UNITED STATES—People fear different things lately and nowhere are differences more starkly revealed than on each side of the political spectrum. Although the common denominator is most often the general unease about our security, half of us will name criminal caravans of migrants flooding into our country as an enormous threat to our nation’s safety. Others see climate change as the number one threat to our very existence.
It doesn’t seem to matter to many of us that women and children are not threatening our very lives. Further, most people here illegally are those who overstay their visas. Numbers provided by our government show that drugs and guns overwhelmingly cross over the border at legal points of entry, or they enter via underground tunnels. An economic factor they might also consider is that the seasonal migrants arriving here to pick our strawberries and other produce in back-breaking, blisteringly hot conditions are what keep our paychecks from forking out more for our fruits and vegetables.
But to many others, security is predicated on our actual survival, and climate change is what keeps them up at night. Those who believe the scientists also believe what they see and feel. Extreme heat and cold, monster storms of truly biblical proportions, and melting glaciers creating rising sea levels along our coasts have grabbed our attention and pushed aside any fear of family border crossers that others find so threatening.
Although protecting our borders certainly concerns all of us, many believe that better technology, more effective screening of visa applications and the support of our intelligence agencies by providing sufficient staff and funding would more effectively accomplish our goals than simply building walls and separating parents from their children.
But if you are one who is truly alarmed about migrants trying to claim asylum here, the irony of the following should give you serious pause as you consider just how our government would be able to address your security concerns when, as of this writing, we have:
-NO head of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
-NO head of U.S. Border Patrol
-NO head of U.S. Department of Homeland Security
-NO head of Department of Defense
-NO head of CISA (cyber security infrastructures)
-NO head of U.S. Secret Service
This list was shown on Saturday Night Live, a comedy show. But in no way is this list funny.
