Imagine fearing for your life while walking home after a hard day of work. Imagine paying unofficial taxes to the neighborhood gang just to be able to reside in the house that you have lived in your entire life. Imagine being in the wrong place, at the wrong time, wearing the wrong clothes and getting murdered because of that. Imagine living in fear only because you had the misfortune of being born in a place that does not value your best interest. Imagine walking 1,500 miles armed only with the hope that this life will be better than the one you left behind.

For some people in this world, these are the harsh realities.

According to The New York Times, 7,000 migrants and refugees are walking to the United States from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Despite what others and the President of the United States say, it is not illegal for people without papers to seek asylum at the United States’ border according to the American Immigration Council.

Most of these refugees are not coming to the border and demanding to be let in, they are coming to seek asylum and earn a legal status in the United States. According to Human Rights First, a nonprofit, nonpartisan international human rights organization, the Trump administration has turned away hundreds of asylum seekers. Returning home can often put them in even more danger, making the idea of crossing the border illegally their only option.

The majority of these refugees are coming from Honduras. San Pedro Sula, Honduras is considered to be one of the most violent cities in the world with a homicide rate of 142 per every 100,000 people according to a 2015 report from InSight Crime, and is where the caravan began. According to data from Syracuse University, 7,350 Hondurans sought asylum in U.S. immigration courts within the five year period from 2011 to 2016.

President Trump has expressed his distaste through his favorite social media platform, Twitter.

“I am watching the Democrat Party led (because they want Open Borders and existing weak laws) assault on our country by Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, whose leaders are doing little to stop this large flow of people, INCLUDING MANY CRIMINALS, from entering Mexico to U.S… Hopefully Mexico will stop this onslaught at their Northern Border. All Democrats fault for weak laws!”

As usual, Trump is using false statements and fears to scare the American people, although he has no evidence to support the claims that criminals and dangerous people are marching toward the U.S. Even moreso, the president continues his divisive rhetoric by blaming democrats, when this is certainly not a partisan issue, but one of human rights. Let’s remember that those in the caravan are not Republican or Democrat, but they are families desperately seeking safety. 

The lives and overall well-being of our neighbors should not be a partisan issue; it should not cause debate. One life is not more important than another. Strong borders are an important asset to any country, but we are also a country that has historically been a beacon of hope for a better life. Donald Trump wants to shut the light off.