The Open Border Activists Behind the Illegal Immigrant Caravans
Thanks for tuning in. IÕm Jared Cummings and IÕm Hayden Ludwig and this is the Influence Watch Podcast. This week weÕre filling in for our regular host, Michael Watson.
In this episode weÕll discuss the caravan from Central America seeking to illegally cross the border into the United States. They have already broken through the MexicoÕs 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 thereÕs 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 Òrefugees,Ó which would mean that the U.S. is obligated under international law to grant them asylum. Instead, theyÕre after jobs, food, welfareÑall the amenities of a 1st World country. 
WhatÕs conveniently forgotten by many people backing the ÒrefugeeÓ branding is that international law requires refugees to be given asylum in the first country they set foot inÑin this case, Mexico. But theyÕre not stopping in Mexico, theyÕre set on coming here. So the U.S. isnÕt obligated to receive them either way.
So if the US isnÕt 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 Òno group has claimed responsibility for organizingÓ it.

And thatÕs partially trueÑno group has taken credit for the caravan. But one nonprofitÑthe illegal immigrant advocacy front Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or ÒPeople Without BordersÓÑhas 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 ÒCenter Without Borders,Ó and La Familia Latina Unida, or Òthe United Latin Family.Ó

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 ÒDeferred Action for Childhood ArrivalsÓ program) and DREAMers, who are a protected class of children of illegal immigrants. SheÕs 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 SorosÕs 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. WhatÕs the connection to Pueblo and the Center?
Arellano was a Mexican citizen who crossed into the U.S. illegally in 1997. She was deportedÉ 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 wasnÕt 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 LozanoÕs church. 
 Ð IS SHE STILL IN THE COUNTRY?
She got a stay of deportation last year.
CLARIFY Ð 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.
ItÕs 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 Òopen the[ir] borders to us because we are as much citizens as the people of the counties where we are and/or travel.Ó
But theyÕve said they didnÕt organize the current one, right?
ThatÕs true. The facts suggest otherwise, though. At least 2 Pueblo activistsÑDenis Omar Contreras and Rodrigo AbejaÑhave 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 duckÉ
YouÕre 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 wonÕt protect its border. ThereÕs already another caravan reportedly forming in Honduras as we speakÑitÕs decision time.
ThatÕs our show for this week. If youÕre 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. WeÕll see you next week!