Episode 47: The Leftists Behind the Migrant Caravan

The Open Border Activists Behind the Illegal Immigrant Caravans Thanks for tuning in. I�m Jared Cummings and I�m Hayden Ludwig and this is the Influence Watch Podcast. This week we�re filling in for our regular host, Michael Watson. In this episode we�ll discuss the caravan from Central America seeking to illegally cross the border into the United States. They have already broken through the Mexico�s border fence, and in preparation for a clash at our border, Defense Secretary James Mattis has dispatched 800 U.S. soldiers in hopes of helping law enforcement peacefully stop the caravan from breaking into the country. Will that be enough? Hayden, How many people are in this caravan? Right now there�s a group of roughly 4,000 economic migrants making its way from El Salvador and Honduras to the U.S. The caravan and many on the Left are calling them �refugees,� which would mean that the U.S. is obligated under international law to grant them asylum. Instead, they�re after jobs, food, welfare�all the amenities of a 1st World country. What�s conveniently forgotten by many people backing the �refugee� branding is that international law requires refugees to be given asylum in the first country they set foot in�in this case, Mexico. But they�re not stopping in Mexico, they�re set on coming here. So the U.S. isn�t obligated to receive them either way. So if the US isn�t obligated to let this caravan walk on through, who is demanding they be let in? Left-wing activists Lefist activits where? In the US? Yes So when President Trump recently claimed that leftist activists in America organized the caravan. Is that true? The New York Times and the Washington Post have claimed that, unlike previous such caravans, this one was spontaneously generated. They note that �no group has claimed responsibility for organizing� it. And that�s partially true�no group has taken credit for the caravan. But one nonprofit�the illegal immigrant advocacy front Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or �People Without Borders��has been organizing these kinds of caravans to enter the U.S. illegally since 2010. And reports from the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and the Mexican newspaper La Jornada reveal that at least 2 Pueblo activists are embedded in this latest caravan. Give us some background - who is Pueblo Sin Fronteras? Pueblo is based in Chicago, where it appears to be closely affiliated with 2 other pro-illegal immigration groups: Centro Sin Fronteras, or �Center Without Borders,� and La Familia Latina Unida, or �the United Latin Family.� Of these, the Center is the oldest group. It was created in 1987 by Emma Lozano, a pastor at the Lincoln United Methodist Church in Chicago. Lozano herself is very active in recent-immigrant and illegal immigrant communities; her church has hosted application workshops for DACA (the �Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals� program) and DREAMers, who are a protected class of children of illegal immigrants. She�s also tied to the pro-illegal immigration group LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens), which has a member on the board of Pueblo. Lozano has also called for an end to deportations of illegal immigrants. FUNDING The Center is funded with grants from the Public Welfare Foundation and the National Immigration Forum, which itself is funded by major foundations like Carnegie, Ford, MacArthur, and George Soros�s Open Society Foundations. So Pueblo is partially funded by George Soros? Yep. Tell us more about the other group, La Familia Latina Unida. I understand it was founded by an illegal immigrant, Elvira Arellano. What�s the connection to Pueblo and the Center? Arellano was a Mexican citizen who crossed into the U.S. illegally in 1997. She was deported� and then promptly crossed the border again. She eventually made it to Chicago, where she was arrested for working under a false Social Security number. The Center protested the arrest, Arellano wasn�t deported, and she joined the Center around 2001. Arellano created La Familia around this time after hiding from immigration authorities in a Methodist church in Chicago closely connected to Emma Lozano�s church. � IS SHE STILL IN THE COUNTRY? She got a stay of deportation last year. CLARIFY � LA FAMILIA AND PUEBLO As far as connections go, La Familia and Pueblo Sin Fronteras seem to act as one organization. They share the same address and overlap staff with each other and the Center. So, we know that the Center, Pueblo, and La Familia have worked with illegal immigrants here in America. Explain their connection with the caravans in Central America. It�s a bit hazy. We know that Pueblo organized most if not all of the last caravan like this in March and April because they took credit for it in a press release And that caravan was smaller, right? About 1,500 people versus 4,000+ now. They released a press release at the time demanding the U.S. and Mexico �open the[ir] borders to us because we are as much citizens as the people of the counties where we are and/or travel.� But they�ve said they didn�t organize the current one, right? That�s true. The facts suggest otherwise, though. At least 2 Pueblo activists�Denis Omar Contreras and Rodrigo Abeja�have been identified as leading the caravan through Guatemala and now Mexico. A Pueblo organizer, Alex Mensing, also held a protest in San Francisco supporting the caravan. Another Pueblo activist, Irineo Mujica, was arrested by Mexican officials at the Guatemalan border during a protest in support of the caravan. And when Pueblo released a press release demanding the U.S. let the caravan enter illegally, Mujica was listed as a press contact. So if it looks like a duck and talks like a duck� You�re dead on. BOTTOM LINE The bottom line is what the liberal magazine the Atlantic admits: if this caravan is allowed to violate U.S. law and cross into the country illegally, it will only signal to others that the America won�t protect its border. There�s already another caravan reportedly forming in Honduras as we speak�it�s decision time. That�s our show for this week. If you�re listening to this on Youtube we encourage you to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and if you have subscribed, thank you and please leave us a five-star rating. We�ll see you next week!