Were survivors of the attack still alive today, they undoubtedly would be enraged by Mexican President Manuel Obrador’s recent praise of a terrorist raid into the U.S. that killed mostly U.S. civilians 108 years ago. The attack was led by Pancho Villa against the town of Columbus, New Mexico. Claiming 18 American lives, Villa burned down buildings and looted property, losing 75 of his own fighters in the process.
Obrador said of the attack, “We should thank Villa for, among other things, the daring feat of having attacked Columbus, New Mexico, to prevent what he considered acts of treason.”
While acts of “treason” is a misnomer, they were allegedly twofold. Villa was angry at a U.S. arms dealer he believed had sold him defective ammunition. Additionally, he felt betrayed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson for failing to recognize his rebel government.
Villa has long been memorialized in Mexican textbooks and memorials for his role during the country’s 1910-1917 Revolution that ultimately ousted dictator Porfirio Diaz. However, since the New Mexico attack was primarily the result of personal disputes Villa had with the Americans (although historians also claim it could possibly have been an act symbolizing “resistance against imperialism”), previous Mexican administrations have remained silent about it.
Enraged by the attack, Wilson immediately dispatched a military force into Mexico to hunt Villa down. However, unable to locate him after 11 months, it returned home in 1917.
There are three important learning points we should take from Obrador’s praise of Villa.
- First, as if there were not already 16.8 million reasons why, it should further underscore why President Joe Biden’s open-border policy is wrong. There is no reason a Mexican president who honors a terrorist like Villa would not honor a group like Hamas, giving little concern if they cross our border. His commemorative cry of “Viva Villa” can easily translate into “Viva Hamas!”
- Second, it is worth recalling the emotions at play in the aftermath of the unprovoked 1916 Villa raid into the U.S. and comparing them to the emotions at play in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, unprovoked Hamas raid into Israel. Both involved terrorist groups; both primarily targeted innocent civilians; both resulted in the destruction of buildings and the looting of property; both triggered the rage of the victims’ governments.
As President Joe Biden and Sen. Chuck Schumer continue criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his aggressive stand against Hamas – a terrorist force that took a much bigger bite out of Israel’s population in October 2023 than Villa did out of ours in 1916 – they forget their history. So enraged were we in 1916 by the injustice committed upon our citizens that we were compelled to take immediate military action to right a wrong, just like the Israelis feel so committed today.
- Third, Obrador’s Villa comment comes at a time he is making an outrageous demand of the United States. He claims the U.S. should pay Latin American countries an annual fee of $20 billion to obtain their assistance in culling the herd of illegal aliens coming across our southern borders. He said Mexico will not even sit for talks until the U.S. makes a $10 billion up-front payment, adding he would not shut down his border with America until it dropped its embargo against Cuba and sanctions against Venezuela. Obrador’s outrageous demands may have been influenced by U.S. concerns the Islamic terrorist group ISIS, which conducted a terrorist attack in Moscow killing 137 Russians at a concert, has threatened such an attack against us as well.
Obrador indicated the migrant surge would continue without Mexico’s help while such a fee payment would show a U.S. commitment to address the root causes of the problem. Unsurprisingly, in this one comment by Obrador, we have probably heard more mention about the root causes of illegal immigration than we have heard from Vice President Kamala Harris whom Biden had appointed three years earlier specifically to identify them.
Last year, a group monitoring illegal immigration costs – The Federation for American Immigration Reform – determined the U.S. had spent $163 billion on benefits and services for illegal aliens since Biden took office. However, there is an interesting assumption that Obrador makes – i.e., that Biden has a serious interest in resolving the issue of illegals flooding into the U.S. – an assumption with little supportive evidence. Biden’s interest really seems to be more on welcoming illegals in who will then vote Democrat rather than on ensuring our national security.
In the face of the recent ISIS threat against America, Biden has no intention either to pay such a fee or to internally curb the flow of illegals across our border. This should make it obvious – as if it already is not – that the problem lies, not at our borders, but in the White House.
As we hear the cry “Viva Villa” from south of the border and the corresponding cry from the Oval Office of “Viva illegal aliens,” we will know Biden’s intentions are strictly to enhance his party’s control rather than our country’s national security.
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