Bensman: The problem with Mauritanians and Senegalese and people with all of these other nationalities is that it raises issues of national security. We don’t know if the people from Iraq, Syria, Yemen who are coming through there – we don’t know who they are. They’re probably all some kind of economic migrant or fleeing persecution, but we just don’t know that. And when you have a border management system that is starting to break down, under the weight of Central Americans, who are literally emptying out of their home countries right now, then all bets are off that we’re going to be able to vet these other people very well. And I don’t even see it on anybody’s radar. We had Kamala Harris – is it Kam A la? I’ve seen her use it a couple of different ways – she’s definitely not going down to this area where I was and bringing the press corps with her. You can barely get to the El Paso sector for a few hours on our side of the border. No migrants in the same frame with her… So really this is just an unknown – to the American public — national security threat. That these people are coming through. I’m not saying they’re terrorists. Or tribal warlords. Or people who worked with tribal militias slaughtering, raping and pillaging those African villages, which is happening in their countries. You know, Congo, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, and a lot of sub-Sahara countries, you know, like Sudan, Sierra Leone.. Um, not a happy history in Sierra Leone with a lot of atrocities committed. So these people will show up at the border and say, ‘my name is Mickey Mouse again,’ and try to claim asylum. We probably wouldn’t see any other choice but to just let them in right away. So, you know, that’s a problem. I felt like, by going to that area, I might help draw attention to this other aspect of the border crisis.
Stacy: So you have created a report about what’s going on. You also observed members of the Nicaraguan military as they were directing migrants through, quote-unquote, an underground railroad. Let’s talk about that a little bit.
Bensman: Yeah, sure. That tells me you’ve read my stuff. The smuggling in northern Costa Rica is done in public, in the wide open, broad daylight. There’s no law enforcement heat. The Costa Ricans are fine with it.