How To Fix The Southern Border Problem

If anything, from an immigration standpoint the process of electing Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House assured us of one thing. Comprehensive immigration reform is not coming to America any time soon. Even though President Biden himself has said the U.S. immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed, Capitol Hill doesn’t look ready to do that. Unable to work through Congress, President Biden has decided to take matters into his own hands on the issue of border security and enforcing laws against illegal immigration. In particular, today Biden will visit the southern border.

The Problem With The Southern Border

As ABC news reported recently, every month 200,000 migrants arrive at the U.S. southern border seeking entry. The new daily arrivals at the southern border have become an increasingly politically sensitive problem. Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida have been busing recently arriving migrants northward dropping them off at places like Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and in front of the Vice President’s home in Washington to bring the problem home to northern political leaders. Something had to be done.

A New Plan To Address Migrants At the Border

A new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plan has just been announced, “to improve border security, limit irregular migration, and create additional safe and orderly processes for people fleeing humanitarian crises to lawfully come to the United States.” A key part of Biden’s plan will allow up to 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans to enter the United States by air each month by using a new free “CBP One” online mobile app to schedule advanced online appointments to present themselves to ports of entry. Building upon the success of Uniting for Ukraine and the process for Venezuelans announced in October 2022 the new announcement establishes a similar process for these other nationals who face unique challenges in their home countries. They will be considered, on a case-by-case basis, for a temporary grant of parole for up to two years, including employment authorization, provided they: pass rigorous biometric and biographic national security and public safety screening and vetting; have a supporter in the United States who commits to providing financial and other support; and complete vaccinations and other public health requirements. But they will have to first arrange a U.S. supporter.

How Supporters Of Migrants Can Help

Potential supporters can apply to the DHS at www.uscis.gov/CHNV to support eligible migrants. Individuals and representatives of organizations seeking to apply as supporters must declare their financial support, and pass security background checks to protect against the exploitation and abuse of migrants.

Penalty For Not Using The Process

Nationals from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua who do not avail themselves of this process, and instead attempt to enter the United States without authorization and without establishing a legal basis to remain will be removed or returned to Mexico, which has agreed to accept returns of 30,000 such individuals per month. Individuals removed in this manner under a so-called Title 8 process will be subject to a five-year bar on admission and potential criminal prosecution should they seek to reenter.

What Happens When Title 42 Is Terminated

This new process will replace the current procedure for individuals seeking exceptions from the Title 42 public health order, which require noncitizens to submit requests through third-party organizations located near the border. Once the Title 42 public health order is no longer in place, this scheduling mechanism will be available for noncitizens, including those who seek to make asylum claims, to schedule a time to present themselves at a port of entry for inspection and processing, rather than arriving unannounced at a port of entry or attempting to cross in-between ports of entry. Those who use this process will generally be eligible for work authorization during their period of authorized stay.

Strengthening The Process of Removal

A new enhanced expedited removal process will be implemented and include: dedicating additional resources including personnel, transportation, and facilities; optimizing processes across the DHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ); and working with the State Department and countries in the southern region to increase repatriations.

Lastly, the DHS and DOJ also intend to issue a proposed new rule to provide that individuals who circumvent such available, established pathways to lawful migration, and also fail to seek protection in a country through which they traveled on their way to the United States, will be subject to a rebuttable presumption of asylum ineligibility in the United States unless they meet limited exceptions that will be specified.

In addition to the arrivals mentioned above, the U.S. Government intends to welcome at least 20,000 refugees from Latin America and the Caribbean in Fiscal Year 2023 and 2024, putting the United States on pace to more than triple refugee admissions from the Western Hemisphere this fiscal year alone.

Reactions To The New Plan

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) welcomed the parole expansion but expressed concerns that it is clouded by the administration’s expansion of Title 42, the third-country transit ban, and expedited removal. AILA President Jeremy McKinney said, “The new parole program should be implemented in addition to access to asylum at the southern border and not erode access to asylum.” While AILA supports efforts to manage border migration efficiently in an orderly manner, it emphasizes that these efforts at repairing the system at the southern border are made in vain if the infrastructure and capacity needed to carry them out are lacking.

Layla Razavi, the Interim Executive Director of Freedom for Immigrants, a non-profit immigrant support group, condemned the new policy saying, “The Biden administration should be working to restore and strengthen our asylum system, not eroding what has been a vital lifeline for so many in our communities. The U.S. can live up to our values of fairness and human dignity only when we ensure every person seeking asylum has a fair shot.”

As Kevin Lynn, the Executive Director of Progressives For Immigration Reform, an organization against open immigration pointed out, “When asked about the need for order and control along the southern border, former President Bill Clinton in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria said, “There is a limit to how many migrants any society can take without severe disruption and assistance, and our system is based much more on an assumption that things would be more normal.”

Lynn then added that in 1993 Clinton had this to say about our policies:

“Our immigration policy is focused in four areas: First, strengthening border control; second, protecting American jobs by enforcing laws against illegal immigrants at the workplace; third, deporting criminal and deportable aliens; fourth, giving assistance to states who need it, and denying illegal aliens benefits for public service or welfare.”

Conclusion

That may be a good way to summarize what should be done in U.S. immigration today. As for any reforms, for the time being perhaps the only way forward on this and other areas of immigration will be in the way chosen by the present administration in the White House as outlined here.