Ryan Mecca | Migrant Caravan Continues North, Defying Mexico and U.S.

         A caravan of thousands of immigrants from South America makes its way to the Mexican border in hopes of crossing into the U.S. Usually these types of caravans contain only a few hundred people, and can often go somewhat unnoticed by border patrol, however, thousands of immigrants are nearly impossible for these border patrol to not notice and to control.
         We are aware that Donald Trump, our current president, has always strongly disliked immigrants, claiming he would "build a wall" and this caravan has only brought out angry tweets from both him and other citizens of the U.S., concerning whether or not it's fair that so many illegal immigrants are entering our country, while thousands wait to receive visas and their citizenship. While I recognize and complement these immigrants' hard work and perseverance to come to America, I do believe that it may be causing much more harm than good. The authors of this article, Maya Averbuch and Kirk Semple, through their use of quotes from the immigrants themselves, seem to lean towards the side of the immigrants, while I will have to disagree. Though they are most likely not harmful, these immigrants are providing a distraction to the border patrol, who will now be attending mostly to the thousands rather than controlling others who may be terrorists, drug dealers, etc. not part of the caravan.
         This issue relates to the Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears because the Native Americans, like the South Americans, were not trying to cause issues for the U.S., however, by residing in the South, they made it harder for Americans to create an economy there. This land was claimed by the Natives, and in fact, the Supreme Court had actually stated that the Cherokee tribe was their own independent nation, but Andrew Jackson, like Trump is saying about immigrants, wanted them out.  Another way to connect these events is through forced migration: the Native Americans were being forced by Andrew Jackson to leave their homes, while the South American immigrants are forced to leave their homes and come to America due to a lack of economy and good living spaces in their low developing countries.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/20/world/americas/migrants-caravan-mexico.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FUnited%20States&action=click&contentCollection=world&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=collection