Two weeks ago I warned that Mexico was dangerously unprepared for a coronavirus outbreak and that once it hit, it would spread quickly, overwhelming a weak and corrupt Mexican state and a woefully inadequate health-care system. Despite warnings from health officials that an outbreak was inevitable, the Mexican government had done almost nothing to prepare and refused...
The Trump administration on Jan. 31 announced travel restrictions aimed at reducing the number of people coming to the United States from China to flatten the infection curve of the novel coronavirus that emerged out of Wuhan. The reaction from the People’s Republic of China and the American left was immediate: harsh criticism that President Donald...
One year ago, on March 5, I became an American citizen, just a few miles away from the Alamo. It is only fitting that this special milestone in my life also happened just three days after the anniversary of Texas’ Independence, because I found in Texas what I was looking for in America. To me,...
Liberal activists and open border advocates argue that sanctuary policies are good for the communities that adopt them because they make them safer by increasing trust between illegal aliens and the police. But the victims and their families do not agree. There are countless cases of violent crimes — including rape and murder — that...
To combat the transnational human trafficking of migrants in the U.S, the traditional 4P Paradigm—preventing trafficking, protecting and assisting victims, investigating and prosecuting trafficking crimes, and partnering with national, regional, and global stakeholders—is still the best path forward. However, much remains to be done to make this strategy more effective. Reestablishing the rule of law...
As Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries experience rampant violence and corruption, hundreds of thousands of their people seek to leave the region to come to the United States. Most disturbingly, these populations are immediately vulnerable to human traffickers and related criminal organizations that currently operate with too little risk of punishment. The Mexican government...
January is National Slavery and Human-Trafficking Prevention Month. It’s estimated that there are 25 million victims of human trafficking around the world and that human trafficking is a $150-billion-per-year industry globally. In the U.S., the National Human Trafficking Hotline has received almost 300,000 contacts, and around 52,000 cases of human trafficking have been reported since 2007 While human-trafficking — also known as modern-day slavery...
Never letting a crisis go to waste, the left responded to the horrific deaths of American citizens —including children — in Mexico by calling for gun control here. Writing in the New York Times earlier this month, Ioan Grillo said the best way to disarm Mexican criminal cartels is by disarming Americans. “Last year, 70 percent of...
Border security is at the forefront of the American political psyche. With the on-going crisis at the southern border and the endless efforts by the Trump administration to address it, it’s a recurring subject of heated debate. However, a fundamental question is often overlooked: What does a secure border even look like? This is a much harder...
They’re used to finding bodies in Brooks County, Texas. It’s nothing new: They have discovered the remains of over 650 dead migrants in this part of the Lone Star State since 2009. Brooks County Sheriff Benny Martinez estimates that for every body recovered, there are five others that are never found. That means he suspects...
It’s easy to forget the faces behind the numbers, especially when it comes to immigration. But the migration crisis at the southern border isn’t just a matter of scope, although the Border Patrol has truly been overwhelmed by an unprecedented amount of border crossings. A humanitarian problem is at the root of this migration crisis...
What would your “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” essay look like? More to the point, what would Congress’ look like? While the House and the Senate adjourned for all of August (and had little to show for June and July), the White House was hard at work addressing the crisis at the border....