the Cat memes miss the real story

the Story about Haitians eating pet cats has spawned a thousand memes, most of which are really funny.

 Except for two things: 

One: racism (why Haitians only mentioned, when it was someone from Hondoras who ate a bald eagle, and a man with a Muslim sounding name who was one of the teens who ate the beloved swans in upper NewYork State?)

And the second reason is more serious: Killing animals in religious rituals is on the rise. 

This is not just Haitians: There are reports of this being done in the Hispanic communities including by the drug cartel types. And I remember when my son's Christian school (and a local Russian Orthodox church) found dismembered animals on their doorstop: Placed there by local kids who were playing with Satanic rituals.

as for eating cats: I am old enough to remember the jokes about cats disappearing after a tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees were settled in the USA. 

It is ironic that the meme seems to upset the so called  cat ladies who support Harris and seem to love her abortion policies. So killing cats bad, killing the child of my womb, good?

Sigh. 

This is not the first time huge numbers of migrants arrived in the USA: this happened after Viet Nam, and also in the Mariel boat lift. 

The difference might be sponsors trying to help them resettle: Church and families sponsored those from Vietnam, and many from Cuba had families or friends to help them assimilate.

I suspect most of the present group of migrants, like the Mariel group, will contact friends or family, settle down and get jobs. True, many will get jobs that could be filled by unemployed Americans, (but that is another story for another day) but in 20 to 30 years they will just be another 'merican.

Of course, the urban legends about eating cats is not purely racism, but a symbol of protest about placing huge numbers of migrants from different cultures and who don't speak English into cities unprepared to help them integrate into US society.

From the right wing NYPost:

The tale, however, hints at much larger concerns about the recent influx of migrants into Springfield — a city of 60,000 people about 45 minutes west of Columbus. Officials say up to 20,000 Haitian immigrants have flowed into the city in the last several years, putting a huge strain on city services.

So what is to be done?

Presumably there are stories about who is helping these migrants settle into a different culture, but they are few on the internet. Maybe these stories are in local papers (example this one ) and get little national publicity.

I know the Catholic church is one of the major groups helping, But most of these stories on line are press releases, and most stories are several years old and out of date.

Resettling people into a new country is a bit complicated: We are talking about not just emergency food and shelter, but helping them to understand American society. 

Many will eventually settle into communities where they have established families or friends to help them assimilate.

Indeed, under new policies, some are allowed into the US with proper papers if they have family here. These countries include Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, Cuba and Haiti and more recently Ecuador.

Reuniting families should be a priority, as should allowing people in danger to enter the US, as long as they have been screened for criminal or medical problems

Dirty little secret: many are young men, and young men from any society who are away from the restrictions of family and neighborhood restraints, tend to get into mischief, including violence and crime. Not just migrants but the kids of migrants who are having adjustment problems in their teenage years.

LINK:

Somali Bantu parents call for end to youth violence, form group to make neighborhoods safer...

Michael Yon is one of the few ''on site" reporters of the migration and discusses a lot of the geopolitical background. and DW has a report here on the Darien Gap, the most dangerous part of the route.

human rights watch is covering the story about the dangerous trek to the USA. Their full report here.

In the last year-and-a-half, almost 700,000 people crossed the Darién Gap, a swampy jungle at the Colombia-Panama border, on their journey north, often to the United States. During their journey across this difficult terrain, Venezuelans, Haitians, and Ecuadorians, as well as people from countries in Asia and Africa, have experienced serious abuses, including sexual violence. Dozens, if not hundreds, have lost their lives or gone missing trying to cross. Many have never been found. The situation in the Darién Gap is the result of a range of failed policies across the Americas.

italics mine. 

one way that the Biden administration is trying to protect the real refugees (as opposed to smugglers, drug gangs, or adventerous young men looking to get rich in the USA by finding a job) is their Safe Mobility Initiative.

The Safe Mobility Initiative, launched in June 2023, is part of the U.S. government’s holistic approach to promote safe, orderly, and humane migration management. The Safe Mobility Offices (SMOs) help individuals find support and access a wide range of services in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Guatemala.

US ‘Safe Mobility’ resettlement programme is working but too narrow: Report https://t.co/o5dCq4X5vO

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) September 12, 2024

one trivia fact: so many Chinese were flying to Ecuador to migrate into the US that they are considering closing their airport to these Chinese travelers.

A story about these Chinese migrants was covered by ChannelNewsAsia (A Singapore site):

The Pan American highway from Ecuador to the north goes through my son's town in Colombia, which now has Chinese restaurants and hotels with signs in Chinese.

hmm... maybe I should tell him to sell DimSum in his Panderia there.

Unchecked immigration of unscreened migrants who are often being trafficked by criminal gangs is a huge problem, and although as I noted there are some policies trying to limit the influx, they are inadequate.

 And as long as the border stays open, more people will risk their lives to find job opportunities and freedom.

Many are coming right now, worrying that Trumpieboy will shut down the migrant pipeline and the border. Sort of like Clinton did to stop the dangerous Haitian migrations of the 1990s.

But you know, if Trump does build a wall and start to deport those without papers, I suspect he will just export only a few people, mainly those with criminal records, or those addicted to drugs, or who otherwise refuse to fit into US society. I say this because of what happened under President Reagan: Like Regan, he will slow down new illegal migration while arranging an amnesty to those living and working in the USA.