The current wave of refugees streaming toward the U.S. from Central America seems to inspire a certain kind of fear and worry among many Americans. It’s as if we’ve never seen this before. But large numbers of immigrants showing up at our border is nothing new. It's a near-constant.

The flow of foreign residents seeking to chisel their own place in our society is actually a normal occurrence. Whether they are fleeing violence, political strife or economic uncertainty, immigrants have always been allowed to lawfully enter the U.S. under various provisions of our immigration structure.


Illegal immigration is also a reality. But with the current surge of Central American immigrants, illegal immigration is not the issue. The majority of people fleeing their countries today are legally seeking asylum at the border.

The arrival of thousands of new immigrants does not constitute a crisis or national emergency. Contrary to President Donald Trump’s shockingly ill-informed statement, the United States is not full.

In recent decades, millions of refugees have been granted permission to enter the U.S. In the years following the fall of Saigon, between 1.3 and 1.6 million Vietnamese were welcomed into the U.S. In 1980, nearly 130,000 Cuban exiles entered the U.S. during the Mariel Boatlift. In each event, the American immigration system handled each surge according to the specific laws that applied. Immigrants eligible to enter were duly processed while those with criminal or undesirable backgrounds were turned away. That’s the way the system works.

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The fact is, surges like the current one happen every few years and Customs and Border Protection always handles it, sometimes while facing extremely difficult political and policy challenges. No question, our front-line border protection officials deserve praise for their performance under trying circumstances.

Like everyone else who has come here from somewhere else, immigrants simply want a better life for themselves and their children. Undeniably, immigrants enrich the soul of America. They pay their taxes, educate their children and make positive contributions to the fabric of our culture. They always have. The number of MS-13 criminals attempting to enter is minuscule by comparison.

President Trump’s handling of the current situation is shameful and unnecessarily cruel. Immigrants pose little or no threat to national security. Through his rhetoric and actions, Trump has shown he has no love for people of foreign origins. It is patently untrue that we can't afford to help immigrants. We have a history of helping desperate people. If we can give trillions of dollars in subsidies and tax breaks to wealthy corporations and individuals who don't need the money, we can easily afford to help a few thousand immigrants.

Roy Ortega is a retired El Paso journalist.

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