Monday’s Wall Street Journal discussed the approaching horde of Central Americans as being similar to the 1980 deluge of Cubans who were admitted by President Jimmy Carter. It’s a decent argument, but it doesn’t go far enough. What happened to Miami, where most of the Cubans ended up, must rank as one of the worst immigration disasters ever.
Some Cubans were creative in their DIY efforts to enter the US.
The 125,000 Cubans that arrived in South Florida during the Mariel boatlift was a lot for the city to absorb in a year, since Miami-Dade County in 1980 had a population of 1.6 million. But it wasn’t just the number: Cuba’s communist leader Fidel Castro used the opportunity to rid himself of criminals, the mentally deficient and any other undesirables. Naive America was ready to receive them because of the idiot “nation of immigrants” fantasy and a Democrat in the White House.
In the video below, Castro bragged, “I have flushed the toilets of Cuba on the United States.”
Spare audio here.
It’s interesting how news reports from that time are less politically correct about diverse crime than we see now. Mass immigration often has that effect.
In 1985, Fort Lauderdale’s Sun-Sentinel published a story, FIVE YEARS LATER, OVERRIDING CRIME IS MARIEL LEGACY. It noted, “an estimated 16,000 to 20,000 criminals and other misfits who have contributed to an alarming increase in South Florida crime. . . On any given day, there are 350 to 400 Mariel Cubans in Dade County jails . . .”
Back to today’s news, there are criminals in the caravan invasion according to DHS because they know a good scam when they see one. Keep in mind that Honduras in particular and Central America generally have very high homicide rates. They are not cultures one would choose to invite.
The Caravan to Nowhere, Wall Street Journal, By The Editorial Board, October 22, 2018
The march from Honduras echoes the 1980 Mariel boatlift.
These columns favor generous immigration and asylum for refugees. But when migration becomes a political weapon to foment border chaos, leaders have no choice other than to step in and protect national security. Exhibit A are the 4,000 or so Central Americans moving on foot through Mexico to the U.S.
Waves of humanity marching in lock step don’t materialize spontaneously and neither has this “caravan.” This march is organized and not necessarily for the benefit of the migrants. Mr. Trump has good reason to turn it back.
Not since the 1980 Mariel boatlift from Cuba has there been a similar attempt to overwhelm U.S. immigration law on the pretext of celebrating American freedom. Thousands of Cubans made their way to Florida when Fidel Castro temporarily lifted his Havana Curtain, and American boats of every shape and size sailed into the Caribbean to collect them.
But the sheer magnitude made it impossible to process the newcomers in an orderly fashion. Castro saw to it that criminals and the mentally ill also climbed aboard the boats. No one doubted the Cuban hunger to escape, but the unintended consequences of the mayhem were costly.
A Mariel replay now seems to be coming from Honduras. Though the details are murky, we do know that former Honduran congressman Bartolo Fuentes of the left-wing Libre Party has admitted to organizing this caravan. (Continues)
