Author:3,500 People Try to Cross Border Daily, US Should Be Able to Protect Self

Sputnik has discussed the report with Dr Bob Branch, award winning author, speaker, and former candidate for the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Arizona and former candidate for the US House of Representatives.

Sputnik: When it comes to the migration issue in the US the mainstream media usually focuses on alleged human rights abuse, on children being separated from their parents and so on, in this case with the secret database obtained by NBC 7 things have not been different either, what's your take on this report then?

Dr Bob Branch: The thing that I look at is first of all, this is the Department of Homeland Security and the sensationalising of it, calling it a secret database is kind of redundant. First of all, the Department of Homeland Security did not deny it when they were asked about it. They said the reason for people being on it. So as far as being secret goes I think it's just sensationalising journalism.

READ MORE: Feds Track Journalists, 'Instigators' Linked With Migrant Caravan — Report

Sputnik: The customs and border patrol says that people listed in the database were all present during the outbreak of violence at the US southern border in November. So regarding this is such monitoring justified to prevent incidents in the area with hundreds of asylum-seekers arriving from Latin America?

Dr Bob Branch: Every single day you have roughly around 3,500 trying to cross the border illegally.

You have 100,000 predicted in just this month alone. If you look at our history, for instance, the Boston bombings or the ISIS brides coming in, we have large databases and better tracking people now, and we have to be able to secure our borders. I mean this is a nation that should be able to protect itself from all enemies foreign and domestic and these databases are tracking people going back-and-forth across the borders.

And, as you said, it's alleged human rights violations. There are human rights violations happening. So to me they're not alleged, they're well documented. Our Department of Homeland Security has already documented them.

READ MORE: "The Wall Works", US Border Patrol Has Supported It for 3 Decades — Fed Agent

Sputnik: What are the chances then, Bob, that a number of instigators have been working closely with the so-called migrant caravan to promote the migration issue in a more aggressive way on social media?

Dr Bob Branch: We do have and it's well documented as well. Like, for instance, you have Moseca working with groups like Pablo Fontanera bringing the migrants in, organising the caravans. It is well documented in the Arizona news, news media, the Arizona republic and they are being sensationalised. You have groups going down just to recruit and bring in these migrant caravans as well and telling them how to basically circumvent laws in the United States; and understand that these laws, like you're talking human rights violations. Well if you look at human rights violations when you have a law that says if there's a child they can come across the border you have issues that are they in fact parents or not, and these are things that have to be decided. So you have people going across organizing these groups, telling them exactly what to say and how to get into the United States. So, yes, absolutely.

Sputnik: President Trump in his tweet on Friday said that the wall is well under construction and far ahead of schedule despite the Democratic obstruction. Do you believe the wall will eventually appear on the border and, what's more important, change the situation with illegal migration in the US for the better?

Dr Bob Branch: In Arizona, both Democrat and Republican governors, since I've lived here have asked for the wall to be built. So it's not a Democrat or a Republican issue in the state of Arizona. Arizona, and I'm very familiar with the borders here, I have gone down to the borders, I've seen them, many miles of our borders here are just a single strand of barbwire, and I believe Donald Trump is correct in what he's saying as far as they're well underway. We have over 40 miles of repairs and also replacement fencing that's been put up by him. You have the Rio Grande area, and I think it's interesting how the media is labelling this because Donald Trump, President Trump is a developer. So when he says it is well underway the question is for a developer what does that mean. Does that mean that the funding has been green lit? Does that mean that the bulldozers are there taking out the vegetation and levelling it for building? Well, I believe that's what he's talking about when he says it's already underway because we are clearing a way down there for the different walls in the Rio Grande, and I believe in what he saying.

READ MORE: US Southern Border Breaks Record with 76,000 Migrants Crossing in February

I know the mainstream media is saying, well, the wall hasn't been built yet, well, it's being built and it's underway. So do I think that it will solve all issues? Of course not, it won't solve all issues, however, it will help. It will be a deterrent, and it will be one part of our security that if you ask any of the border patrol agencies, if you ask the Department of Homeland Security they're requesting it. And the people of the United States actually voted on building the wall because that was a major tenet of candidate Trump's political run for president. He said: "Build the wall!" The people said: "Let's build the wall". They voted the president in, we should build the wall.

Now it's just one part of the security. It's not the total security and we need it. It's well documented and now that with over 3,500 people trying to get in every single day there is a crisis on the border.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik