Here we go again
We must be on the cusp of another election year. How do I know? Because the news is full of “migrant caravans” coming up from Central America, across Mexico to “invade the United States.” This is one of those news stories that crops up every two years, just in time for the November election.
Psst. I’ll let you in on a little secret, brothers and sisters. There are ALWAYS migrant “caravans” coming up from Central America and across Mexico to “invade the United States.” Migrants have been moving north in large numbers for decades. When enough of them do, you can occasionally draw a circle or a rectangle around them and call them a “caravan” — whenever it’s politically expedient to do so.
By the way, as global warming gets worse thanks to all those oil companies Republicans keep subsidising, those “caravans” will get larger year on year. So you might say climate change has one feature that Republicans can exploit. It increases the number of refugees fleeing warmer countries.
Another thing you will be hearing a lot more of as November gets closer, is that the refugees are fleeing in caravans because “it’s Biden’s fault.” If Biden didn’t make the United States so weak and therefore attractive to immigrants, the narrative goes, they wouldn’t bother coming. They would be too scared, just like they were under Donald Trump.
There’s just one problem with that narrative. Remember when Donald Trump sent hundreds of troops to the Mexican border to stave off the “migrant caravans” marching up from Central America? That was in October of 2018, just ahead of the November elections. But then the public’s collective memory is short, a thing that Republicans are both aware of and keen to exploit.
By the way, as soon as the election was over the troops were quietly withdrawn and talk about caravans instantly evaporated. There were no more scary stories about immigrants invading in caravans or otherwise. Until 2020, of course.
Not only are Republicans attempting to inspire terror in order to secure more votes based on fear and bigotry, they’re blaming Biden for those “brown hordes” marching toward the Mexican border. Of course, thousands of migrants unlawfully cross the Mexican-American border every day and have been doing so for more than a hundred years.
I recall the problem from personal experience. I lived in San Diego for 26 years. They were talking about it and complaining about it back then. They were talking and complaining about it in the 70s under Nixon and Ford and Carter, then they were talking and complaining about it in the 80s under Reagan, then they were talking and complaining about it under Bush and Clinton in the 90s. That’s around the time I moved to the east coast.
So it’s nothing new. It’s not a Democrat or a Republican thing. It’s a human thing. America has jobs that only migrants, of both the legal and illegal variety, are willing to fill. They are hired in huge numbers by companies many of which are run by Republicans. If they stopped coming America would be in one hell of a mess. America’s vital infrastructure would slow down significantly. Some industries would come grinding to a halt.
I’ll admit it that immigrants fleeing difficult circumstances from their inhospitable native nations is a problem of sorts. It’s a problem here in Britain, too. But the problem is one of bureaucracy and money, not character. These people aren’t criminals, any more than large collections of Americans or Britons are criminals. They’re just doing what you and I would be doing if we were in their shoes living in their awful circumstances.
I tell you this, I would rather live next door to an immigrant than a MAGA Republican any day. Come to think of it, I do. My neighbour next door is a very nice lady from Germany. Come to think of it, I’m an immigrant too. Come to think of it, most of us are. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.