So a few thousand central Americans are once again working their way through Mexico intending to cross the US border and seek asylum. Some people, including President trump, have called this an “invasion.” Others dispute that word:

Is the migrant caravan an invasion?

The Central American caravans coming to the United States “do not represent a national security threat or crisis,” and are rather fleeing poverty, violence, and insecurity in their countries, wrote Doris Meissner, former commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute.

It can be reasonably and fairly argued that a few thousand people do not constitute an invasion or national security threat. But here’s the thing: actions have consequences. If this caravan of asylum seekers is allowed in, then the precedent is in place for the next caravan, which can be easily seen as likely to be bigger. How much bigger? There are actual numbers on that, courtesy Gallup:

In Gallup’s most recent global estimate … Three percent of the world’s adults — or nearly 160 million people — say they would like to move to the U.S. This includes 16% of adults from Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama and Costa Rica, which translates into nearly 5 million people.

Five MILLION.