If anyone believed everything Trump says (no one with any sense does), they’d think that brutal slayings of American citizens and rampant violence and chaos are happening all over the towns along the southern border. To see if this is true, CNN’s Jim Acosta went to McAllen, Texas, where Trump is headed to give a report on the “humanitarian crisis” plaguing poor, defenseless Americans without his wall.
All quiet on this stretch of the border ahead of Trump’s visit to McAllen TX area. pic.twitter.com/cJ9tBwdCSd
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 10, 2019
I found some steel slats down on the border. But I don’t see anything resembling a national emergency situation.. at least not in the McAllen TX area of the border where Trump will be today. pic.twitter.com/KRoLdszLUu
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 10, 2019
What Acosta found was not Americans being slaughtered or criminals running wild, but a sleepy town with a low level of crime and residents who say they’re doing just fine despite parts of their southern border that have no wall. In some places, there are steel slats, in some places only fencing. One resident says she’s seen immigrants coming across the border, but that the only violence she’s ever heard of has been from local residents.
Nadine has lived in the McAllen area about a decade. She says it’s safe here and hasn’t seen people coming across the border causing crime and mayhem. pic.twitter.com/EIaFAYhHgR
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 10, 2019
Folks in McAllen have put up a sign reminding Trump that this is one of the safest places in America. https://t.co/r8W3oopy3F
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 10, 2019
One local theater, the Cine El Rey, even put up a marquee welcoming the president while alerting him to the fact that the city he’s visiting is one of the safest cities in America. It should also serve as a helpful reminder to all Trump supporters in the area that they’re standing in the middle of a war zone, but nothing is happening.
‘The Cine El Rey Group wanted to remind the public that McAllen is one of the safest cities in the United States…The Cine El Rey Group says they put up the signage to get a conversation started and to officially welcome the president to stop by the theatre.’
Jose has lived here in the McAllen TX area his whole life. He also tells me it is very safe here. pic.twitter.com/GHRlW8nKf4
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 10, 2019
The steel slats don’t run the entire length of the border in the McAllen area. We found one part where there is a chain link fence. Occasionally migrants come thru but residents say their community is quite safe. pic.twitter.com/ivpPl0XT48
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 10, 2019
Spotted various methods of border protection down in McAllen area (steel slats, levees, chain link fence and some razor wire). Plus law enforcement and border patrol. pic.twitter.com/Px6QeTg3XX
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 10, 2019
One Latino resident, an older man named Jose who has lived in McCallen his entire life, says he’s seen no crime at all.
“Not at all…it’s been a peaceful city.”
When asked by Acosta how he feels when the president says that roving bands of migrants are running across the border to rape, kill, and join gangs, Jose smiled and said that Trump is a “natural born liar.”
Featured image via video
