I use Google Maps on my iPhone a lot when I travel. It lets me figure out how far I have to go, and how long it’s going to take me to get there. Not only that, but it can estimate travel times and distances for a variety of modes of transport—car, public transport, taxi, driving, or walking.
I got to thinking about this in terms of the infamous Caravan of so-called “asylum seekers”. This is the group of mostly young men which has come from Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, and other towns in Honduras and Guatemala. After many adventures, they’ve finally made it to Tijuana, the Mexican city just across the US-Mexican border from San Diego. And they are so moved to have finally arrived that they’ve broken out in spontaneous exhibitions of happiness, including dancing, singing, rioting, and throwing rocks at the Border Guards … heck, they’re so happy to be near the Border that large groups of them have started crying tears of joy.
So I took out my trusty iPhone to see just how far it is from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to San Diego, California. Here is the Google Maps estimate of how long it would have taken the Caravan to walk from Tegucigalpa to San Diego … forty days. 4,660 kilometers. YIKES!
But looking at that map I got to thinking … if I were walking from Nicaragua to the US, isn’t there a shorter way to get to the Promised Land? A bit of thought landed me on Brownsville, Texas as being the nearest US Port of Entry to Honduras. Here’s that voyage:
That walking trip to Brownsville, twenty-one days, 2,520 kilometers, is just about half of the length of the journey to San Diego. It’s also a much easier trip, especially for the few kids and older people that made the voyage, because it runs along the Gulf of Mexico instead of going through the heat, mountains, drought, and deserts of Central and Northwestern Mexico.
So here’s the question …
Why San Diego? Why would a bunch of people, of whom an estimated ten percent are women and children, decide to walk twice as far over much more difficult terrain just to end up in the same situation?
Kinda seems like some people other than the good folks taking the hike were calling the shots and choosing the itinerary for political reasons … but maybe that’s just my well-earned paranoia regarding “spontaneous” forty-day marches across two countries.
Best regards to all,
w.
Skating Under The Ice 
Willis, what a foreigner like me (Aussie now Canadian resident) can’t understand is – given how much “the world” now despises the ‘dangerous’ USA with its current president, how come the ‘movers and fakers’ from these struggling countries aren’t marching 3,000 miles AWAY from the US border?
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My question as well, sir …
Welcome to the blog.
w.
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It’s been obvious from the start that the “invasion” wasn’t just a spontaneous decision to wander to freedom.
I really don’t believe that people are owned by a country, it’s certainly not or at least wasn’t the case for the US prior to the 20th Century although with the tax laws for ex-pats I’m no longer quite so sure. Nonetheless no one has ever submitted a reason why, with the large number of people applying for citizenship via the clearly defined channels, there should be exceptions made for people just showing up and demanding to be let into the US.
So if the political parties “care” so much for these folks, why not reestablish the Braceros program? I’m generally against tracking devices, however for people with such a need for safety it might be needed, for their own safety of course. /sarc
Generally, demanding that the citizens of one country be forced to allow citizens of another country enter is a bad idea. It’s not too far from the concept of annexation, and we know how that worked out for the Czechs in 1939.
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Answer: there’s a 20-foot high border fence at Brownsville. There’s aphoto of it in my blog, here: https://mamaloi.com/2012/03/25/dont-fence-me-in/
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Fascinating, thanks, Mark. I suspect it also has to do with how welcoming California is to illegals …
w.
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There is that, but there is also the El Chapo legacy. “One leads to the migrant version of Mordor. The other is merely dangerous.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/10/24/migrant-caravan-updates/
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Mark I read your link. Tell me how many of those “brownskinned” people as you describe them would you allow across the border? Thousands, millions, then what? Would you not want them documented?
There is no wall at the Canada US border because there are not thousands trying to cross illegally every day.
The wall is to stop illegal crossings, legal crossings or legal immigration has not been stopped.
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I guess you stopped reading when you got to “brown-skinned,” otherwise you would know that I am in favor of immigration in accordance with law and I oppose unlawful – or, as you call it, undocumented immigration. To answer your question specifically, 675,000 permanent lawful residents per year. See this for an explanation: https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/how-united-states-immigration-system-works
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I’m not sure I’d be trusting google maps for much. Even the short route requires walking 115 kilometres per day for 21 and a bit days. How fit and hardy does google maps think these people are?
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Thanks, Sibeen. That’s total hours walking, not total hours. They figure three miles per hour average walking pace.
w.
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That does make slightly more sense 🙂
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The mission system in early California were established about 30 miles apart, That is one day on a horse and two or more on foot.
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Walking 72 miles/day for 40 days w backpacks and/or the occasional child! Wow! Sign them up for the Army; no, make that the Marines; as long as they burn all of the flags of their own country and pledge to defend the Constitution of the U.S.
For the military, sports and entertainment minded:
-Go Navy, Beat Army
-Go Border Patrol, beat Invaders
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3 mph at 24 hours/day is 72 miles per day, and times 40 days is 2880 miles. I don’t think they walked. The photos I saw show them hitching rides on trucks.
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Wait, didn’t they ever sleep?
If they walked for 12 hours a day, it then is about 80 days, but even that seems like a difficult task for a caravan of men, women, and children.
When thousands of folks put out their thumb to hitch a ride, I’m thinking that vehicle that picks them up must be VERY big.
Sumptin’ ain’t right.
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Last week a Border Patrol agent was killed … by rocks.
Nice peaceful folks, those illegal border crossers.
w.
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BP Agent was killed by rock in November 2017.
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One word, sanctuary state. The organizers of this kabuki dance are all based in Cali, financed be leftist, progressive millionaires, who all have residences in Cali as well as New York, London, Brussels,etc etc, so bringing their minions to Cali was the plan all along.
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Who don’t Mrs. Steyer, Soros, Bloomberg, etc. move to Brownsville, TX? They could achieve much more philanthropy there.
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Philanthropy is not their goal, breaking down the “nation state” and opening all borders is their goal. Can’t do that in Brownsville, too many people there who merrily hang them for their crimes there.
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My only experience with a full day hike/walk was along the south shore of Lake Superior.
It started at about 8:00 am, the trails were …well you could follow the trail.
There were rocky/sandy/prairie areas, walking west all you needed to do was keep the big lake to your right.
Nary another person on the trail once you get a mile away from the parking lot.
So, there is a lighthouse off in the distance that looks like a destination, a mere 8.5 trail miles away.
It had been awhile coming, but by the time you’re still a mile and 1/2 from the lighthouse, the fear of a blister on your right heel has become a reality.
You press on, still fearless at the young age of ~ 30.
Then comes the return trip, half limping, checking your six, cause you’re walking like a wounded animal.
Too tired to fight….too stubborn to give in.
The blister fully healed after about 2 months.
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Reblogged this on HiFast News Feed.
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Indeed, Willis, well noted – and well said.
During the long and remarkably well-televised progress of the would-be immigrants, it was reported that Mexico had offered them asylum, and that most had turned that offer down. One commented that he could not accept asylum from Mexico because living in the the USA was “his dream”. If that is true, then those in the caravan are not refugees bu opportunistic economic migrants, hoping to bypass the normal US immigration processes.
Have you any thoughts on this? Is it true?
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To make your dream come true, start with throwing rocks at border guards.
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Nothing tells a CBP agent you are ready to become a law abiding citizen than smashing his head in with a rock. Except setting his body on fire afterwards, THAT really makes a statement about your desire to become the bestest citizen ever!
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C’mon Willis – the answer is obvious.
They were walking to California instead of Texas, to be closer to YOU
– You’re welcome; hope this helps… 😉
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I believe the organizers sought maximum mileage from their made-for-media pageant.
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How have those thousands been feeding themselves day by day. They must have left a trail of bare fields and markets with empty shelves in their path. Do they stop to cook every few hours?
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Just looking at the 3 in the picture and saying to myself, how much clothing did these people carry, as I never did see a picture of any of them during the “trip” that didn’t have everyone in new looking, clean clothes. I have never been able to take even a 3 day hike without having to wear clothes that didn’t look like they just either came off the shelf or out of a laundromat’s dryer. And I am not sure how an “economically deprived” migrant could afford the $75 New Balance shoes most of the men had on, either, or the obviously recent haircuts, shaves, and list goes on. Yes, these people had plenty of financial support from start to finish.
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