Unsurprisingly, Syria is once again the number one global hotspot for armed conflict, the International Institute for Strategic Studies reveals. But the second worst hotspot is located nowhere close to the Middle East, where one would normally expect it. In fact, it couldn’t be closer to home. The IISS says that 23,000 Mexicans were victims of mostly drug-related guerrilla warfare last year, which is just under half of the 50,000 lives taken in Syria.

IISS director general John Chipman points out that “Mexico is a conflict marked by the absence of artillery, tanks or combat aviation,” which only adds shock value to the alarming toll. In Syria, the opposite is true. The report also proves just how effective Donald Trump’s immigration clampdown has been. According to The Washington Times, “Illegal immigration across the southwestern border is down a stunning 76 percent since President Trump was elected, with the flow of children and families dropping even faster as analysts say the administration’s commitment to enforcing the law has changed the reality along the border.”

That’s a remarkable drop, yet it’s nary enough, given the threat. The degree to which violence is devastating Mexico is more evidence of our need for a border wall. Gangs and drug runners have found numerous ways to exploit border security (or lack thereof), and the statistics demonstrate both how serious the threat truly is and what they are capable of. Meanwhile, here’s a question for “compassionate” Democrats that will leave them looking like a deer staring in the headlights: Why do leftists support open borders to the world’s second most deadly country?