Border crossings are way down, illegals are being detained and deported. For that we can be thankful.

But we should not be complacent.

Just as Biden reversed Trump 45’s policies, so could a later administration reverse Trump 47’s policies. In politics, nothing is permanent.

So, we need to demand politicians protect and expand on this agenda.

We also need to apply pressure to the Trump administration on the matter of legal immigration, which should be greatly reduced.

Frankly, President Trump is weak on that issue.

The “Gold Card” visa Trump crowed about in his recent speech to Congress would sell citizenship for $5 million. No thanks, Mr. President.

We need an immigration shutdown, as we did a century ago.

There are plenty of good economic, cultural, and civic arguments against mass immigration.

Another one pertains to public safety.

It’s true that the U.S. has many homegrown criminals. Why would we want to bring in more?

There is plenty of crime in our Western Hemisphere.

The Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Pública y la Justicia Penal (Citizen Council for Public Security and Penal Justice) is a Mexican NGO that does excellent research on a variety of issues.

Each year, it releases a list of the world’s 50 most violent cities.

The list does not include cities located in war zones.

To qualify for the list, a city or metropolitan area must have at least 300,000 inhabitants.

Calculations are based on the rate of homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

This year’s list was just published, and 45 of the 50 most violent cities on the planet are in the Western Hemisphere. The other five are in South Africa.

Taking the top spot is the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, with 4263 homicides, which was 139.31 per 100,000 inhabitants. In last year’s report, Port-au-Prince was the third most violent city, with a homicide rate of 117.24 per 100,000.

In second place on this year’s list was the metropolitan area of Colima, Mexico, in the state of Colima on the Mexican Pacific coast. Its 2024 homicide rate was 126.95 per 100,000.

This was actually a slight improvement over the previous year, in which Colima was #1 on the homicide list, at 140.32 per 100,000. That’s no consolation for families of the 416 slain in a metro of 327,687.

Colima was followed on the list by four more Mexican cities: #3 Acapulco, #4 Manzanillo, #5 Tijuana (across the border from San Diego), and #6 Ciudad Obregon.

Overall, Mexico had a whopping 20 cities on the list. That’s up from 16 in last year’s report.

Of the top 10 most violent cities on the new list, seven are in Mexico.

Other countries on the list are Brazil with eight cities, Colombia with six cities, Ecuador with three cities, and Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago with one apiece.

That all adds up to 45. Which leaves five more cities in the Western Hemisphere. Where are those five cities located?

In the United States of America.

The most violent U.S. city was Memphis, Tennessee, which was #25 on the list.

Think about it – that means Memphis is more violent than all but 24 cities in the world.

Memphis had 297 homicides in 2024. With a population of 618,639, that gives it a homicide rate of 48.01 per 100,000 inhabitants.

That was an improvement over 2023, in which Memphis was #14, with a homicide rate of 69.66 per 100,000. Once again, that’s no consolation for the families of those who died.

The other U.S. cities on the list were #40 Baltimore, Maryland, (35.56 per 100,000), #45 New Orleans, Louisiana, (34.05 per 100,000), #46 Detroit, Michigan, (32.06 per 100,000), and #48 Cleveland, Ohio, (30.33).

Yes, we have plenty of homegrown criminals in the U.S.

Why risk bringing in more?