government has ties to and direct involvement with cartels and other issues that are destroying these countries.
Yes, we have citizens in need of help but this is not an either or situation. Blocking immigrants does not mean Trump and McConnell are going to help homeless veterans when they have never demonstrated a desire to do so in the past.
Exactly. An immigrant doesn’t somehow *steal* the place or the resources of an American citizen.
It’s not pie.
Yes, Trump and this administration doesn’t care about helping any of the poor or disadvantaged from this country. So to say that these immigrants will be taking recourses from them is crazy. This administration is actually trying to stop any type of assistance to low income and disabled individuals.
@Sheryl. But The donald just told Cohn to print more money. There, problem solved.
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1066776458192932864?s=21
“Yes, we have citizens in need of help but this is not an either or situation. Blocking immigrants does not mean Trump and McConnell are going to help homeless veterans when they have never demonstrated a desire to do so in the past.”
EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I see this argument a lot, and I can see why someone might think that way. But sadly, our homeless vets and hungry kids will still be homeless and hungry, whether we help these asylum seekers or not.
Morally one has generally more obligations towards one’s own compatriots than towards foreigners. Crisis situations might temporarily increase one’s obligations towards foreigners but long term …
@ Sheryl-You sound a helluva lot like Kirstjen Nielson and by that I mean that you sound woefully misinformed and paranoid.
Trump’s new immigration policy is based on an expansion of existing law, which already bars many non-citizens from accessing public aid and seeks to ensure immigrant families are self-supporting. Immigrants now need to show that they are self-sufficient in order to not “drain” our billions and billions of taxpayer money.
But the problem with that line of thinking is that immigrants are not a sap on “finite” resources. Long term, immigrants actually contribute MORE to the government’s coffers than they receive in social spending. And you need to understand that these programs are not just welfare or a handout, but an investment, so that these families are healthy, educated, and able to work and support themselves over the course of generations. The vast majority of immigrants-even illegal ones-pay taxes. Are you seriously saying that they should pay billions (yes-BILLIONS) in taxes but not be allowed to benefit from the social programs they are paying for?
So no, it’s NOT pie and it never has been. Maybe take the time to familiarize yourself with the numerous studies that have shown that immigrants are a net positive for our country. Or maybe just wait until we encounter an inevitable labor shortage, a depressed economy, and a rapidly decreasing quality of life just because you and others are scared that brown people might steal your pie piece. Maybe then you’ll understand.
Kitten I reviewed your answer to Sheryl. I agree with her. Immigrants with the countries language and with specific skills help countries and are often very needed. They quickly become part of the country. Immigrants with no language and no skills contribute frequently to the increasing poverty in the US. Let’s say that the city of Modesto in California suddenly received 500,000 immigrants who did not speak the language and had no skills. Would that make the city richer? Or would there be a strain on housing, medical needs, education etc. Who pays for that? A person who cannot work does not contribute to taxes. The increase immigration in recent years has made the US much poorer. Why is the US taking about people needing help for food etc. Because they are so poor. It is because there are not enough good paying jobs for the many who have immigrated. Some live in the US for years and never learn the language. I believe in letting people in the US who are being tortured and kill like that poor woman Asia in Pakistan. However coming from a poor country does not qualify. That would be several billion people in the world. The US resources are strained and yes they can print more money but they soon will be like Latin America if they do. There has to be some control on immigration.
Janet – Our poverty is not due to immigrants. Where did you get that idea? Immigrants generally need sponsors who promise to support them as needed, so they are actually a better bet than many of us native-born when it comes to avoiding adding to poverty.
Immigrants stimulate the economy. The educational and linguistic level of the immigrant is not relevant – their children become educated and acquire native fluency in English quite fast. Any group of people willing to uproot themselves and come to an entirely new country is bound to have more entrepreneurs along them also. Immigrants bring more than their labor, skilled or unskilled. It is unrealistic to expect people who are already doing well back home to want to relocate here, though. People make such drastic changes because they are not doing so well typically. The highly skilled and educated are likely to have a lot more options and can decide to go elsewhere any time.
Most European-Americans are here because their ancestors didn’t have the desired economic opportunities back home. This includes both people like Trump’s mother whose family was dirt poor in Scotland and who had no special skills (she wanted to find work as a domestic servant) and others who were financially comfortable enough but just wanted to do better. Many immigrants coming through the southern border today send money back home to help others in their family, as was a common practice for those from Europe.
JWOOLMAN. Yes in theory what you are saying sounds great but in reality not so much. For example the US has a huge shortage of jobs for unskilled labour’s that pays well enough to support a family. Years ago restaurant jobs and those like it were for high school and college kids working through university. Jobs for unskilled labour’s that could support a family were manufacturing, coal etc. Now with immigration many unskilled labour’s work the restaurant industry etc for their life work. This creates poverty. The US does not have good paying jobs currently. The ones who would cross the border now would end up working in low paying jobs. As well the second generation Does not always intragrate well. We have individuals in my area that cane from Burma. They are sweet people not violent. However they don’t believe in education and the second generation the girls are getting married like at 17 and having babies. They are all working in low paying jobs and frequently the boys get into the drug scene to make money. It has been years with very little progress. They then end up in jail and angry and the cycle continues. As well all these people need health and dental care. To pretend that this doesn’t cost the country money in ignoring the facts. The truth is that nations who have little to no immigration do very well Japan and some Northern Europe until lately. That is why their social systems work well because they don’t have the large drain. I am not saying that I disagree with immigration. We obviously need it to a point. But to pretend that in allowing hundreds of thousands of people in would actually make the country more prosperous is just not true
Immigrants are not stealing your piece of the pie. The problem is that the 1% in America have 70% of the pie, and the rest of are scrabbling to survive on the remaining 30%. Talk about your utterly misplaced concerns about who is draining this country’s resources. Like, literally, these people just gave high income earners a tax break in a time when the government debt is continuously skyrocketing higher.
You can easily fix the issue of “unskilled” labor being underpaid by raising the minimum wage. Or investing in subsidizing trade and college education programs to produce more skilled labor. Suggesting unskilled labor is the only underpaid segment of America is ridiculous, anyhow. The median wage for workers across the working and middle class spectrum has stagnated for the past few decades. Middle class income literally dropped nearly 10% in the 2000s. That has nothing to do with immigrants coming into this country. That has to do wealth hoarding and people f*cking around with the financial markets to the point where they almost crash.
As for Japan and Europe, I’m honestly just kind of baffled as to who told you the literal complete opposite of what’s going on in those nations. Their emerging issues have nothing to do with immigration policies. They have to do with the fact that this is the first time in history we’ve had the technology to artificially extend age past the natural death AND the ability to control family size. We have literally known for DECADES – and I do mean decades, I remember them discussing this in the early 90s when I was a kid – about how their anti-immigration policies were going to bite them in the ass by the mid-21st century. To fund socioeconomic programs, you have to have taxpayers. YOUNG taxpayers. Because aging taxpayers begin costing more than they’re putting in at a certain point. Birth rates went down as a natural result of contraception, women’s rights improvements, and the sheer cost of industrialized living. The natural way you offset that is by a.) increasing family support systems to improve family size, b.) increasing your immigration intake, or c.) uh, I guess you could let your old people die instead of treating them, but that’s kind of messed up, ain’t it?
It’s not like our government-Federal, State or Local-goes out of its way to aid the homeless or otherwise suffering-programs being cut, shelters closing. But I bet, if say Scandanavians were foolish enough to want to leave their countries and immigrate here, they’d be welcomed with open arms. Especially those hard raking Finns. Jokes aside, it’s obvious that non-white populations are targeted for this treatment. Can you imagine this happening on our border with Canada?
What we really need to do is find a better way to handle “mass migration” like this. Everyone wants complain but someone needs to find solutions. Tear gas is NOT the answer. I do wonder if these migrants think about life in America. They can’t speak English and have no money. I don’t know the laws but I don’t think you can go on social assistance if you’re an asylum seeker can you? Either way, there has to be a better way to help these people. They are in despair.
First of all, the US has a huge hand in the reason why these people are fleeing. The least they could do is actually permit the people to Request asylum. People have been on the border unable to speak to anyone for weeks. This may come as a surprise to you, but America and European countries, while having a huge hand in our current refugee crisis actually take in very few of the people in. “3rd world” countries have been absorbing the many refugees westerners created. The least you can do is give these people a chance.
I agree on all counts.
This is so horrifying. These people have endured and already survived so much and now to face this attack is incomprehensible.
I’m terribly ashamed, but this is us. This is America. Can’t deny it.
@Darla this what America has always been. As a POC I can attest to this. None of this is shocking. Trump being elected just brought this to the surface.
This anti-immigration stuff will last through 2020 and beyond if the left doesn’t sweep 2020. Fear and otherizing people who were once allies is all they got. I wouldn’t say I find any of this shocking but it continues to be heartbreaking. I live less than an hour from Nogales, Arizona’s major point of entry. So many people I love have friends and family in Mexico that they cannot see right now because they don’t want to cross the boarder. Trump and his racist ilk are basically keeping citizens and non-citizens alike hostages beyond locking them up in cages at the boarder. It’s so sick and deeply un-American.
Don’t think much will get done today about the situation. In looking at his agenda for today, all he has going in two rallies in Georgia and nothing else. This all could have been avoided. Also read that Kirstjen Nielsen is defending the actions. Guess she’s trying to keep her job since Trump doesn’t think she hasn’t been strong enough in this area. And GM is closing plants and laying off 15% of it’s work force.
The rallies are in Mississippi in support of “front row at a hanging” Senate candidate Hyde-Smith.
It is this law which prevents immigrants from seven countries from the near and middle east and africa to move into the USA.
“Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015”
Obama did sign it.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/158/text