Thread by @owlpatrol66

Watching today's #WHPressConference. It's pretty obvious to me that journalists don't really understand what is going on at the border. I have worked at a couple of visa windows, so let me break it down for them here.

There are some 8 or nine US consulates throughout Mexico, along with the consular section at the US Embassy in Mexico City. Not all countries have US embassies throughout the world, but every country in Central American and in South America has US embassies and consulates.

If you want to visit the US or if you want to immigrate to the US or if you think you have a legitimate claim to asylum, you go to the embassy or consulate and apply for a visa. Sneaking across the border is not the appropriate way to get a visa. In fact, that would be illegal.

If you go to an embassy or consulate and apply through appropriate channels, there is no chance that children will be separated from their parents. None. Now, due process is something that American citizens have a right to, not that they always get it.

But for people who intend to immigrate, yet who decide to bypass the legal process and instead try to illegally cross the border without a visa, there is no promise or guarantee of due process.

OK. I hope journalists see this and get it, finally. It will make press conferences go a lot smoother when journalists have done their homework. Better yet, go down to Mexico and spend some time working the visa line. There are 8 or 9 different cities they can go to.

I stand corrected. "Courts have consistently held that anyone on United States soil is protected by the Constitution’s right to due process, even if they illegally entered the country, though people generally have greater legal protections inside the country than at the border."

While we are at it, what the heck. Here's a link to my bluespoem about not being invited to WHCA. thisismypoetryblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/29/nap…

Last tweet in this thread. In case some politicos see this, I double dare them to play this tune at a Trump rally.

Another correction: To obtain asylum through the affirmative asylum process you must be physically present in the United States. You may apply for asylum status regardless of how you arrived in the United States or your current immigration status.uscis.gov/humanitarian/r…