Stephen Dinan reports for the Washington Times:
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen warned Sunday that the illegal immigrant caravan heading toward the U.S. could be exploited by cartels that control most of the illegal flow of people through Latin America.
Ms. Nielsen also praised the efforts of Mexico and Central American governments she said are working with the U.S. to try to contain the caravan, rather than enable it.
While some among the once-5,000 member caravan have given up and returned to Honduras, local reports say about 2,000 people have barged into Mexico and vow to press on to the U.S., defying the will of the Mexican and American governments.Warnings of a get-tough policy from U.S. officials have done little to deter the migrants, who for years have seen relatives and neighbors easily jump the border to enter the U.S. with little consequence. The ease of entering is a selling point for the cartels, who control the drug and human smuggling routes into the U.S. and require payment of a "mafia fee" just to cross the U.S.-Mexico boundary line.
Court records show that fee typically runs from $1,000 to $2,000. That doesn't include thousands of dollars in other fees that cover foot guides, drivers, stash houses and the rest of the illegal journey.
"While we closely monitor the caravan crisis, we must remain mindful of the transnational criminal organizations and other criminals that prey on the vulnerabilities of those undertaking the irregular migration journey," Ms. Nielsen said in a statement Sunday.
Decencyevolves: In other words:
“Donald Trump and his political allies have embarked on an aggressive, end-of-the-campaign effort to drum up fear among voters about a caravan of poor migrants several thousand miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. Much of it is mistruths and embellishments, but Trumpland could care less.
‘It doesn’t matter if it’s 100 percent accurate,’ a senior Trump administration official told The Daily Beast. ‘This is the play.’”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-own-teams-know-his-caravan-claims-arent-true-dont-particularly-care?source=twitter&via=desktop
No, not "in other words." Even if one makes the large assumption that the Daily Beast is accurate, the story does not contradict the assertion that organized crime may exploit the people in the caravan.
As for "Trumpland could care less," if it is possible for those the authors call "Trumpland" to care less than they do, then they necessarily care some. Either (1) the authors are saying they do care, or (2) the authors are ignorant of elementary logic.
The grammatical point is a fair one, if slight. To quite the great Wierd Al Yankovic:
“I hate these word crimes
Like ‘I could care less’ (Hey, Hey, Hey!)
That means you DO care
At least a little”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc
That said, the notion that Middle Easterners and criminals are going to use the caravan to infiltrate the US is unfounded and counterintuitive. Why bother with a caravan that is getting great media scrutiny and travel all the way from Guatemala and Honduras when there are so much easier ways to enter illegally. It’s xenophobic propaganda for the President to use at rallies that will evaporate like the morning dew and Republican fears of Ebola in 2014 as soon as the midterms pass.
Once more, with feeling, the point you are refuting is not the point Ms. Nielsen made.
We have found some common ground, though. I love Weird Al.
Admittwdky, I’m refuting comments made by the President, not Secretary Nielsen. It is appalling that the Administration continues to put out baseless statements in order to inflame the GOP base in advance of the midterms. We do agree on Weird Al though. I made my daughter listen to Word Crimes until she had had more than enough.