Families of people killed by illegal immigrants visited the U.S.–Mexico border on Dec. 14 to call for stronger border security.
The Angel Families organization held a rally giving parents whose children were murdered a chance to speak in support of building the border wall, KUSI
reported.
“We are fighting so that no other American family has to feel the pain and the grief that we do,” said Mary Ann Mendoza, whose son was killed by an illegal alien in 2014.
The families and activists gathered near the San Ysidro Port of Entry, which offers a crossing point between San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico.
Agnes Gibboney immigrated to the United States from Brazil by way of Hungary. In 2002, her son was shot and killed by a gang member who entered the Unites States illegally after previously being deported. She had a message for those in the migrant caravan who are waiting in Mexico, seeking to cross the border illegally.
“Go back home, and if you’re really serious about coming to this country, start by respecting our laws,” Gibboney told KUSI News.
She also gave general advice for anybody seeking to immigrate to the United States legally.
“I think anybody that wants to come here: apply, follow the law, go through the background investigation, full medical, and then you come in.”
Speakers at the rally expressed their disappointment in Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). The two Democratic leaders met with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in the
Oval Office on Dec. 11. They argued against a border wall, while Trump said the wall was crucial to the country’s border security.
“We’re calling on all Americans to support President Trump who’s fighting hard to keep his campaign promise to build the wall,” Gibboney said at the rally, via KUSI. “We need to build the wall so we can prevent the needless loss of life at the hands of illegal aliens.”
Trouble in Tijuana
The United States government temporarily closed the entry port for several hours on Nov. 25 after around 1,000 members of the Central American migrant caravan rushed the border and tried to enter the United States illegally. San Ysidro is one of the world’s busiest border crossings.“This makes the president’s point: That these are people who are willing to not just defy immigration law in an abstract sense—crossing a border where nobody is looking—but actually rush the border in the full light of day,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, via the
LA Times.Mexican authorities are struggling to shelter the newly-arrived population of Central Americans. Some of the migrants are living on the street because of conditions in overcrowded shelters, while others want to be as close to the border as possible, according to UNICEF USA, via a Newsweek
interview.
