Caravan

The caravan of thousands of people from Honduras that is now on its way on foot to the US border through Guatemala and Mexico is a pretty awesome sight based on what have been shown on TV. It will become an even more compelling sight once the horde of humanity reaches the US border.

These people are said to be fleeing hunger and violence in Honduras and probably some other countries that are in turmoil. They want to enter the United States as asylum-seekers, refugees, and immigrants. And that is where the problem arises. No one can just barge into a country citing the reasons stated above. There are laws that govern entry into any country.

One does not have to be a supporter of Donald Trump to see that the American president is mandated by law to protect the interests of his country first. That is why Trump is threatening to send thousands of troops to the border to stop the horde. Only the most intransigent of Trump's enemies are seeing it the other way.

This is the same reason why Trump has banned the entry of certain people from Islamic nations --because it is from these nations that most of the terrorists who attack America and Americans come from. It is instructive that the ban does not extend to all Islamic nations. But the enemies of Trump do not see that. They only see the need to attack Trump.

But the problem with the enemies of Trump is that they do not fight a fair fight. They only choose certain areas of the big picture and dwell on that. Look at how Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo of CNN discuss the caravan issue. They only dwell on the plight of these people and how America, as a land of immigrants, should openly welcome them with open arms.

But I have yet to hear of Lemon and Cuomo volunteer to take into their own homes some of these people and feed and clothe them. Lemon and Cuomo are quick to recall the immigrant nature of America but conveniently ignore the fact that there were no immigration laws in the pioneer days and that those who came later submitted themselves to lawful processes.

As a Filipino, I know of many compatriots who immigrated to America by undergoing the process, even waiting for decades before they can get in. They did not crash through any of America's many border crossings or entry points. They came in lawfully and are now happy, law-abiding and productive Americans.

And that is why I cannot see why some Americans would rather surrender their own interests than support a president who did not arrogate himself into power but submitted to the same process his enemies themselves submitted. Only because the result was not to their liking that they would now damn everything Trump does even if in the end it destroys America.