As we noted earlier this week, the media have criticized and mocked President Trump for expressing various concerns about the migrant caravan. They objected to the president correctly pointing out that there were criminals and gang members in the group. 

The media insisted the migrants are mostly women and children. They are not. They said the migrants were asylum seekers. They are not.

The media also downplayed disease concerns. But throughout America’s long history of welcoming immigrants, we have always maintained a concern for the health of the people coming into the country in order to protect the health of our own citizens. 

During the great migration of immigrants from Europe in the early 20th century, those who did not pass a medical exam on Ellis Island were quarantined and put on a boat back to Europe. 

But according to the “mainstream media,” there’s nothing to worry about, right? Well, maybe there is.

Tijuana’s Health Department is warning that it has treated more than a third of the migrants currently residing in the city. Health officials report that they are treating people for lice, various skin infections, upper respiratory infections, chicken pox, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. 

And the situation is only going to get worse as Tijuana’s mayor, Juan Manuel Gastelum, warns that his city is rapidly running out of money to treat the migrants. Meanwhile, we are having a national debate about skyrocketing health care costs in the U.S.

For Christians who may be struggling with the moral implications of the migrant debate, I encourage you to read this column by Jennifer Canales, an American missionary serving in Honduras.

A Generational Struggle

There is a new survey out highlighting the growing anti-Americanism of young Americans, something I have been warning about for years now. Here’s what the poll found:

• Half of Millennials and members of Gen Z (those under 38) believe that America is a racist and sexist country.

• They are torn between capitalism and socialism.

• Forty-six percent do not believe America is the greatest country in the world.

• Thirty-eight percent do not believe we should be proud of our history.

• Nineteen percent see the American flag as a sign of intolerance.

Incredibly, 44% believe that Barack Obama had a “bigger impact” on America than George Washington! Sadly, I suspect they believe that because they have been taught that George Washington was a vile racist who founded this evil country.

How could young Americans today be so out of step with every previous generation?

While it is easy to make fun of the abundance of left-wing idiocy on our college campuses, the extremism of academia is no longer limited to those campuses. It is infecting every level of education today.

Educational choice is a great idea. But, sadly, there has been no serious effort by elected officials on the Right to confront the left-wing indoctrination and anti-Americanism that is being taught in our schools. To truly make America great again we must reform our schools, and that will be a generational struggle.

Every previous generation knew that patriotism had to be taught in the home and in the classroom. Ronald Reagan warned about this very issue in his farewell address to the nation. (Watch it here, just after the 15-minute mark.) He talked about the importance of “an informed patriotism,” asking:

“And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? … We’ve got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom — freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It’s fragile; it needs protection.

"So, we’ve got to teach history based not on what’s in fashion but what’s important — why the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant… If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are.  I’m warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit.”

Left-wing Anti-Semitism

CNN commentator and Temple University Professor Marc Lamont Hill delivered a speech to a United Nations event celebrating “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.” There is no shortage of progressive advocates for the Palestinians. But Hill’s remarks suggested the annihilation of Israel.

Critics of Israel often talk about “the occupation.” But Israel is not occupying Gaza. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Should Israel give the Golan Heights back to Syrian butcher Bashar al-Assad? Some refer to the “occupation of Jerusalem.” But Jews have lived in David’s City for thousands of years.

The problem is that many Palestinians see all of Israel as an “occupation” of the imaginary nation of Palestine. Such a nation has never existed.

One way Palestinians make this point to themselves is to say that the Jews must be kicked out and a Palestinian state must be created “from the river to the sea” — meaning the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Well, that’s everything. That means no Israel at all and the destruction of the Jewish state. And that is exactly what CNN’s Marc Lamont Hill embraced. 

First Hill defended Palestinian terrorism by comparing it to the “slave revolts” against the “American apartheid,” saying:

“If we are to operate in true solidarity with the Palestinian people, we must allow the Palestinian people the same range of opportunity… If we are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people, we must recognize the right of an occupied people to defend itself.”

Hill concluded his remarks by saying, “Give us what justice requires — and that is a free Palestine from the river to the sea.”

Hill is defending his statement by suggesting that he wants a “single secular democratic state for everyone.” That may sound nice, but under Hill’s ideal vision, there would no longer be a homeland for the Jewish people.

“Everyone” means that Israel’s seven million Jews would be demographically swamped by so-called “Palestinian refugees." 

"Democratic” means that Israel’s Jews would soon become a minority in Hill’s “Palestine.” And let’s not forget that the terrorists of Hamas were “democratically” elected by the people of Gaza.

In reality, Hill’s “single state” is just another majority Muslim nation in the Middle East.

Unfortunately, Hill’s outrageous remarks were not the only example of left-wing anti-Semitism on display this week. 

On Sunday, Hussam Ayloush, an official with the California Democrat Party and executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), compared Israel to Iran and tweeted that “both murderous regimes” should be “terminated.”

Comparing Israel to Iran is beyond disgusting. Israel is committed to democratic values and tolerance. Iran is a radical theocracy and the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. You will regularly hear chants of “Death to America!” in Iran, but never in Israel.

In spite of CAIR’s checkered past, including ties to Hamas and the radical Muslim Brotherhood, the organization enjoyed tremendous influence in the Obama administration and currently operates an office on Capitol Hill.

There are reports that CNN has fired Professor Hill. I hope that is the case. Now CAIR and the California Democrat Party should dismiss Hussam Ayloush.