For the past few weeks, an approaching caravan has been approaching the U.S.-Mexico border. The caravan is made up of political refugees from Central American countries who are fleeing violence in their home country. For example, in Honduras there is widespread gang violence, a drug epidemic, and rampant government corruption.

On Oct. 30, President Trump initiated Operation Faithful Patriot, which calls for over 8,000 troops to be deployed, to be deployed at the U.S.-Mexico border in California, Arizona, and Texas.

When Operation Faithful Patriot was initially announced, many people criticized President Trump for Operation Faithful Patriot. Many critics believed that President Trump is only deploying troops at the border to over exaggerate the threat of the caravan and to energize his supporters to get out and vote in  the midterm elections.

This is a possibility, but I feel that the caravan asks more important questions about the role of the United States military and the role of immigration in America.

According to the Defense Manpower Center for Data, we have over 25,000 American troops stationed in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Why is it that most people do not even raise an eyebrow when it comes to deploying troops in the Middle East, but deploying troops at our own border is so controversial?

The caravan travelling across Central America and Mexico has not been peaceful. The caravan coming into Mexico from Guatemala and Honduras resulted in a violent confrontation that injured six police Mexican police officers. One Honduran immigrant was killed and several others were injured.  As the caravan grows, it will only become more violent, because of the increasing amount of people who will be joining the caravan. If the border patrol officers are outnumbered then it will be increasingly difficult to properly vet the people who are coming into the country. Without reinforcement, American border patrol officers could become overwhelmed and suffer severe casualties. What is the point of a country’s military if it cannot protect people within the country?   

I do not beleive that every immigrant in the caravan is a violent person. I believe that most of them are probably good people trying to escape a bad situation. I am conflicted as to why the main concern during a crucial midterm election is people who are not even American citizens.

In America, 21.3 million  citizens are in deep poverty, 115 people overdose on opioids every day, and 44 million people do not have health insurance. It doesn’t make sense to me why politicians are so quick to push agendas concerning people from  faraway countries when we have an ever-growing number of problems in our own neighborhoods.

The jobs that were always guaranteed to immigrants   are slowly disappearing as well. Since Trump was elected, more than 10,000 federal jobs have been sent overseas. In addition, nearly one-third of the American workforce’s jobs will be replaced by automation by 2030. During the industrial revolution, there was a large need for immigrants to fill jobs, because many jobs were vacant. However, today, many of those jobs are either completely gone or are not as sustainable as they once were.  

I don’t consider myself a Republican or a Democrat–I only look at policies and decide which one I believe is going to better the citizens of my country. For decades, both parties believed that stricter immigration enforcement with illegal immigrants, as well as a stricter policy on asylum seekers was what was best for citizens of the country.

I believe that this caravan crisis should make people realize that there are more important concerns happening within our own borders that should be addressed, before concerning ourselves with people from other countries.