I don't talk about this a ton, but now feels right... I used to be a journalist covering human trafficking on the US Mexico border.
I’ve crossed the border illegally covering migrants and cartels countless times. I saw young women in the morgue after they were raped and brutalized in Juarez.
I saw a man get stabbed by a coyote in the gut, a terrible way to die. I know the sound a human makes when it happens. I knew a kid Neftali Fuentes who crossed 100 times helping others not die in the desert across Arizona.
I’ve seen cartel wars play out on the streets of Juarez, bodies dangling from over passes. I’ve been held at gun and knife point before. Those who say open borders are humane have no idea what they’re talking about. You live in an air-conditioned suburb that might as well be an ivory tower. Do not tell me what we do now is virtuous; it is cowardice.
I hope we do what is right, which is secure the border, stop criminals from profiting off of misery, and help support local governments to be better, like El Salvador. I know borders and the separation of humans feels sad and impossible. But if you don’t understand this, yet you’ve never been to the border, never spoken to border patrol, never seen the many crosses of raped women in the desert, maybe get down off your high horse and try to understand the US can only have sanctuary cities... if we can keep the place a sanctuary.