Thankfully we have a President who understands what is actually going on. Just like the Mueller hoax was aimed at attaining a coup da ta, nulifying an election through secret and nefarious actions, the whole border question is aimed at filling the roles of democrat voters who are dependent upon the government. That will insure that democrat candidates will be elected regardless of anything. It will, of course, also insure that the size of the govenment will expand significantly, especially in the money it will need and the taxes it will collect.
16
@Len
If the whole Mueller thing was a hoax, please keep in mind that Mueller is a Republican, who was appointed by a Republican member of the Justice Department of a Republican president - named Trump.
8
I didn’t know the Mueller investigation was secret! I could’ve sworn I’ve been hearing about it for years! Of course, it is true that a Republican Attorney General is keeping much of the report secret.
9
@Len, guess you never read the Mueller Report. It found 10 counts of Obstruction of Justice, a felony, and lots of collusion with Russians but not evidence to prove Conspiracy. Look it up.
6
What about the impact on the environment and wildlife? If we use up every bit of available green space to house all the world's poor, we will push more species to the brink of extinction.
13
Central American homicide rates peaked several years ago and have been rapidly dropping, but the number of Central American migrants illegally crossing the U.S. border is going up as homicides rates in Central America are going down. The magnet drawing migrants to the U.S. border are “permisos,” which is what they call notifications to appear at future immigration court hearings. Permisos allow them to legally reside and work in the United States until the date of their hearings, which are now scheduled as much as five years in the future.
Migrants know no one will look for them if they don’t show up for their hearings. Justice Department statistics show show 41 precent of migrants detained but released with notifications to appear never show up for their hearings. The number of no shows will skyrocket as the hearing dates finally roll around for the tsunami of Central Americans now crossing the border. The rejection rate for asylum requests is now 80 percent, but the rate will climb.
Nearly all migrants who cross illegally and then apply for asylum expect their asylum requests to be denied. They come for the permisos. The United States should revise it asylum laws to automatically deny asylum to anyone who enters the country illegally. At the same time, it should permit Central Americans to apply for U.S. asylum in their home countries. This would spare asylum seekers the long trek to the U.S. border.
https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1107056/download#page=34
10
This asylum deluge of illegal immigrants is a mess, and it will not be easy to get right. Some on the left and humanists are right that we should try to take care of these poor people as humanely as possible, with food, shelter and basic care. But some on the right and environmentalists are right that we have to get control of our borders, and that we can not take in all the asylum seeking refugees in the world that would like to come here. I reference Thomas Friedman’s thoughtful pieces, where he says that the people in the countries of chaos are going to try to get into the countries of order.
So we need a giant effort to address root causes. We should consider legalizing all addictive drugs, to cut down the markets that support the cartels, and we should consider helping Honduras close its northern border, so the giant refugee camps of the future are in Honduras, and not in the United States. Through family planning or war or neglect, we need to reduce the population numbers. The tragedy is that there are multiple problems, over population, illegal drug money, climate change related droughts and blights, disintegrating societies. I fear and tremble that we are not up to the task of dealing effectively with all these inter-related problems.
David Lindsay Jr. is the author of "The Tay Son Rebellion" and blogs at TheTaySonRebellion.com and InconvenientNews.wordpress.com. He performs a folk concert of songs and stories about Climate Change and the Sixth Extinction.
20
@David Lindsay Jr.
What an inhumane suggestion: make refugee camps in the very country (Honduras) that so many of its citizens find too dangerous and lacking in resources to continue living there.
8
@David Lindsay Jr. - I have long said that one of the biggest favors we could do the people of Mexico and Central America is to legalize drugs. I support it anyway because I believe adults should have the right to put whatever they choose into their bodies, but a clear additional benefit would be to cut into the cartels' profits (and therefore power).
7
@Gardengirl So we simply let every single Honduran move here?
1
That 20% eventually get to stay in the US forever is really pretty high since a large percentage stay anyway until they father or have a baby. Our judges are liberal. Based on my six years working with the poor in Honduras I think every woman and her children have a valid claim because of the incredible Latin misogyny and partner violence. We need to remember Spanish colonial culture was shaped by the thousand years of Muslim rule in Spain. The situation of the women in Honduras in not unlike the situation of women in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan etc. One can only hope that the new administration opens the borders for Central Americans and Mexicans as well as Muslim women. They are our demographic future since natives of the US can't afford to have children.
7
Don't feel like working this week? kids a hassle ? police keep harassing you about drug deals?
Step across the border and get a free government paid vacation at a government-run health spa free lodging free food, free Child Care, Free Medical and when you get bored just volunteer for a free trip back all-expenses-paid.
As a tax-paying citizen where do I sign up for this freebie?
8
Good for President Trump. Anything that serves to slow the invasion on our southern border is fine by me.
17
All of this racist evil swirls from the rabid mind of Trump's Secretary of Xenophobia, Stephen Miller.
Miller himself is the physical and spiritual reincarnation of the vampire, Count Orlok, as depicted in the 1922 German film "Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horrors".
9
I am sympathetic to situations of people in Latin America that brings them to US. However, I learned that they could easily stay in Mexico and wait for a possibility to become legal immigrants. It would be much easier for them to work in Mexico during their temporary stay there as usually they speak Spanish. They choose to enter illegally the US knowing that finding a job will not be easy. My family is a family of emigrants who escaped communism. We had waited in West Germany for a year before we obtained an asylum and came legally to the US. In spite of having engineering degrees we both with my husband did manual work in Germany before entering the US.
12
179, 000 in two months constitutes a crisis.
9
Wow! Lots of stats being thrown around.
Read Pew Research. 320,000 immigrants returned to their homes in Canada, Europe, Asia and 24% were Mexicans.
Trump lies! We “celebrated” his 10,000th lie yesterday.
Read REAL stats
https://www.pewhispanic.org/2018/09/14/facts-on-u-s-immigrants/
3
I REALLY hate the Bernie Bros, Obama buds, and the rest of the 95 million registered voters who refused to vote for Hillary.
This all is on anyone who didn’t vote! Those emails....
2
“The Coyotes and Drug Cartels are in total control of the Mexico side of the Southern Border,” Mr. Trump tweeted Monday night. “They have labs nearby where they make drugs to sell into the U.S. Mexico, one of the most dangerous country’s in the world, must eradicate this problem now. Also, stop the MARCH to U.S.”
This is a test. Can you spot the multiple grammatical and spelling errors in this statement from our "stable genius" president? Here's a starter. The plural of country is countries not country's. No wonder Trump had Michael Cohen threaten DJT's schools with legal action if they released his grades or SAT test scores. I'm guessing C+ or B- average and something around 1100 to 1200 on the SAT scores (and that's with probable test preparation services).
High intelligence isn't everything but, at this point, I would say that America deserves better. I would also guess that Trump got the job because his father owned the business.
3
They might have a legal right to make their supposed asylum claim.
They do not have a right to have it granted.
Unless and until the supposed claim is granted,
they do not have a right to work
nor to run free inside the USA.
They do not have a right to asylum from "poverty",
nor from "domestic violence",
nor from "gang violence"
nor to "seek a better life".
That's existing law.
Even existing law is is too much for common sense.
The existing law ought to be changed
so that anyone crossing the border from a country
that is not the locus of the supposed persecution
does not have a right to make a claim at all.
Any international treaty that supposedly says otherwise
ought to be renounced.
They have renunciation clauses.
Long past time to invoke them.
12
Here is a completely novel idea: bring in the asylum seekers, make them tax-paying U.S. citizens, and offer them (and any other U.S. citizen who wants to work) decent wages, plus benefits, to repair our infrastructure.
3
@Jim Remington. As there are a couple of billion people that would be happy to come here as asylum seekers or just to escape poverty (like most people coming here now) the u.s. you describe doesn't look very attractive to many of us.
10
People have to pay high fees for green cards and for citizenship applications. These economic migrants are manipulating the asylum process to bypass the normal system so they can work in the US. But all you illegal immigration activists want to give them a free pass.
The overwhelming majority of Americans oppose your open borders position. Calling people racist or xenophobic is a smoke screen for your extremist position. There’s nothing wrong with wanting borders or controlling migration levels.
There’s honestly no use arguing with open borders advocates. These migrants don’t compete for jobs with affluent college educated liberals, but working class Americans working in fields like construction have been decimated by decades of downward pressure on wages. Migrants don’t live in your neighborhood or go to your schools. And since the wealthy have benefited most from the tax cuts and have lawyers to shelter your income, you contribute less and less taxes to the costly social services these migrant families receive.
15
I noticed that a lot of comments delved into the interplay between overpopulation, immigration, environmental sustainability and climate change.
These issues are all tied together and have been the subject of debate for a generation. But it's increasingly likely that the doomday predictions about overpopulation will come true, just via climate change rather than some Malthusian food shortage. Unless we get our act together of course.
Interested readers should be aware how the Sierra Club's position on immigration "evolved" from a "population stabilization" plank to a pro-immigration platform due to a single large donation:
https://cis.org/Sussis/Brief-Chronology-Sierra-Clubs-Retreat-ImmigrationPopulation-Connection-Updated
7
@Mmm. The SC position on population has been the height of hypocrisy for decades. You cannot be for mass immigration or population growth in the U.S. and simultaneously claim to be an environmentalist. The two positions are mutually incompatible.
10
Let’s noodle this one thru for a moment, shall we. The Administration seems to think that these migrants who are willing to pay thousands to known criminals, trek thousands of miles through scorching deserts and in the back of suffocating trucks, risk rape, robberies and beatings to face an unknown and uncertain future, will suddenly decide to remain in their brutal, murderous countries because now they face the prospect of paying a few hundred dollar processing fee at the end of their journey? Oh, Donald, Donald, Donald.
And to those who will argue that the processing fee should be, not hundreds, but thousands of dollars, well now you are entering the moral territory of the smugglers themselves.
4
This is an excellent policy, everyone needs to pay "their fair share" & contribute to US.
5
Stephen Miller "...was behind the purge of homeland security officials..."
Purges happen in dictatorships, not democracies. Just another indication that the US is in ever-increasing danger the longer Trump is in power.
5
How about working with the governments of asylum seekers to improve their ways of life so that they have no reason to come here in the first place?
Of course, we already know the answer to this question. America only steps in to aid the rich and their corporations and it doesn't matter who's President. That's the very reason we're *still* at war with Afghanistan and *still* in league with Big Oil. Immigrants and asylum seekers aren't the ones who should be demonized.... our American government should be!
2
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to pay fees..."
3
@2tl. Luckily a cheesy poem written on a statue given to the u.s. when our population was 1/6th what it is now and the country was still somewhat empty and the world population was less than 2 billion is not law. We got the statue from France. Maybe you should ask them how letting in hordes of immigrants is working out for them and the rest of Europe currently?
10
@2tl,
I say knock that statue as well as the poem over in the NY harbor and make a natural reef off the coast; more shrimp, clams for those who like seafood.
There, fixed it.
5
it doesn't matter what people might think about the substance President Obama's executive orders. it is beyond arguing that they were targeted reducing tensions and improving the lives of ordinary people, weather American or not. what is equally evident is that President Trump's executive orders are anchored in fear and cruelty, dedicated to the proposition that all people are created unequal,
3
All part of the Make America Barbaric Again movement. Next, it'll be:
* A return to race-based immigration quotas.
* A return to Jim Crow.
* And, ultimately, a return to slavery.
If he has his way, the Old South will rise again.
9
@Sixofone,
I live in the south, probably enjoy a better quality of life than life in the village.
1
We had over 200,000 in the year 2000. We dealt with it humanely without crying "Emergency!!!!" What has changed? The incompetence now at the helm. Vote smarter next time around.
7
@kay The US cannot absorb every would-be immigrant from Central America. It's time for our developing neighbors to....DEVELOP.
11
Gerald - then stop messing around with their governments
2
Fees for asylum seekers? Make checks payable to Donald J. Trump, right?
5
Who gave him that idea? Lou Dobbs? Hannity? Or was it simply Steve Miller, his own little in-house white nationalist who won't appear out of the dark shadows so he can be heard by the American people? These people are a disgrace to this country.
8
Trump and his minions (Stephen Miller) seem to think that disincentives like "application fees" will stop people from presenting themselves at the U.S. Border. His tactics are stupid and foolish. By eliminating aid to the countries that are inflicting misery on their citizens, he is exacerbating the situation, while trying to punish people who are fleeing in part from a situation he has created. Trump's incompetence is unparalleled in modern history, as is his cruelty.
4
there was room enough in the country for his wife and for her chain migration parents .... but I'm sure don the con has already forgotten that
more and more hate from a petty, corrupt, fraudulent "president"
5
@brian. Good points . Irrelevant though. Because trump and millions of others have exploited our immigration system doesn't make it ok. Let's get rid of trump. But then let's fix the immigration system as well. Hating trump is a fun but worthless activity. Finding solutions to a broken out of control system that has nothing to do with an over populated world is what we need.
3
Import the third world..... become the third world.
17
...or possibly lift up the citizens of the third world.
2
@Andrew Wohl. 2 billion people live on less than 3$/day. Are you suggesting we take them all in to "lift them up"?
10
Is had a nightmare the other eve: Miller and Trump pick up all immigrant seekers and helicopter them to Puerto Rico, where they are given paper towels and a dry frozen meal. Then Trump sends a presidential order that PR is no longer American, annexed,left to be adopted by a nation who wants it.
Far fetched, but maybe not.
The fact that the USA thinks of immigrants as vermin to be exterminated is racist and appalling.
Are the policies they propose not against human rights? What about the International Court of The Hague?
2
@A - Not immigrants, illegal-immigrants. There is a difference.
9
This is asylum seekers.
1
Trump only listens to/watches Fox News. Why? I thought a "POTUSA" should have an open mind.
2
Next Trump will order asylum seekers to stand on their heads until they are granted a heading. Trump is a sicko.
3
Charging for migrants seeking asylum makes Donald Trump look like Coyote-in-Chief scamming these people in crisis.
3
if the illegals have made it to the southern US border, arent they safe from their home country oppression? whats wrong with staying in mexico?
16
Mexico is not going to provide healthcare, welfare, free education, and jobs that pay USD. We are a generous nation.
4
Ms. Brané said the new restrictions would turn “asylum on its head.”
“The entire idea of asylum is that it’s something that you need because you are fleeing some sort of violence or persecution,” she said, “and to then say that it’s only accessible to people who can pay a fee doesn’t make sense.”
I question her rationale on two points, the asylum laws were never meant to address the violence or poverty Central American migrants are fleeing, these people are not fleeing persecution by their own governments. And many of these people do come up with the very large fees that the coyotes and smugglers demand so it should follow an application fee should be doable.
14
Two big flaws with your argument:
First, you are arguing that since smugglers and “Coyotes” demand money, it’s ok for the United States to do so. Not good moral company to keep. Also, are the immigrants supposed to hold back a little cash from the smugglers to give to Uncle Sam? Do you think smugglers would let them hold on to some of their money?
Second, these people are escaping government persecution. The government of Honduras especially, is complicit with the crimes perpetrated by gangs and abusive spouses. They refuse to enforce their own laws, prosecute criminals and in some cases are actually the perpetrators of the violence. So these immigrants are not escaping gangs and spousal abuse. They are escaping a government that refuses to carry out its number one responsibility to its citizens. Keep them safe and provide a lawful society.
2
Central America has seen its populations explode by 4-6x since the 50s. No country, political or economic system can possibly adjust to take these kinds of numbers. So what to do? Go north of coarse to a country that has antiquated, out of touch with reality immigration and asylum laws. This will work for awhile until the u.s. is overwhelmed as well. The only solution for Central America, the u.s. and the planet is a full court press to reduce our populations (all of them) to a sustainable level and move to sustainable economies everythwhere. Simply moving people to places that aren't yet overwhelmed with people is not a longterm solution. At almost 8 billion the planet cannot sustain us even at the poverty levels most people live at, not to mention how most westerners live. It is a purely numbersgame at this point and no one on either side has the political guts to face up to them.
7
...and how do you propose drastically reducing population? Humanely I hope.
1
@Andrew Wohl. Absolutely. First make birth control free and readily available. Next eliminate all the tax and other incentives to having more than two children. Educate and empower women. Most will have fewer kids. Besides, if we don't nature will do it sooner or later anyway and it won't be humane. The laws that govern natural system still apply to us at some point. Unfortunately we will have destroyed the planet and the systems all life depends on by then. We're doing that now, btw.
4
There must be a plan. Sponsorship with requirements and safeguards is a way. It opens the door; but doesn't allow storming through the border. And the fee business is just shameful.
trump must be using a different copy of the constitution than i know about. the constitution I'm familiar with says only congress can levy taxes, excises and duties.
1
An Immigration Reform Bill was voted into law over a year ago with bipartisan support that would have solved the problem but Trump vetoed it. Why did Trump veto the solution? Seems he needed to create a crisis to run on. Sad!
3
@kay. Really? What part of the immigration reform bill is going to deal with a 100,000 asylum seekers per month?
5
The problem in the Triangle countries needs to be dealt with at the source. Trump's ham-handed approach will not work.
2
Everyone who is honest will acknowledge that the vast majority of asylum seekers to the United States do not truly qualify for asylum--most of them are economic immigrants who want to improve their lives. I have some sympathy for them (although my sympathy is wearing thin as more and more of them keep pouring across our border), but the reality is that we can't take care of the whole world. If we keep letting hoardes of these poor, uneducated people into our country, more and more will continue to come. It is unsustainable and also an injustice to our country and our citizens. I was not born in a third world country and I don't want my country to turn into one.
15
@Sophie - Italy has learned that lesson well. If you keep letting them in, more will come. Finally they closed the ports to NGO rescue vessels but they have half-a-million undocumented migrants in the country.
5
Yep, true. Now the migrants drown at sea in the Mediterranean rather than inconvenience Italy. Good solution.
3
“If we keep letting hoardes of these poor, uneducated people into our country, more and more will continue to come. It is unsustainable and an injustice to our country and our citizens. I was not born in a third world country and I don’t want my country to become one.”
Hey, I say we replace the poem, Colossus, on the Statue of Liberty with that kind-hearted thought.
You should be humbled and grateful you were not born in a third world country and be generous and gracious to the unfortunate people who were rather fear and despise them.
2
Another Executive Order....with absolutely no clue as to how it should be implemented. Or how it will be paid for.
He may as well issue a directive to the FAA ordering that all commercial flights must land within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time. In other words...good luck with all that.
Truly mindless.
1
I dislike Trump and will never vote Republican. However I think the Democratic Party will have to develop and publicize a strategy for dealing with the border situation or we will have to endure another four years of Trump/Pence. That eventuality would complete the ruin of our country.
10
@Al,
Uncontrolled immigration has given us a new population and leaders who do not appreciate America; they only see America as a place to open the door for their fellow country men and women and a slew of old people who will never be able to contribute anything to this country.
4
@Cal. Unfortunately the democrats plan always involves more immigration and more asylum seekers. It wasn't always so. In years past democratic leaders realized we can't be the worlds pressure relief valve for out of control population growth. It has now become a litmus test for the democrats that mass immigration, especially from poor countries, is always good, no matter what.
6
In Trump’s long list of cruel ideas, this is the worst one yet. After canceling financial assistance to Honduras and other impoverished and crime-ridden countries in Central America, which forced many families to flee for their survival, Trump wants to charge for processing their asylum requests.
Meanwhile, Trump wants to spend big money to build an unnecessary wall on our southern border and has had US troops moved to the border. He is reportedly supportive of US military involvement in Venezuela, and the US may be assisting the coup attempt there today.
All of this proves yet again that bullies aren’t leaders and that Donnie is a racist who shouldn't be living in the White House. His cruelty caused the migrations, so the Trump family should pay all costs for asylum processing.
2
Trump has been more than happy to hire immigrants (legal and illegal) to work at his golf courses, build his buildings, clean his hotels.
Now he's employing immigrants again--this time to get his base worked up for his own political advantage.
If Trump had to endure for one day what many asylum-seekers are fleeing, he would, perhaps, not be so needlessly cruel in his policies. Why, I ask, must one heap misery on the heads of those whose lives are already so full of misery and fear? Can this man truly be this evil?
3
Does Trump charge a fee to apply for membership at Mar a Lago? This would be the only way to account for such an off the wall idea as application fees for asylum seekers. He does tend to equate his narrow experience of the world with the constitutional powers of a President of the United States.
2
Not a rhetorical question: If you thought these immigrants would vote Republican once they became citizens, would you feel the same way about letting them in? As I look at all the immigrants filling the pews, I don't know that you can make any assumptions.
4
Trump seems to thrive on problems, not solutions.
How does he think his latest stunt will solve the border issue?
2
We can not take is all of those who want to come. We can not tax the middle class to fund all of these economic migrants. We can not properly vet those coming as they have no paperwork and most have no education or English language skills. We can not allow an open border policy. Instead of throwing shade at the current power structure.... what solutions do you have that do not put the burden of these economic migrants onto the people of America?
7
Reminds me of how Ann Frank's family and countless others fleeing the Holocaust were denied entrance to the United States.
Which modern Republican would be the one meeting her family and telling them, "OK you can stay- but we're need cash up front."?
I'm sure it's a coincidence that we now have synagogue shootings and this behavior from the GOP.
1
@Mike
This is a poor comparison. Anne Frank and her co-religionists were being persecuted for their religion, and were fleeing for their lives.
The Central American migrants are seeking economic opportunity.
1
Americans are growing weary of people from so-called "developing nations" claiming that they can't live anywhere else on earth other than the United States of America. This is our country. If we don't wish it to become overcrowded and culturally balkanized that's our prerogative!
10
After reading these comments, Trump is going to steamroll over Democrats in 2020
11
Everyone knows this a soft subject for people. an no one wants to talk about this really but we must talk about this because this is peoples lives! People are running to our country to seeking asylum for them and there family's for a better life in fact the story about El Salvador is now conman thing you hear which is really sad, these aren't random people it's our family, family friends, work friends. People are living in fear that they will be hunted like some wild animal an locked up, just to be thrown back like some un-wanted pet to the one place they ran from just to be killed or worst starved. These are human beings they should be treated with more respect then what we are doing now. I understand there are some situations where a immigrant have done something bad or they where the cause of something. President Donald Trump said it’s,“not true” that immigrants in the U.S. illegally are “safer than the people that live in the country,” providing several crime statistics he claimed
represented the “toll of illegal immigration.” Sen. Bernie Sanders made the opposite claim, saying: “I understand that the crime rate among undocumented people is actually lower than the general population.” By Robert Farley'. But the fact that trump can't keep his own homeland agent security Kirstjen Nielsen who signed off on the kid separation act which woke people up to what is going on with mexico. Trump was catch saying he wants someone tougher on broader control.
1
Whenever progressives cannot defend a policy they start attacking Trump, claiming he's a "liar" and even "inciting violence". They cannot argue on principle so they just go off attacking Trump in a rant.
7
Trump is nothing but a mean old man. He has no respect for the qualities that brought his own family and 2 of his wives to this country. We must get this man out of power before he completely shreds our Constitution and destroys our international standing as a beacon of hope for the world.
2
As far as NYT and its educated and left-leaning leadership, this decision will be reviled as everything else Trump does, he can do nothing to satisfy the NYT and its readers, save for committing suicide.
As far as the rest of USA, another step in the right direction (certainly not the friendliest), an attempt to solve the unbearable situation on the border and the glut of 'asylum seekers' / migrants / illegals.
We need to seriously address this issue and he is trying, one way or the other.
30
@ss The situation he created at the border. And no need for him to commit suicide- just go back to stealing from his usual marks rather than American people until he's jailed for campaign finance violations, obstruction of justice, and tax fraud.
2
They may be poorly educated and possibly misinformed about the reality of striking it out in the US, but they are smart in understanding the weaknesses of our immigration system. Meanwhile, we're caught up in laws that don't fit with the times and with leaders and representatives who are too politicized/reactionary to take reasonable action through legislation. Immigration is a risk if it is not controlled or well managed -- if you step back and look at what's happening in Europe and Australia, there's many parallels of their issues to ours playing out now. Admit too many and you have social and logistical strife, admit too few and you have economic troubles and labor shortages. Wondering if we'll ever get this under control in the US.
19
Trump has no respect for others. All other people are either adversaries or objects for him to use. He cares not bit about why people are seeking asylum. He’s discovered that people on the right think that the golden rule is a fraud designed to trick them into letting others exploit them. He just denigrates the sentiment of it to entertain them.
5
It would be helpful if this and similar articles would make it clear that much if not most of what Trump proposes will NOT in fact happen until actual new laws and/or rules are formally proposed and adopted. Proposals without formal action are nothing but hot air from a windbag.
4
Special Juvenile Immigrant Status
Congress could modify or end asylum laws which are not being used as intended. One of these offers asylum to any minor who has been neglected, abused, or abandoned by a parent. This law was written so broadly that it covers any minor who was raised by a single mother as this minor could say he or she was abandoned by their father.
This law is now being used to annually award asylum to tens of thousands of Central American young people, many of whom claim that they are just under age 18, and whom have had little education.
Congress must re-examine this law.
12
Nobody should complain about charging a fee and holding back work permits. The majority of the illegal entrants are not fleeing religious or political persecution. They are looking for the almighty American dollar. Everybody knows it but are unwilling to admit it, especially the dems. President Trump is attempting to slow down the flow by making these rules. They are a good idea but I doubt they will work.
28
Historically, the US has had difficulty ever deciding how to handle either legal or illegal immigration regardless of how the migrants enter the country. There is a long and ugly history of racist immigration policy, inconsistency and general dithering.
The difference in 2019 is that the people on the southern border, as has been reported, are not immigrants like those from earlier eras (often men looking for work), but refugees/asylum seekers trying to escape failed states in South America.
Trump's response, like the response of the conservative government in Australia, is to lock and bolt the doors. I can appreciate how Americans feel. No country wants an influx of strangers arriving uninvited at its borders.
However, being by nature sadistic and wholly incapable of seeing beyond his own paunch, Trump's actions ignores the fact that the effects of climate change are going to make bad government worse in South America and are going to send many, many more refugees north, just as conditions are driving people north from Africa.
The failure of the US to provide leadership in planning for sudden mass migration is part of world governments' failure to deal with the impact on human societies of environmental change.
There are too many people on earth, many living in places where soon the climate will make human life impossible. Millions are going to try to move. If ever we needed leaders to unite us to face the future, we need them now. But Trump is not a leader's bootlace.
5
I remember that Trump laid out a detailed immigration strategy in one of his speeches long ago, that outlined a merit-based system and tighter immigration quotas. Having had to go through such a system when I emigrated to Europe, I thought that his plan was reasonable. I'm on the Left, but even I realize that the US can't sustain unfettered immigration. No country can - it's tearing societies apart. But so far, the ever "untruth speaking" Trump has implemented none of his plan. I guess that the lure of unlimited, cheap labor is just too attractive to him and his rich friends.
12
It’s not immigration that is tearing this society apart. It is hate for immigrants that is.
2
@Andrew Wohl Not everyone who wants to regulate the flood of newcomers into a society is motivated by hate, but rather, they're motivated by the desire to maintain a certain quality of life, while being able to afford a better quality of life to the immigrants who qualify within the system. Affordable housing, for example, is impossible to find for those making more than minimum wage, who already live in the places where most people tend to migrate. It's reasonable not to want to stress an already stressed society by forcing more on it than it can structurally handle. Placing some regulations on immigration is, IMO, simply practical. Again, not everyone who wants immigration reform is motivated by hate.
5
Two excerpts from a notable article in The Atlantic, by David Frum.
"If Liberals Won't Enforce Borders, Fascists Will"
AMERICANS ALSO NEED to rethink asylum policy. If unemployment, poverty, or disorder in your home country qualifies you for asylum, then hundreds of millions of people qualify—even though virtually none of them has been targeted by the kind of state-sponsored persecution that asylum laws were originally written to redress.
The family-reunification bias of present U.S. immigration policy effectively delegates that decision to immigrant diasporas in the United States. On average, a settled immigrant will sponsor 3.5 relatives to follow him or her into the United States. Family ties also help explain the dynamics of unauthorized immigration. Central American asylum seekers say they are fleeing crime in their home countries. Yet asylum-seeking has surged even as crime in Central America has subsided. El Salvador’s homicide rate has dropped by half since 2015; Honduras’s has plunged by 75 percent since 2013. As these asylum seekers have settled in the United States, they have beckoned their families to follow. U.S. adjudicators have rejected the vast majority of Central American asylum applications. But that has not diminished the flow from Central America. The process is slow, and a rejected application can be appealed. As the proceedings grind on, asylum seekers can vanish into diaspora communities where they can find housing, work, and welcome.
18
This policy change is yet another dog whistle played by the administration that poorly conceals the fact that these new restrictions are based entirely on race. This policy would have never been considered for European countries.
7
It is unconscionable that we're not welcoming these poor people with open arms. Let them in NOW, Mr. President!
Get real with addressing the problem.
4
Why does the NYTimes put this under "Trump Administration?" Shouldn't the heading be "Trump Crime Syndicate?"
This is illegal and will never stand up in court. Like 94% of his actions to date. He is the losing-est president ever.
That assumes that the department heads actually do what he asks. Seems that a commonly emerging theme is that people simply ignore of what he doth decree knowing it is either staggeringly stupid or illegal.
5
Trump will play to his base in his quest to stop brown folks from rampaging across the border ,raping their pretty blonde wives,stealing their jobs and worse voting democrat. Trump as usual stirs up fear and hate his ticket to reelection from dems "executing babies" and declaring Robert E Lee a great general despite him being a traitor and leading troops to kill Americans.
Trump's white nationalist base must be fed red meat so they show up in 2020 or else he could go to jail. It's all hands on deck from Putin to AG Barr save Trump at all costs.
4
I wish these articles would discuss the legality of Trump's actions in depth. And point out his misspellings -- "one of the most dangerous country's [sic]."
5
There are about 2 billion people in the world who would qualify for asylum.
According to the Dems, we should let them all in if they can make it to our border. Ridiculous.
46
@Jay Lincoln: kindly show us where your name appears on the rolls of the first settlers. Lincoln is an old New England name, but you don't display any of the character of the Yankee Lincolns.
8
The first "settlers" took over someone else's already "settled" land: the native American tribes.
8
@Jay Lincoln
Now how about you actually apply your mind to the issue instead of making up and spreading lies as if you are stating facts?
Fact is 100% of these asylum seekers are at our doorstep because of what your fellow republicans did to their home country. Most of them will not qualify.
The solution is to add more judges to the immigration courts. Next step is to try to solve the problems that our fellow Americans created in the Central and South American countries these people come from.
The issue here has very little to do with the current asylum seekers from Central America. The issue here is about the system, and whether it is possible to cross the border, legally or not, and claim asylum and then get to live in the US and work here, not show up for the asylum hearing and join the over 11 million people living their lives here illegally. And what the US is currently announcing to the world is that our borders are open to all.
And so people from around the world, all of those who have wanted to try the same thing in Europe until they were overwhelmed and paid Turkey a billion Euros to keep people away, will now come to live in the US. These are people who have many thousands of dollars to spend on smugglers to take them across deserts and the Mediterranean, and a flight to Mexico and a bus to the US border is a relative bargain.
Now there is nobody who would argue that we should allow people by the millions to cross the southern border year after year and settle here. However since it is Trump who wants to keep them out there are those who oppose anything he wants to do. Making arguments such as its "immoral" to build a wall, not because its true, after all they do not argue that having officers at ports of entry is immoral, but because anything Trump wants must be bad.
And so to spite Trump a never ending flow of millions a year will be allowed to settle here in the US because no price is too high to pay if it the serves to obstruct Trump.
46
Who said anything like this, please? Other than Hannity, of course.
But I did like the part about taking a bus from Turkey to the southern border.
17
The vast number of asylum seekers follow the law and do show up for the hearings. These rants about invaders and criminals are dishonest and just cater to xenophobia. The ones who evade are relatively a small proportion. We are a modern and affluent country we can fix that without acting like we are suffering from a massive migration of people seeking to displace us. People come here because it’s a good place to be and they are welcomed by the people who live here. They are not trying to drive us away.
8
@Michael Stavsen
I could certainly be wrong, but I've never heard (or heard of) any federal official - elected, appointed, or bureaucratic - of any persuasion say anything remotely like throw open the borders, or that it's acceptable for a "flow of millions [of illegal immigrants] a year" to settle here.
Is that what Fox claims the "opposition" is proposing?
7
Illegal immigration elected Trump in 2016.
Massive waves of illegal immigration, combined with the Democrats' spineless refusal to condemn illegal immigration, will re-elect Trump in 2020.
Is that what you people really want?
You are trashing this country, demeaning the value of citizenship, destroying our schools and healthcare and public budgets, ripping our nation apart.
Why? For what public benefit?
In your zeal to curse Trump, you are going to get him re-elected.
Stop this madness.
Zero tolerance for this scourge that is illegal immigration. ENOUGH.
40
Sad really. What we need is massive government action to address this sort of TDS.
Really, it’s crippling. Trumpists can’t even FIND reality any more.
4
I am a naturalized citizen. Among other things it took me many years of paperwork to gain citizenship. I also gave up my original citizenship to become American. I agree, illegal immigration cheapens the value of citizenship.
14
*The restrictions do not take effect immediately. Mr. Trump gave administration officials 90 days to draw up regulations that would carry out his orders.*
His orders! No one disobeys your orders, right Donny? Until they do, of course.
Dang, what tiresome individual. My children as toddlers and teenagers were not this exhausting.
3
Presidents give orders. It's a part of the job. Calm down.
Trump as always is an idiot.
You don't charge people for seeking safety, if anything you give them aid free and clear.
5
I really believe that Stephen Miller (and Faux News) is running our country. How scary is that?
8
Only someone with the defective moral intelligence of Donald Trump would even consider asking for fees from asylum seeking migrants who have traveled hazardous journeys to get to the border in the first place. Where are all the so-called Christians who are supporting this administration??? Why are Conservative Christians so interested in preserving fetuses but not the lives of real feeling and thinking children and adults. The morality of America is sinking rapidly into the depths of Hell for supporting this administration which demeans America's (former) values and perpetrates such cruelty. SHAME ON TRUMP. But even more shame on those who support his government.
7
@RLW
" ...migrants who have traveled hazardous journeys to get to the border ..."
The following is from a 12/31/18 Washington Times article titled "Tuberculosis, flu, infections rampant as the number of sick migrants surge at border”:
"Border authorities are referring 50 people a day for urgent medical care, including tuberculosis, flu and even pregnant women about to give birth, a top official said Monday, saying it’s unlike anything they’ve ever seen before. Most of those in need of care are children, and a staggering 28 percent are under age 5, having been dragged along for the trip by parents who in many cases are hoping to use the children as a shield against speedy deportation from the U.S.
CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said most of those needing help were ill when they arrived at the border, and some appear to have made the initial decision to leave even while ailing. “Many were ill before they departed their homes,” the commissioner said. “We’re talking about cases of pneumonia, tuberculosis, parasites. These are not things that developed urgently in a matter of days.” Agents have spotted a new trend in the traffic from Central America to the U.S., with smuggling organizations using commercial buses to get people through the journey in less than a week. The faster trip also makes it easier for sick people to come, and provides “confidence for parents to bring younger children” along as well, he said."
A bus trip is not hazardous.
8
How long can the US serves has the rest of the world's pressure relief valve? Asylum for gang violence and domestic abuse? Give me a break if those were valid reasons for asylum then everyone in South Central LA should be admitted to somewhere immediately if not sooner. Religious or political persecution I can see that and sympathize with it. But that you live in an awful neighborhood or married the wrong person ? NOT THE US's PROBLEM! We have enough of our own They should change their own country. The US has no obligation or duty to grant asylum for domestic or gang violence. The concept is ridiculous at best. We have plenty of our own thank you. Because their police or Governments corrupt ? We have plenty of that too. We can't afford or aren't willing to do anything for our own citizens. But everyone prove how virtious they are will do anything in the world for illegals> Enough is enough we can't serve has the world's garbage can anymore. we have our own problems and our own people to take care of. You look after your clan and your own first not strangers looking for a free ride.
29
Xenophobia coming from someone who cannot claim even one grandparent born on this side of the Atlantic is hypocrisy at its filthiest and most venal. Trump is a poster-child for bad upbringing and bad education, as well as parvenu perspective. One almost suspects that the devil is paying unmarked bills into his offshore accounts.
5
@William Burgess Leavenworth...never forget those who cast a ballot for him. Those people, who were feeling lonely and left out during President Obama's 8 glorious years. Those people who are now emboldened to commit crimes against immigrants. Those people who project better than anyone on the planet.
Biden is the solution I truly believe it. trump doesn't want to be reelected.
4
Too bad trump's grandfather didn't have to pay a fee to enter. He may have stayed in Germany and we could have kept our democracy. As for these people fleeing dangers in Central America, they don't have the money to pay a fee. This whole administration needs to be impeached along with its leader.
9
@Rebecca
By their own admission (in quotes published in the New York Times) many paid thousands in US currency to get to the US border. Don't repeat the myth that these are largely poor people.
12
I believe other countries impose some application fees and work restrictions. The fees can help defray the huge administrative costs to the US. But there need to at least be hardship exceptions.
I think it also makes sense to restrict work for the first 3-6 months, and it should be the US's goal to do at least a first pass assessment of all asylum applications within that time. It doesn't make sense to allow someone to start work if they will not be permitted to stay and we can process their application quickly. On the other hand, if an applicant does pass a threshold review, it will take a while for his application to be processed, and we should give him a temporary work visa an initial waiting period. Otherwise, the government is footing his bill.
All this is to say, let's wait and see what rule changes actually get proposed. They will probably be a lot more practical than Trump's bluster.
6
Talk about counter-intuitive.
4
Trump and Miller focus all their cruel policies on the symptoms, and not the problems, that are responsible for the influx of asylum seekers at our southern border. Their legacy will be a shameful one, their time in power, a disgraceful blot on the history of the United States. Infamy is coming for them.
5
It's all about money for Trump and his cult members. They don't crack down on wealthy white women flying to the U.S. to have that anchor baby. Why? Money. If you can buy your way into the U.S., great. If you "invest" a million dollars in a Texas film, the governor and his buddies promise you a green card. If you can plunk down $200 million for a penthouse in NYC, you're welcome to live here. This isn't unique to the U.S., though. Want to leave the U.S. and go live in Canada or Australia? Don't try it if you're over 45 and don't have a minimum of $250,000 in assets. Wealthy countries want wealthy citizens. They want poor people to stay where they are. As someone else said, "Wealthy people have no country." They don't need one. They just need a place to park their money -- where taxes are low and corruption is tolerated.
9
@Allison: Get real, and while you're at it get some numerical perspective. What fraction of the anchor babies in this country derive from wealthy white women doing their "birth tourism" thing?
2
Illegals cannot get SNAP or most other benefits. And even those who are here illegally tend to work more than citizens in the same demographics, and many pay withholding taxes that they don't get refunds on.
EVERYONE pays taxes of some sort. If they rent, part of that goes to real estate taxes which go to schools. Just like their neighbors. Sales taxes. Taxes on utilities. Some even own homes.
And about half of the illegals are not from mexico or Central America, and are not asylum seekers.
But yeah, they are the type of foreigners that Trump likes.
4
“Carry out his orders?” When is someone clueing him in that he’s not a general! He’s totally setting up these people for deportation. Limiting work permits? This is not a plan to help anyone. He’s a spiteful, selfish, horrible example of a human being.
7
When so many are expected to not qualify for asylum there should be a way to dissuade them. A financial cost and no permission to work can make a difference.
No doubt there will be exceptions, but this needs to be done.
1
@Margo the ones that have been in “detention” centers should have at least been processed. If they qualify for asylum, then they move through the system as it should be. He made it impossible for anyone that wanted to be admitted through the proper channels by holding them and not processing. Then once they clear some out, process the next bunch. True, some claiming asylum won’t be approved, but the way he’s doing it now is just plain spiteful.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Earth to Stephen Miller: Did you get that memo?
Would we could issue you a one-way/no return ticket to the farthest reaches of the universe. And a suitcase to carry your draconian policies.
6
@cfrank: Maybe Elon would, if we all chipped in (GoFundMe?), shoot him off in a Tesla for a one way trip to Mars.
3
@cfrank It's a poem on a statue, not an open invitation for every poor person to bring six kids and demand we give them a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. Dems are utterly irrational on this issue
2
How ironic that people who advocate the disrespect of the immigration laws of our country, and are willing to just have anyone who so pleases sneak across the boarder, are now up in arms about DT and his "law breaking".
You can't have it both ways. Either the law mean something or it means nothing (and God save us in this case).
I challenge all of you who support the unchecked invasion of our country to show that you mean it by taking some of them into your homes, feed them, cloth them, provide them with medical care, etc., but don't volunteer me to do so via my taxes.
18
Trump is really only capable of thinking in terms of money. Unfortunately, people fleeing for their lives do not pick a destination by doing a cost benefit analysis and since president Trump and Secretary pompeo will not use diplomacy to tackle the problems of the failed states in Centreal America I would suggest A more humane way to limit asylum seekers would be to require them to have a sponsor, a friend or family member already living legally in the U.S. to verify their identity.
1
@ariel Loftus: Central American asylum seekers supposedly "fleeing for their lives" (what fraction?) seem to be doing a cost-benefit analysis about their destination. If they weren't, why then wouldn't they be content to seek asylum in Mexico?
2
@ariel Loftus
"Unfortunately, people fleeing for their lives do not pick a destination by doing a cost benefit analysis "
Then why aren't they staying in Mexico? They're here because they know they can make more money here.
3
As long as we continue to have the lunacy of Birthright Citizenship, 180 days to adjudicate asylum cases will produce US citizen kids, born at taxpayer expense, and further complicate this mess.
The only two developed countries in the world that still have this relic of a frontier past are the US and Canada. All other developed countries with the ability to see a problem and deal with it ended Birthright Citizenship.
19
Trump's (Miller's) actions are indicative of a mental disease that presents as a "fix" to a problem that can be solved by other, absolutely less abusive means.
A big part of my adulthood has been spent in the countries south of the border. If the USA spent just a fraction of the money and resources on developing a financial infrastructure in these countries that would bring some first world benefits to the populations there, it would begin to benefit everyone, and that includes the US. But the tactics advanced by the likes of Stephen Miller are not positive, not productive, not humane, and definitely not going to solve any kind of border problem. They couldn't be any more counterproductive, unless the USA starts shooting people down here.
2
When Obama used executive powers to ease the plight of children brought at a young age to this country by their undocumented parents, Republicans screamed "imperial presidency" and filed suit. Presidential overreach was the battle cry..
But when an un-elected Stephen Miller cooks up draconian edicts and slides them across the desk for DJT to sign with his customary reality TV showmanship and flourishes, well, it's okay because Trump is a(n alleged) Republican and Republicans get a pass and can do no wrong.
How about a Faustian bargain to rectify the constitutional imbalance screamingly evident here: when Trump pays his taxes and stops making money off foreign influence peddlers, we can start charging fees to asylum hopefuls. Because if there was ever a scofflaw who is making a mockery of the Treasury and cashing on on the American taxpayer, it's Individual Number One.
5
@Thoughtful Woman
Obama's policies encouraged over 70,000 unaccompanied minors to flood our border in a single year. He's not a model for anyone.
1
Why would the Times cover this story without researching the asylum laws -- national and international -- that remain in effect?
Donald's bluster and his fee will have a chilling effect on the right of asylum, and he can't do that without congress.
Violating the law and obstruction seems to be reflexive for Donald. He is driving the House toward impeachment.
2
Good except it doesn't apply to Cubans.Besides being eligible for medical and social services, the Cuban illegal is not penalized for being a public charge when applying for permanent residency; this is not true for others under the Cuban Adjustment Act.
The Republican talking point is that Cubans are coming here because of political oppression and must be treated differently. There are all kinds of arguments against this claim, but one stands out as a very salient rebuttal: the Cubans who come here, illegally or not, can and do return to Cuba for visits and other reasons once they get permanent residency or citizenship. In 2009, two hundred and ninety six thousand Cubans returned to the country. The further irony is that while a former illegal Cuban can go to Cuba if they have relatives living there, a natural born non-Cuban U.S. citizen cannot go. You would hardly return to a place voluntarily if you had been persecuted previously. Cubans Immigrate for "economic reasons" just as others do and are coming thru Mexico just like the others as well.
Keep in mind this is not the wet/dry foot policy which was ended by President Obama. This is called the Cuban Adjustment Act.
Trump doesn't mention a word about repealing it to the Republicans . He needs Florida but Trump doesn't play politics remember?
4
I like reading the comments from the Democrats. It is clear the Democrats are going to position themselves out of sync with the voters on this issue which will lead to them losing in 2020.
17
Just as a lesson of history, one of the MAIN reason for the fall of the Roman Empire was uncontrollable immigration of the less skilled. The rude awaking came when in 472AD the Empire faced invasion, and employed its army consisting largely of the immigrants - but it was too late: they had no loyalty to Rome to defend it. The dark ages followed.
The other MAIN reason for the fall was corruption in the government.
We have both of these reasons repeated today: near uncontrollable in the West fueled by the left, and corruption in the US facilitated by the right.
Draw your own conclusions.
7
After WW II, many countries around the world agreed that anyone who was fleeing persecution due to their religion, race, nationality, political opinion, or particular social group should be allowed to request asylum. These reasons are specific, and do not include general violence or widespread poverty.
The Obama Administration decided, without Congressional approval, to add 2 new reasons for giving asylum - gang and domestic violence - both of which are hard for immigration judges to disprove. The Trump Administration tried to do away with these 2 additional reasons for granting asylum, but was stopped by a federal judge.
Nearly 90% of recent immigrants are Guatemalan. Most are from Guatemala’s western highlands which has been experiencing a multi-year drought. While droughts are not uncommon there, the population has grown so fast that many are in fear of going hungry. Hunger is not a reason to request asylum so Guatemalans have been saying they are fleeing gang or domestic violence.
Violence is lower in Guatemala than in many of our own cities. (The 2018 murder rate in Guatemala was 22 per 100,000 people. In St. Louis it was 60.) Guatemalans are facing less violence in their own country than they would here. They are coming here for jobs and welfare so they are support themselves.
Instead of trying to absorb the world’s poor, we could offer their countries temporary food aid, and try to help their farmers.
9
Trump's first true quote in years: "I’ll never get the support of Dues Crazy union leadership."
But he's all about saving American jobs.
It must be 'Dues' that riles Trump -- but not the annual $14K that members pay at Club Mar a Lago. That's not crazy.
Instead of paying union dues, American workers should save money and join Mar a Lago. Great golfing. The best.
1
@JAM
For a few thousand more, you can shape US foreign policy.
1
@JAM: I hear Mar-A-Loco has the best chocolate cake. (But don't ask for two scoops of ice cream to go with it).
1
Most of us are taught as we grow up to be kind to others, help out when needed, and be thankful for our blessings.
From all accounts, Central America needs help. In normal times, there would be a two-pronged attack on a major problem like this: a Marshall Plan to help stability in the region and aid the economy, and a more efficient immigration and asylum system.
Demonizing all immigrants including families and children leads to cruelty and crimes against humanity. Children in cages and separated from their families with lasting trauma.
These are refugees in crisis. They are human beings. There is far more violence from right wing domestic terrorists than from immigrants.
If Trump policies continue, there will be trials in the future. Following orders was no defense for Nazi cruelty. History judges the Japanese internment camps, the Trail of Tears, and other crimes as preventable atrocities that did not acknowledge the dignity and respect that every human being deserves.
America is better than this. Look at the Statue of Liberty and re-read the Declaration of Independence.
2
@SMB Americans should not be held responsible for the desires of all Central Americans. We should not be demonized when we demand enforcement of our immigration laws and borders. They are human beings who have a responsibility to clean up their own messes rather than bring them here
People need to keep their misplaced sympathies to themselves. I think any one with common sense can see that 95%+ of these people are coming here for jobs and a 'better life'. They are coming here because they know they can get in and just stay here. (immigration judges or a lack of judges is a poor excuse) because they are not asylum seekers in the true sense and should thus not even be seeing a judge, they should be applying for work permits from their home countries. If we just let anyone who wants to come here come in, then 90% of the people in Asia and Africa would would want to come here too. Try doing what these people are doing at the airport and see how far you get. The democrats deserve to lose.
13
Trump was notorious for employing plenty of illegal immigrants , exploiting their cheep labor to save on his construction business.. By enacting more draconian laws and total disregard for the plight of illegal immigrants ,he reveals how heartless he is. Illegal immigrants are mostly driven out of their countries by expereincing a grueling existence, prompting them to risk their lives by choosing to make such arduous and perilous trip to US border. Like many legal immigrants who arrived to this country with no money and no language skills, many ended up as pillars of US society. The same ought to apply to illegal immigrant by given them a chance to improve their lives. They will remain infinitely grateful to the country for providing shelter and an improved way of life, prompting them to reciprocate and contribute back to the country that was only willing to let them in.
1
Apparently he has learned a few things.
Democratic party is working for so many who can not or do not vote. The party is going down if nothing changes.
9
He changes “rules” to accommodate himself. Doesn’t give any thought to anything. Does whatever is contrary to the majority. This guy can’t control HIMSELF, why would anyone expect him to control our government. He’s impulsive and destructive, and most of all, NOT presidential material. Dictator material yes, not what the US needs as a leader. He’s detrimental to our welfare.
1
Thanks to President Trump and the Republican tax cut, dozens of very profitable American companies paid no income tax last year on profits of 79 billion dollars and in fact many got a rebate from the Federal government.
If these companies had paid taxes at the current 21 percent rate, that would be 16 billion dollars paid to the US treasury.
So please, don’t blame the poorest most miserable people on Earth for your tax burdens. Blame the richest.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/us/politics/democrats-taxes-2020.amp.html
4
@Andrew Wohl
And over 80% of individual taxpayers paid lower taxes. Small businesses got a 20% pass-though deduction so it's no surprise small business optimism is at a record high.
2
Get ready for the new immigration taxes to support these crazy regulations. More government spending and political posturing that will fix nothing, because Congress has been essentially abolished.
4
Reading these comments is very discouraging; Democrats are doomed to lose again; no sense of proportion.
I used to be a Democrat, now I am an Independent but the new Democrats are pushing me to the conservative end of the spectrum, free healthcare for anyone who can rush the border, free schools, free college, guaranteed basic income, freedom at the expense of the electorate, where is the justice for the American citizen.
27
Exactly. I did the same as well for the same reasons.
6
@JRS
Trump has made fools of democrats. Their hatred of him has led them to take all kinds of unpopular positions -- from open borders to late term abortion.
2
The WW 2 generation is almost completely gone. The baby boom generation is going to start retiring and dying in droves. The US death rate is increasing rapidly along with the number of retirees who will no longer be working. Fertility rates are dropping. Life span is dropping. We have virtually no unemployment.
We're about to have a census. Instead of basing immigration policy and reform on statistics that our government spends billions to collect, we have a President demonizing mostly decent people who are willing to risk life and limb to contribute work and taxes to our economy. They are applying for asylum legally.
We don't even know if we have a problem. It might be very smart to allow these people to come in droves. We simply don't know because we have a President who doesn't operate on facts, lie's through his teeth and keeps his base in line through creating a dystopian view of the future based on racial and religious purity.
The 2010 census cost 13 billion dollars. There's real data on births and deaths and demographics. It's about time we started dealing in fact based reality. These people may not be a problem at all. They may be what actually makes America great again.
We need fact based immigration reform.
10
@HL - This article has some hard facts to chew on.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/david-frum-how-much-immigration-is-too-much/583252/
Let's face facts. the Democrats are not now or not ever going to cooperate with the Trump administration on any issue no matter how important it is to the united States. They will sit by and watch this nation sink into a state of complete non- function just to deny Mr. Trump any accomplishments no matter how important it is. The unbelievable part of is that they don'e even realize their inaction is effecting them also.
If 20% of asylum seekers are granted asylum that means that 80% of the applicants will remain in the country illegally. Why is this so ..because the process is so backed up that court dates are years out and people will simply not show up.
So keep it up Democrats and someday when you have a Democratic President we will see what your strategy is for dealing with mass migration. By then though it may be to late. Central America may have already moved into the US....All 60 million of them.
17
We had a Democratic President, Barack Obama who tried to accomplish many things including immigration reform but there was a Republican, Mitch Mc Connell who swore to block everything that president tried to accomplish. So no, the Democrats are not the party with a track record of obstructionism.
2
@ B.A. B.A. has expressed what I and no doubt others have been thinking about: how sustainable is this wave of would-be asylum seekers/illegal immigrants? Now that people have discovered that their chances for asylum have increased by bringing children with them, how will these children be educated in our own stressed public schools (esp. in CA, where 1 in 5 children lives in poverty)? Bi-lingual education? Good luck finding teachers qualified at that level. The high cost of housing alone (in CA) has had a tremendous impact on public school districts retaining qualified teachers, let alone finding biligual (i.e. Spanish-English) teachers. These immigrants are not going to flock to hollowing out towns in North Dakota, but rather congregate in densely populated urban areas. Where will they live when an ever increasing number of our own citizens lack shelter?
And in the civic realm, David Frum, in his recent Atlantic article which attempts to actually address this seemingly intractable situation, points out that "immigrants are altering the relationship between Americans and their government, making the country more hierarchical." In 1970, almost every U.S. resident was a U.S. citizen, today, he points out, in states like CA, TX, NY, at least 10 percent are not citizens. With an array of subordinated legal statuses, with millions unable to vote, be a juror, participate in civic life, that aspect of American life is ever more hollowed out.
13
@Leslie - This is the Atlantic article. Few people understand the full picture of the current situation. Also noted is the impact down the road of those who turn 65 and are without social security or access to healthcare.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/david-frum-how-much-immigration-is-too-much/583252/
4
I don't think the United States has backed out of the UN Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. If the US government can shame other countries for not meeting their NATO obligations, other nations really should be holding America's feet to the fire on human rights violations.
4
People are slowly starting to realize the emergency at the border and realizing that being against illegal immigration is not racist, but rather reasonable. We are a society of laws, not chaos. Honestly, what are the chances that Trump is wrong about everything?
16
Excellent, actually.
6
@Robert I don't think the chances are excellent. Probability points to adamant opposition to Trump in the face of reason.
6
@Don Q
"We are a society of laws, not chaos." Would you please remind our President of that. Thanks.
2
We can keep blaming Trump for the crisis at the southern border but the truth is that there is a real crisis that needs to be addressed now. The rule of law makes this country exceptional. Without that, we are no better than a third-world country.
The asylum laws were never meant for tens of thousands of people to show up at the border seeking asylum. Household incomes for Americans have not kept up. Our quality of life has gone down compared with what our parents and their parents enjoyed. The tax burden is already too high and taxpayers are paying more than $100 billion to support illegal immigrants. This is not sustainable. Our school systems are overwhelmed with an increase in migrant students. We have added additional classes and hired additional teachers just to accommodate the rapid increase in the student population.
Asylum laws are being used for economic asylum by those seeking a better life. That is skirting the laws of this country and do a terrible injustice to all thousands of legal immigrants that are waiting in line, some as many as a decade, to be here.
We need to change the asylum laws immediately to stop the crisis. And follow that with smart immigration laws that help the country and not burden taxpayers.
21
Trump has mischaracterized the issue of asylum and nobody seems able to clarify the issue. Human migration is the movement of people from places they no longer are going to live to places where they intend to live. Nations recognize that that may result in the displacement of other people who have a right to resist it. Thus the international recognition of borders. That is what Trump and the right are using to justify opposing granting asylum to people. They know that asylum is totally different but they are reframing it as a migration.
Asylum is safe haven for people whose lives are in peril and it is offered to anyone who can prove that such is the case. Determining genuine claims is what our system tries to do. Asylum is a human right recognized by every nation because anyone may find that they need it.
This is a case where Trump misrepresentations of reality are against the interests of even those who love his bomb throwing.
4
President Obama publicly said that he borrowed some of his Executive Order on Immigration reform from Senator’s McCain’s, Rubio’s and Graham’s immigration proposal, which the then, Republican House top leadership wouldn’t bring up for a House vote.
Only dealing with the 11 million illegal immigrants ‘already here’ in America: the executive order required illegal immigrants had worked here five-years; paid taxes; and stayed out of trouble with the law, in order to stay in America. President Obama said he would look at any policy Republican leadership proposed as to how to deal with active illegal-immigrants continuing to cross the border; they proposed nothing. The GOP Congress still proposes nothing to President Trump, for guidance or support, either.
One almost would think the top GOP Senate and House leadership might not want any immigration reform in the financial interest of their contributing corporate agricultural and food distribution industry not wanting to lose their cheap illegal and legal immigration labor.
3
I wonder if anyone will study what an influx of "asylum seekers" with work permits will do to the wage structure of areas where they settle.
I'm delighted to see that they are attempting to establish a distinction between asking for asylum at the border, and crossing illegally and, if caught, asking for asylum.
8
Humanitarian efforts, not sadistic cruelty, must lead.
We need more judges, not less, to hear and evaluate asylum seekers. We need more points at which to apply for asylum, not less. We need people working and paying taxes, not hiding, while still utilizing housing, healthcare and other resources.
We need help from our unencumbered allies.
Above all else we need to end our failed war on drugs, which largely contributed to and created the gangs, cartels and corruption that destroyed these countries, wasted BILLIONS of our dollars, and created a secondary drain by housing addicted people, and people awaiting for trial (not convicted of any crime, just unable to afford bail) in jail!
Redirect the billions wasted on this war on drugs and mass incarceration into early education and treatment for addicts, rehabilitation and WORK-- not blacklists-- for non-career criminals, and aid to our fallen neighbors. Stop deporting the bread winners of families who have not committed any crimes since arriving. Deport those convicted of crimes.
A wall isn't going to keep people out. Desperate people find ways around walls. Address the issues that are making them leave, especially our part in it.
4
This mob-boss/president is a creature from a black lagoon. How much more damage will be wrought on our government and the world at large before we stop this lunatic. It's time for congress to do it's job and dump Trump.
5
And all the Dems sing from the same sheet of music: “We need Comprehensive Immigration Reform.” 40 million illegals later, and still the same song...
15
Our president is insane. He has talked about doctors executing babies and now this. We need to begin the 25th and get him out of office before we find ourselves in the midst of WW111.
5
One easy solution is to put asylum seekers to work building the wall. We could send in hippies to teach them English, and they all learn a trade. You're welcome.
8
Racist policies from a racist President and his racist minion Miller. When you don't have good solutions, and you can't function within democratic structures, and you need to create massively overblown paranoia to get people to vote out of fear, you get more racist policies like this. Trump is a stain on our nation.
5
100,000 people is a tiny fraction of our population (3 hundredths of a percent?). We can and should accomodate them; we are at full employment, with jobs going begging.That said, our immigration system is understaffed, and needs attention. Putting more fee and work restrictions on immigrants (read: refugees) may deter them, but if death at the hands of criminals in Central America is their option, it may not.
The GOP has no idea how to really solve this. Besides, this is not about slowing down immigration, it's about holding onto Trump's base, appealing to our worst nature.
Look at these people. Most of them are indigenoius. WE are the immigrants.
6
Yet another attempt by Trump to enact his own laws, and to circumvent Congress. Lucky for him that he has his lapdog Republicans in charge of the Senate and the Supreme Court. They may accept, and even encourage, this dictatorial behavior now because it's "their guy", but wait until a Democrat does it! In fact, it wasn't so long ago that Obama was being called a dictator and tyrant for much smaller reaches.
Immigration has been made into a mess as the direct result of weaponizing it by Trump and Republicans. It's red meat for their base, But their base is only about 30% of the voters. The rest of us need to step up and assert ourselves to throw off this tyranny of the minority.
5
Are these proposed new rules going to applied to the foreign workers trump brings into this country to work on his properties?
6
Trump knows that the asylum process cannot be done in 180 days with the resources available. If he wants what is needed he needs to ask the Congress to provide the funds and to enact the laws to do so. The same goes for the rest of his wishes, here. He does not have the authority to order the Executive Branch to find a way to do what he wants when that exceeds what the existing laws allow.
He keeps getting confused as to what a President can and cannot do even when it’s perfectly obvious to any reasonable person. He continually acts as if he is the head of state with all the powers of a sovereign ruler when he is not. His Republican base have lost their reason with respect to how they deal with his obvious incompetencies. They enjoy his bomb throwing behavior as if it’s all just realty a t.v. show instead of the world in which they live.
2
The asylum system is a joke. We learned last week that aliens are allowed to stay here after their asylum requests are denied, and that aliens can reverse their deportations by throwing tantrums at the airport.
Trump didn’t go far enough. The asylum system should stop accepting new requests at the border for 3-6 months and undergo a complete overhaul. All of the migrants from Central America are economic migrants and none meet the “persecution” criteria. They won’t be disadvantaged by a wait.
16
Trump's new asylum guidelines must be coupled with Mandatory E-verify for it to be truly effective.
8
Get real. With mandatory e-verify, what would happen to agribusiness? Capitol Hill Republicans from farm states will not sell out their big donors. Mandatory e-verify? Say hello to a five-dollar head of lettuce, and a seven-dollar big mac, not to mention suburban lawns everywhere mown twice a year if that and your already eye-popping check in a trendy urban restaurant spiking by thirty percent.
Just sayin'
1
Let's be real about Sanctuary Farms and Sanctuary Slaughterhouses, the Sanctuary Energy Industry and Trump's previously sanctuary hotels that employed dozens of undocumented workers.
3
All this migration is a direct result of societies being upset due to storms, earthquakes and a volcano. Just wait another ten years when it’s not possible to grow crops due to climate change.
Lots of space up here in Canada but we won’t want a bunch of foreigners clambering at our boarders with their families either.
So, please go ahead and set the example of how one country treats the refugees of another country. Put the laws and practices in place so we can emulate them.
The unspeakable heartlessness of Trump and his malign counselor, Steven Miller, has never been clearer. They demand that terrorized migrants, most of whom have been bled dry by coyotes, somehow produce an "application fee" for the right to have their cases considered. In short, Trump/Miller are willing to turn America into what amounts to a second coyote, another mercenary hurdle for those seeking only a chance to demonstrate that they have no other place to turn.
4
Well now through congressional inaction we now actually have a border crisis. Yet the house of representatives keeps investigating the Trump campaign rather than passing important legislation. This inaction is going to kill the Democrats in 2020 because Trump will repeat over and over again that he has a "do nothing" congress on his hands. It's impossible to defend Trump's obviously unconstitutional actions or the inaction of the congress.
4
First of all let’s hold people who have in the past profited from using illegally hired migrant workers accountable. A fine of one billion dollars per violation. President Trump illegally hired many undocumented workers for his country clubs and hotels and continued employing them after Russia made him President. Let’s start with him. Maybe Trump would have to go bankrupt again?
2
America should have been cleaning up its own backyard years ago instead of destabilizing it with its support of Generals, Dictators ands Guerilla groups throughout South and Central America. In a region that should have been prospering by support and trade with America and Canada instead of 100,000 + Asylum seekers heading to the border every month because countries in the region are so poor, broke and unstable.
And America has been of little help at all.
After all, America has spent the last 20 Years in the Middle East and whilst there has either directly caused or help create the conditions for States to fail, economies to collapse and entire regions to destabilise and create a huge migration of immigrants to Europe ...that legacy and the problems it has and continues to cause in Europe are very much America's doing including supporting the Syrian rebels years beyond they would have have been able to do themselves ands by that keep the civil War going for a decade and all the damage and harm such continuous conflict can only do to all sides.
Isis is America's legacy from its illegal war waged in Iraq as are the next and new generations of vengeful Terrorists it has and will continue to spawn in its "Forever" War.
Before America's invasion of Iraq, it did not recorded a single Terrorist Attack in years. Terrorism went up by 234 % from 2002 to 2011 and up to 2014 Iraq and Afganistan accounted for 87% of all global terrorist attacks.
America the Destabiliser
1
The ONLY thing Trump and the Republicans need to do is show videos of the thousands of migrants crossing the border day after day and it will be an easy win for re-election. The irony here is that the Dems win in the House last year may very well turn out to be their worst nightmare...because the electorate now expects that they will actually DO something. Pelosi blew it from the get-go with her sarcastic smirk of glee as she refused to give Trump the wall, and frankly anything else. Not good political strategy....the Dems could have negotiated very much in return and at the same time demonstrating good faith by extending the olive branch. Have we ever seen a political party mired in hate, anger, pessimism and obstruction win a Presidential election?
11
Shame on DJT and his advisors. Shame on those who support his cruelty and lack of compassion, intellect, basic honest and morality.
The crisis is one created by not attending to long-standing festering problems. The immigration system has always been unfair but has become incredibly dysfunctional and unfair. There is no reason to have such a backlog of people waiting for a hearing. We were able to handle a million refugees from SE Asia who have now become integrated into every aspect of life in this country. The people coming now are no less deserving of a chance to escape conditions no one would be able to endure as they try to protect their children. We have the resources but lack moral leadership.
3
I’m not sure if Jeff Flakes book “Conscience of a Conservative” was true. But he described a situation where migrant workers would come north, work for a season, and then go back to their families in Mexico.
His argument is that the closed border incentives the workers to bring the families along because they don’t know if they will be able to cross back and forth.
The cattle ranches and farms rely on these workers.
I don’t know the answer to this, I don’t know if it is a crisis, I don’t know if this country is “full” or if adding new workers and consumers is a good idea.
I do know that I recently vacationed in Mexico, it was filthy, no standards, corrupt officials, corrupt government. We caught Noro Virus and were sick for a month. But the country itself was beautiful and the people were mostly hard working and friendly.
What can we do to lift these people up and help their economy? Simple things like indoor plumbing and water treatment would go a long way.
It says a lot about a functioning government. These tea party people and tax evaders fail to realize the benefits of government. This “I’ve got mine you get yours” culture will lead to disfunction.
2
Obama changed the immigration law. He established protections for Dreamers. His Presidential order expired in 2018, over a year ago and Dreamers could again be deported. But Democrat judges said that was unfair and that Dreamers must be allowed to stay in the US indefinitely. Although Trump offered a path for Dreamers to become citizens in a proposed law, Democrats turned it down because the law would also strengthen our borders.
12
I dislike Trump immensely, but he's correct about one thing: our immigration policy is broken. There must be respect for the rule of law even here, and the current fetish for open borders displayed by many Democrats is driving many people over to Trump.
17
Trump has hired scores of undocumented immigrants at his luxury properties so that he could save a buck.
The greed, hypocrisy and lack of empathy that Trump embodies is pathological. He doesn't represent American values and wants to remake the U.S. in his image. We can't allow him to do this.
Every American, even his most staunch suporters, should reject his cruel treatment of asylum seekers.
3
so, the illegal border crossers are paying thousands of dollars to be led (illegally) into the US. Many may be fleeing violence - but poverty? How many Americans could come up with two or three thousand dollars a person for this journey? Yes!! They should pay a fee! And for those who are saying that there is no evidence they are getting "free stuff" - are you kidding me? Do you think they are paying for the food and medical care they receive when they cross the border? Do you think they are turned away when they go to Social Services and apply for food stamps? Do you think they are turned away when they go to enroll their children in school?
17
First of all, I am tired of the "we are all immigrants" trope. It further separates us into identity baskets. We are Americans. Americans are suffering from lack of good education, lack of decent jobs, lack of affordable healthcare, lack of affordable housing, lack of mental health care availability, lack of drug addiction resources. I cannot support welcoming the populations of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, until we have taken care of Americans first. It makes no sense to me. And that's not racist, that's MATH! We either have borders or we don't.
17
Is there a single NYT reader who doubts that 100% of the so-called asylum seekers at our southern border are seeking to enter America because they would rather be here than in Mexico, Belize, or Panama? These folks are not seeking safety. They seek American citizenship. I would probably do the same, but America is in no way obligated to them. We should help order be restored to their countries, and for them to be resettled or offered refugee camp placement in Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, and Mexico.
14
They don't want citizenship.
The ones here under the Reagan amnesty have not assimilated at anything like the same levels as other immigrants.
1
The part of the plan where we try to process asylum seekers more quickly—that part I support. The part where they have to pay fees? That’s a handout to the Payday Loan people, aka loan sharks, aka Wilbur Ross and his despicable ilk.
These are human beings, fleeing situations that are simply untenable.
It would be nice if the whole country shared the burden, but meanwhile we on the actual border—in communities that are far from wealthy, without actual jobs for those already here (or maybe it’s different in San Diego; I’m in NM), and how by the way are immigrants supposed to work without legal permission to do so? They need those loans—will keep making sandwiches, doing laundry, finding gently used shoes for these people.
1
It is unsustainable to have 100,000 migrants coming through southern borders every month. Most of these people don't qualify for asylum but once let in they will disappear in illegal migrant underground only to surface when there is a next amnesty. We need immigrants but it has to be through a legal process and in a number we can sustain, not this unchecked unbounded mass migration which alters demography skewed to one ethnic group and puts undue burden on the overwhelms healthcare and education system.
16
Allowing work permits to immigrants gives them a way to contribute via taxes taken from pay to contribute to our economy.
4
By reducing legal immigration, Mr. Trump increases illegal immigration.
1
"...the president took another step to reshape asylum law, which is determined by Congress, from the White House"
And we're all fine with this executive overreach because...?
2
Just another instance of this lawless despot trying to ignore the laws enacted by Congress and rule at his whim.
May he do this?
Clearly not.
But what is the mechanism for stopping him? Unknown because never needed before.
2
There is no limit to what this President will do to please his base. I really believe that when he sent the military to the border he intended that they would use force to prevent illegal entry. His wall is not just a wall, it is a vision of a fortified barrier with gun turrets, manned by soldiers with orders to shoot to kill justified by propaganda that says all of our employment problems, sex trafficking, drugs and crime are coming across that border and this is the only way to stop them.
2
This is not his prerogative. Congress is the body to change the laws. This "order" will give us beggars on the streets. Groovy. I think the current rush to the border is due to his policies and wall threats. A "now or never" attempt to enter the US before it's "never".
2
These families will not have any money by the time they get to the border. They are being fleeced by all the traffickers along the way. And that goes for drugs too.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore,” she wrote. “Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
- But first pay the fee, wait in camps with your children, and then we'll probably kick you out anyway because you don't look like us and don't speak english. Unless you have a skill we deem valuable, then come on in!
1
@Tom
Legal immigrants pay fees for applications, etc. Why should illegal immigrants get a free ride?
9
@Pat
Nothing about their “ride” is free. You try walking here from Guatemala, kids in tow so they don’t get kidnapped and forced to be gang members or ‘service’ gang members. And you expect these people to be carrying cash around? Have some empathy. Easy for you to say “make them pay”. You probably never had to.
This is antithetical to the idea of asylum. It is greedy, it is cold-hearted, it shows willful ignorance to the point of obscenity. This policy change is a disgrace to humanity.
And in all of those ways, it is a precise reflection of the man sitting in the oval office and one of the better arguments for his removal. May he reap all he sows.
2
@Stephanie
We can all safely guess that the majority of asylum applications will be bogus. Only the hypocritical left thinks we will all shallow the asylum nonsense.
6
Fees... for refugees.
Fees for people who walked the length of Mexico, just to save their lives, or to protect their children...
This is gut wrenching!
Have we no morality or decency?
2
@GWBear
The overwhelming majority of those making a case for asylum are turned down. In most cases, the asylum pitch is a scam. How hard is it to say "credible fear" after coaching? These folks are economic migrants pure and simple, exactly the same folks who crossed illegally in the past. They have just been taught much better techniques and marketing.
12
Ha - pay attention, they're taking chartered buses.
2
One day the French will send a ship filled with artisans to take back the Statue of Liberty. We just, as I recall, only a years ago fixed her up, after a hundred years, and celebrated her presence and the meaning of the colossus.
But what does it mean to have the lady in the Harbor anymore, but a gross insult to the world?
Perhaps, rather than remove the great copper statue, European and French artisans will replace her eternal flame with a pistol-firing approximately 50 times a minute, counted from Kansas, and the 1776 date to a sign saying "no Forriners Aloud!" or just "Oh, No! Nah-Ahhh. Not this time!"
Instead of the artists mother's face as the image of lady liberty, a nameless cowboy, looking South and West , with a broad hat will take her place. Next to her voluminous skirts, will be the three headed Cerberus, forever snarling and snapping over great slots with signs that demand "place money & jewelry in the holes". . . Flyover folks who wouldn't dare come East would celebrate and hold holiday, to let the world know how they have triumphed, finally. Fox News will not report it.
Even Australians like Murdoch would have a hard time putting a good face on what constitutes mindless abuse of the nation's once primary symbol of our national character .
4
Nancy, say "NO!" to the Imperial President. This is just a new wall--not of steel slats, but red-tape. Instead, send more judges, more funds for food, clothing and shelter. There's a "crisis at the border," but it's a humanitarian one created by an authoritarian bigot.
3
Melania Trump got into the US on an extraordinary ability visa pushed through no doubt by Trump. Her parents and sister then came by chained migration. He hires only immigrants at his golf resorts. Who will clean his gold toilets with Stephen Miller's new plan?
23
What an interesting mind you have. Can you provide sources for the hiring at hotels and gold toilets?
1
I see we’re trying the ol’, “Well, the UN says these people ain’t refugees and have no rights,” trick, yet again.
You folks really must learn to cherry-pick less blatantly. It’s way too easy to catch, and takes less than fifteen seconds over Google these days.
https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/4ec262df9.pdf
Note the defs of refugees, which include folks from an attacked social class. Note also that the UN says—and this country has signed on to these accords and treaties—that refugees may not be arbitrarily refused asylum, and have the right to decent treatment and a chance to work.
See you Trumpists in court. It’s a shame that so many in my country have turned small, cramped and afraid like this.
16
Trump criticizes democrats for spending, what a crock. He gave all the 1% tax breaks. The people who actually live week to week, well we all know what they got. He even went after disabled programs. You know what they say about if you don’t stand up for others, then when they come for you, who will be there for you. Well he hasn’t stopped. He keeps on coming after the weak, the poor, the sick, the neediest. What a shame. We use to be so proud to be Americans. That ended shortly after he was elected.
10
Trump is randomly issuing orders to convince the public that he is trying to do something knowing fully well that these things end up in courts. Considering the wait time in courts, the 2020 elections will be over by the time courts rule. After that, he doesn’t care what happens at the southern border. What we need is all it should take a letter from speaker of the house to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to rule on Congressional subpoenas and force the people to testify and/or release all the requested documents. Let the constitution function to save democracy.
12
President Trump is a bigot. He is a terrible person. He is angry and unkind. He has no compassion. It feels like much longer but he’s only been in office a few years. Despite my feelings, I cannot blame him for this problem. There is no crisis as he tries to make those living in states such as Pennsylvania, Iowa, Kansas, etc believe. But Congress has had years to deal with this issue! It is complex, I know. However, it is time to start reaching across the aisle and work together. It is what Jesus would do. A 3 yr old boy was found by border agents sitting alone in a field crying, an American phone number written on his arm! Imagine what that does mentally to that child and the border agent. His parents are dead or trafficked. It is time to stop the partisan bickering. Fix this problem! We need migrants. They are not taking American’s jobs. They do the dirty, disgusting jobs Americans don’t want to do like in slaughter houses, dairy farms, picking fruit and vegetables in the blazing sun. Americans are not desperate enough to do this work. Migrants will not stop coming either. It is human nature to try to survive. Agents are not guarding borders. They’re busy handing out diapers in facilities that seem like prisons. Migrant lives are so dangerous they risk their lives and the lives of their children in order to find safety. Any parent who loves their children would do the same. History has shown this time after time. Forget about Trump. Congress needs to fix this problem now!
10
@MyrnalovesBland
The solution isn’t hard.
Finishing walling off the border. These folks are coming because they can. If they knew they couldn’t just walk across the border and game our system, they wouldn’t make the trip in the first place.
10
@MyrnalovesBland Everything you said is absolutely right. It's time for Congress to stop bickering and fix it. The only problem is Trump will never sign a bill. He just won't because the anti-immigrant drama is his platform for re-election. Congress could override a veto, though, if Republicans would stop supporting Trump on everything he does. At this point we are no better than China who is holding millions of Uighurs in concentration camps. I hope people will remember compassion and that in different circumstances we could be them. Maybe The Day After Tomorrow should be shown several times a day until people realize that the tables could reverse at any time due to climate change and natural disasters. "There but for the grace of God go I."
2
Why does he hate America's future?
Oh. Never mind, I answered my own question.
10
Did he really type "country's" as a plural for country?? His grammar is abhorrent! His sentence structure and use of apostrophes is crazy!
5
@KAS
And capitalizing every noun? Who does that? If he’d gone to my regular public schools, he might not have graduated.
NYT, you have a responsibility to not only repeat Presidential tweets that make important claims, but to assess the veracity of these claims. Otherwise, you only further disinformation or lies, and collude with this President who is well known for his delusional thinking and lying.
9
So the US stumbles into making one of its least qualified people our president. And that person has delusions of grandeur of being America's first dictator-king.
Good luck USA.
6
This has Immigration Czar Stephen Miller's bigoted little fingertips all over it.
9
It’s not a very good plan though it draws media attention.
2
I'm quite sure he is cackling with glee. Any sentence that contains both "Stephen Miller" and "purge" in it should strike terror into the hearts of all decent people.
4
Can the Sanctuary Cities really absorb the one million or more immigrants heading their way? As life long "Yankees", my family had never had to resort to state assistance and had only paid tax dollars into the system and never taken anything back out of it. That changed with my mother-in-law who needed Medicaid help to live out her life at home ... for which every penny was repaid from the sale of her house. Now my mother's life savings are quickly being taken for Alzheimer's care and she will need Medicaid I'm sure. Things are changing and most people will need help from the state in the future. I bet my wife and or I will too. So, I'm wondering if anyone out there really knows how this will play out with the millions of people coming to our country? Will they help or hurt America survive over the next 20, 30, 40 years? Anyone have the answers?
12
@KM We have good answers on how immigration affects the economy.
The vast majority of academic peer reviewed economic work on the question – and peer reviewed work is key, as advocacy groups on both sides have incentives to skew data – comes to four conclusions:
First, immigration increases GDP. The consensus is overwhelming. (Even Harvard’s George Borjas, the country’s most prominent anti-immigration economist, concedes this point.)
Second, the economic stimulus that comes with immigration lead to a net increase in employment and either positive or no effect on wages. This holds for all levels but the very lowest skilled workers – for instance, those without high school educations and no specialized skills at all. Even here, the effects seem to be nothing or only very slightly negative, and this is a vanishing segment of the population.
The professional economists’ works find that these conclusions hold for both high and low skilled immigrants and for legal and illegal immigration (which is not an argument for "open borders," which no one is making.)
Third, within two generations, immigration produces a net gain in tax revenue. According to a 2017 National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study, the average second generation American contributes $1,700 a year, compared to $1,300 for the average American.
Fourth, without immigration, at our current birth rates, our population will decline.
In short, immigration will help us in 20, 30 or 40 years.
3
@KM
I noticed you don't seem to be too concerned about all the subsidies going to the people who own farms and have migrant workers getting paid off the books.
More now that China is buying corn, pork products, soybeans, etc., from Russia these days instead of the United States....
... thanks to Trump.
A lot of these people work jobs no one else is willing to work and for pennies on the dollars, it is not their fault that the people who hire them won't pay them on the books - they want to become citizens.
Trump and the people who support him don't want them to be citizens, because this way they can be exploited.
When they get released from detention - as they are right now - to work for $1.00 a day, maybe they're the ones who should be getting repaid.
When a child dies due to being subjected to filth and neglect while detained, maybe the child's parents should be getting repaid.
Trump goes to his rallies wearing suits made overseas because the sweatshops he owns are like slavery. Not only that, he's ripped off quite a few people with his fake charity and his fake Trump "university" sales.
He also filed for bankruptcy several times so he could stiff the contractors he owed money to.
Maybe THEY should be repaid.
2
Well, other than follow the laws and treties and deal with problems like rational adults, no. But I am fairly sure that we ought to start with getting over the childish fantasy that everything we have, we made with our own two hands and no help from nobody.
1
There is nothing wrong or immoral about setting limits to how much we can (or want) to help others less fortunate. Even the Bible defines a limit to our monetary obligation. If immigrants want nothing more than a better life for themselves and their children, isn't it fair for us to want the same things? When Social Security is imperiled by the diminishing ratio of working payers to those receiving benefits, how much more are we as a society imperiled by ten times as many impoverished "asylum seekers"? Immigration is not costless and the brunt is borne by the less wealthy. People desperate to work for any wages no matter how low are not commendable, they are a threat to anyone wanting to earn a living wage. There are valid objections to means and methods, but we need to accomplish limits somehow.
32
"They" are not the problem. Employers who hire them at less than a living wage are. Where are the laws against them, the punitive regulations, the outcry, the internment camps for their illegality. Crickets. Instead they get tax breaks and make large contributions to PACs pushing favorable employer assistance, deregulation, anti-union, anti-employee, and anti-minimum wage rhetoric. This road has always been a one-way street of blame.
2
The evasion of Christian duty was really nifty, but I was most impressed by the head-in-the-sand approach to the fact that Social Security’s current problem is too many retired or retiring oldsters and too few young workers.
2
@Robert This wasn't about Social Security per se, but, having a large sub-minimum-wage workforce, many being paid under the table, is not the solution to Social Security no matter how young they are. Better would be to eliminate the wage ceiling on Social Security and Medicare contributions, and to decide whether this program is an entitlement or welfare - it's not working having it be both. And, simply adding to the population and growth pyramid scheme with younger workers only adds to ageism. "Too many retired" "oldsters" would gladly keep working IF employers would hire them. No one gladly ekes out an existence at $1,000 a month. And why is it ok to discriminate against "oldster" Americans and not "youngster" immigrants who require education and healthcare for their large, non English speaking families?
5
These actions by Trump to control the flow of illegals are a reason that all Democrat politicians, not just those in border states, need to vocally and often support open borders. The costs of enforcing the borders will drop dramatically and the savings can provide benefits for those seeking refuge and jobs in the US. Why would any Democrat politician fail to support this? Otherwise their inaction is saying that Trump may be correct that there is a refugee emergency at the borders.
2
I’m all for law and order. How about removing Trump from office for multiple felony counts of obstructing justice and violating campaign finance laws? Then allow congress to develop bipartisan legislation to update all aspects of our immigration laws. Meanwhile, asylum seekers can be allowed to follow current law which permits them to cross the border and present themselves to authorities. At least they’re following the law. Trump clearly isn’t.
12
@Michael Tyndall
First, you have to prove it. Those pesky laws.
1
@AACNY
Mueller and SDNY provided plenty enough for indictments. Rudy and Barr stipulated the facts, then tried to spin like crazy. Trump couldn't testify for fear of perjuring himself or getting confused over straightforward questions. His written answers, as noted in the Mueller report, were a joke. Apparently it's too much to ask that the president of the United States just tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth under oath.
No one reading the details in the report and indictments gives Trump's legal advocates any credence. Zero.
How is "pay for play" requiring a fee to apply for amnesty so very different from paying to have your child admitted to college? While I appreciate that the amnesty process costs our government, I believe that in our penchant for dollars dictating everything, our society has become unbalanced. A car does not run well when its tires are not balanced and out of alignment, and it seems that we as a country are running inefficiently and roughly. Only a matter of time until something blows.
3
I could swear that I've read in the NY Times RECENTLY 2 contradictory statements about the "mix"/profile of the immigrants now coming North - one said they are "mostly families" (as in this article), but the other said NO.
Sure wish we had at least this 1 pretty crucial fact, because the rules & regs (however ham-handed and unworkable and several other bad things) SHOULD be at least minimally aligned with the realities at the border.
Speaking of which, the mid-to-far left had better get in touch with reality when it comes to "asylum."
We're in Alice in Wonderland territory, where that word means a variety of things.
It should not be made synonymous "de facto" with pursuit of "a better life." Yes, a discussion on who should be allowed in is overdue, but it should be addressed head on & honestly.
But at a time when the number of jobs in this country may be contracting - and that strikes me as LARGELY the case, when one considers categories of work - too great an emphasis on "open borders" (even if that term is avoided) will help Trump build from his 40% almost locked-in to the 47% or so he'd probably need to get re-elected, given the Constitutional ground rules still in effect.
OF COURSE, making it even more expensive to have a chance at a life in the US is odious, but we're in the same position as Southern Europe. There are huge costs here, and they're being borne by a middle class torn between "doing the right thing" and wanting THEIR OWN kids to have a better life.
14
I see the evil hand behind the golden throne in this new push against asylum--Stephen Miller. There is nothing too cruel for him to attempt and for gullible Trump to swallow. Has anyone else noted the dead soulessness of Miller's eyes?
1
"Once again, Democrats are letting Trump dictate the narrative on this. And may lose in 2020 because of it. The majority of Americans support some sort of humane but firm approach to this endless stream of migrants at the southern border, who need only claim “asylum” and have a child with them to get into the USA. Small wonder thousands arrive daily. Democrats can bemoan the cruelty of what Trump is doing - but where is their alternative plan? 20 candidates for president and not a single clear and compelling policy proposal for this out of all of them. Criticizing Trump but not coming up with your own ideas and/or ignoring the problem in hopes it will go away is not what presidential leadership looks like."
Great post, Solaris .
20
@Fred
It was Trump who vetoed the Immigration Reform bill supported and passed by both parties last year that would have fixed the issue. Put the blame where it belongs.
The European migrant crisis of 2015 ended when the EU essentially paid Turkey billions of dollars annually to prevent the outflow of migrants.
The current U.S. migrant crisis of 2019 is both similar and different. It is similar in the sense that the key to ending the crisis is strict immigration control by the transit country, in this case Mexico.
It is different because the U.S. doesn’t need to pay Mexico anything as an incentive, they can simply take away benefits that Mexico currently enjoys through its relations with the U.S., especially economic benefits.
Expanded border fencing requested by the Customs and Border Patrol? More immigration judges and rapid adjudication of claims? Expanded detention of illegal border crossers? These are all necessary, but not sufficient.
The solution will only come when the U.S. applies sufficient pressure to Mexico, helping them to understand that controlling migrant flows is a key element of U.S./Mexico relations.
19
I agree, make a vastly poorer country spend the money that the US could easily afford and then punish them economically if they fail to comply. And all because of a quirk of geography.
It would seem that the fee proposed for asylum seekers is unconstitutional because it does not comport with the intent of the immigration law. Many seeking asylum status have nothing in terms of available money once they arrive at the border.
No work permits would not discourage any asylum seekers inasmuch as they work without permits anyway.
"Our system" cannot be "safeguarded" it must be overhauled. The GOP doesn't want immigration laws that are humane and offer any hope to people fleeing violence and criminal organizations.
They much prefer a labor pool of undocumented workers who must suffer pitiful wages and harsh work conditions because they have no voice, no rights, and no recognition.
This is stop-gap showmanship, nothing more.
2
Please someone help me out here. If Congress makes immigration law, how is Trump able to single handedly change it? Is that not illegal?
3
@bud You are correct and now Trump is doing it. Will all the republicans who opposed DACA on unconstitutional grounds oppose Trump now? Of course not.
Progress finally. This will raise wages and increase our domestic workforce participation.
8
I just had dinner with a friend and real estate developer who says that there is a tremendous labor shortage in the construction industry. Apparently, Americans are not rushing to take those brutal and dangerous jobs.
1
@Andrew Wohl
I really don't understand liberals. First they rail against low wages. Then they fight for illegal immigrants who reduce wages.
Are they confused or just contrary?
1
Let's call it for what it is. Trump and his co-pilot, Miller, do not want browning of America. That is why they refer to the asylum seekers as invaders. But we all have children of our own or related to them as aunts and uncles. Who in the world would not do anything to provide a better life for our children? That kind of common human bond seems to be thrown out the window when this administration looks at this crisis at the border. More practical and humane solutions would be to increase the judges, etc. to process the asylum seekers and to track them once they are released for further processing. Path to becoming a green card holder should be established. But the path to citizenship should be the same as it is for legal immigrants (i.e. green card holders) which requires passing the US history test in English. On the practical front, we need to accept the fact that having a lot of non-English speaking immigrants add significant burden on public schools and healthcare facilities. This fact seems to be ignored by the blue states. We will never reach a common sense immigration policy until both sides of the politics look at the entire picture, not just the pieces they like.
5
You mean Miller and his copilot trump.
well, at least ann coulter approved. simplistic, vindictive, unlawful, cruel, xenophobic, all less than measured elements of a stephen miller devised, donald trump approved immigration policy. same as it ever was, and will be.
1
Trump, in his desparation, is in a panic to appeal to his base of supporters, a xenophobic group fixed both in their support of Trump and in their numbers. among this segment, Trump is a man of bold action, shaking things up, taking "real"action on behalf of their fears, uncowed by law, morals, or custom. they will cheer and wave their red hats no matter what he does, and he knows it. it's that little ego boost Trump craves now, especially as it appears to even the dimmest among us that the long arm of he law has him nearly in its grasp. don't expect things to get better. Trump may order a line of snipers along the border to shoot anyone approaching on sight, man, woman, or child. shades of the Berlin Wall. if the Cabinet doesn't get rid of him under Article 25, they will all be accessories to whatever fresh madness Trump has in store next. act!
2
Trump has exactly what he wants, a stalemated Congress with a Republican majority in the Senate that is unwilling or unable to confront him. This has allowed him and Stephen Miller to craft draconian measures cause havoc in Central America by the ending of aid designed to help with economic development and peace, thus driving more families north to the US border, further adding to the chaos at our southern border.
Now, to add insult to injury he wishes to force a processing fee on asylum seeker and limit their ability to self support which will only force more of them on government support, into the camps being build to house them along the border.
These actions are in direct contradiction to the idea of this country, a country made of immigrants, who's Statue of Liberty proclaims "“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Meanwhile, white nationalist "militias" are starting to "patrol" the border effecting citizens' arrests of potential border crossers.
Please, be aware this is only the beginning. As with the Muslim ban this is another push to close the door, especially to non-white peoples. The era of xenophobia is truly underway.
1
@Rebecca R
It is both odd and offensive that Hispanics in the United States love to claim that they are being racially persecuted. Almost all Mexican immigrants when asked state that they consider themselves white people. Immigrants from mostly Muslim countries (Egypt for example) are legally classified as white people. But when they want to bust into the United States illegally they suddenly become descendants of the great American crime of slavery, the issue the Civil War was fought over. I don't think so.
5
So we are only concerned with the symptoms of violence? We're not going to help these Central American countries solve their problems? I guess not. The United States is capable of defending our nation, but incapable of defeating violent gangs and smugglers? We have to reevaluate our defenses and implementations of force. Overwhelming force is the only way we can win, rather then these small covert actions, which risk lives to little effect.
When trump shutdown the government, he stopped paying the Coast Guard, and thought they should take out loans to cover their cost of living. No further comment necessary concerning his abilities as leader.
4
No, we are not going to solve the problems in Central America. Remember - we've tried before and this sort of thing does not end well. You know that usually means we give arms to their governments anyway, which is stupid.
The people of Central American should not be treated as children - they need to handle things in their countries their own way.
Nothing will change until he directs the government to hire many more judges. This is a nightmare he's making worse.
2
Trump said recently that we should get rid of immigration judges. So won’t be hiring more anytime soon.
Where is the money for those judges, courtrooms, bailiffs, recorders, prosecutors, security staff, schedulers, etc going to come from?
Yeah - all the WH has to do is hire a few judges, so simple... sheesh.
What can we do? We hear of horrific things that happen all around the world. But here is tyranny at our threshold. I saw in this newspaper how Canadians banded together to “adopt” (take an interest in, advocate for, be there for) immigrant families who fled Syria and were settled in their communities. And it was beautiful. This country also made promises to house Syrian refugees but reneged on admitting them. How can we, as individuals, do something to circumvent our misanthropic representatives? They do not represent us. This administration reminds me of how utterly powerless I am. I don’t believe in god but I know the difference between right and wrong. This is a sin. I am scarlet letter scarred. I am ashamed. I am American.
1
Millions of poor people from failing countries with no hope or future in their own really need to be called what they are and not asylum seekers, it's disrespectful to the truly persecuted those asylum laws were originally designed to protect and which is a testimony to the character of those countries that wrote them in the first place. Trump and America are not heartless they're just not insane to pretend America can somehow absorb everything failed or failing to the south of us. Reserve that characterization for those that think that by merely suing for miracles like that to happen some judge can magically wave their hand and it will.
11
The democrat open border position is luring these folk to the US. This crisis will not be resolved because democrats are depending on these folk to disrupt the current demographic distribution of the US. It is all about power for them, and power is what they crave above all else.
17
@jaco, the reason border crossing is up is because Trump keeps talking about building a wall. Democrats don't have an open border policy; they have immigration reform legislation that was agreed to and voted on. Trump vetoed it because he'd have nothing to run on if he allowed congress to fix the issue.
1
It is terrible (indeed, a crime against humanity) that these lovely folk, wanting only to improve their lives by moving to a country that needs to double its population (America), are housed in such uncomfortable accomodations.
We have tens of millions of Americans who have urged these people to move here and urged Trump to be kinder to them. Yet these hypocritical lovelies fail to embrace our new citizens-to-be with open arms. Why can we not move our new citizens-to-be into the homes (plenty of empty space) of those who welcome them with words but not with deeds? While living in the homes of the open border people, the newcomers could be taught to speak comprehensible English; and they could be nicely supported (financially) without recourse to taxpayer-funded welfare. If the new citizens-to-be have any interest in schooling, they could be "home schooled" in their new homes.
What's not to like about this solution?
6
I wonder if the asylum seekers were the Norwegians he wanted to come here, would he be slapping on fees and work permit regulations?
6
@hjw418, uff dah, my Norwegian grandmother freely came here to homestead not seek asylum and social benefits protection. Unless you can come up with another American unbroken prairie for Central Americans to settle and build, the brown racie card insults intelligence.
1
“…fleeing violence and turmoil…”
“…some sort of violence or persecution…”
Sorry, Mr. Castro and Ms. Brane. That’s not sufficient grounds for granting asylum, and you both know it. (For those who don’t understand, read the U.N. convention which outlines very specific and limited grounds for asylum.)
If “some sort of violence” and “turmoil” were sufficient, we could have 2 billion asylum seekers in the U.S.
13
Hey, asylum seekers. Now it will cost you money to have the US hear your case -- pay the government for hearing why folks want to kill you back home.
Apart from the egregious violation of international law involved, the moral depravity of this policy is sickening. But it is no news to anybody that the immigration policies of this President are morally depraved. And criminal.
Committed by a private citizen, his crimes would be called child abuse, kidnapping, and extortion. Trump is just doing them under colour of law. When his presidency ends, he had better not travel outside the USA. Because some brave country will surely attempt to try him for the multiple crimes against international law he has committed.
4
Regular, legal immigrants face the same costs...
“Applicants must show evidence of past persecution…”
Not quite. Applicants must show evidence of past persecution based on “race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.”
Not domestic violence. Not gang violence. Not everyday coercion by corrupt officials. Not economic hardship.
Liberals willfully ignore the actual basis for asylum, broadening it to the point where 1-2 billion people in the world would qualify.
That is the essence of “open borders”.
14
@John
Are gangs not “particular social groups”? Personally I fail to see why they aren’t illegal in the US—maybe I do favor broadening the definition a bit.
But open borders, definitely not.
@Surrealist
Are gangs not “particular social groups”? No.
But even if they were, they are the persecutors, not the persecuted. Asylum is for those persecuted due to reasons cited in the U.N. convention.
If you would be willing to expand the definition, please consider the implications. Gangs, organized criminal clans, domestic violence are endemic throughout the developed world.
Even a minor expansion of the definition could results in hundreds of millions of people receiving asylum in the U.S. This alone would negate the point of all current U.S. restrictions on immigration.
As such, there is no other way to describe it than “open borders”.
1
Every action of this administration further destabilizes the nation.
He executes every action as if he were contributing to the goals of Putin, to destabilize our western democracy.
Once the' mysterious tax returns' are revealed, perhaps Congress should impose fees on this administration to repay the American taxpayers for the fraud perpetrated on our national presidential election. Fine Russia's KGB for contributing to the delinquency
of an unstable man, and the damage to the country's integrity worldwide.
2
We grow by immigration. Our birth rate is dropping. We already have 10,000 people a day retiring and not enough people paying into the SS system. The deficit has grown despite an unemployment rate of 3.2% and 7+ million jobs unfilled. From a purely pragmatic view, we have too few people in this country. I'm the grandson of Mexican immigrants and the great-grandson of German immigrants. I'm glad my ancestors came here before Trump was President. His base must be a very narrow swath of voters. He benefited from the never Hillary voters, but his view of the world is zenophobic, egotistical and idiotic on its face.
3
No new applications for asylum should be considered until the courts have worked through the 800,000 applications already here. Deport them to Mexico and let them wait.
14
Just to clarify.
“…busing migrants to so-called sanctuary cities to retaliate against Democrats.”
It’s not “retaliation”. It’s “rewarding” these cities with exactly what they say they want.
13
There is a very simple way to end most illegal immigration 1) Force people who come here in a visa to check in with the police every week. If they don't the should be hunted down and arrested. 2) Force employers to use E-verify to prove that the people they hare are here legally. 3) Jail those employers who hire illegals. Despite what the Trump Fascists claim, the vast majority of illegals are coming from Europe and Asia on visitor visa, not sneaking over our southern border.
9
I wonder how many immigration judges and staff could be hired for eight billion dollars.
1
If the parents in these families cannot work how can they afford to pay the fee much less feed their kids? Stephen Miller is an amoral racist. His control over our delusional President and his Administration is almost as frightening as what Trump could do next.
4
If migrants can afford the 6K payment to coyotes, they can dig up the money for work permits.
10
What would NY Times journalists think and write it were 103,000 writers, journalists and authors that crashed the southwestern border in March instead of unskilled migrants? They'd probably be advocating for a 50' wall with gun turrets every two miles, and halt their sanctimonious moral preening.
12
Send them to the sanctuary cities.
8
Under your logic we should send all the gun owners with mental illness to those sanctuary counties here in Colorado that are refusing to enforce our new "Red Flag" law.
Democrats can’t resist the siren song of the illegal alien nee undocumented Democrat.
9
Mandatory E-Verify.
5
I like the new Trump policy on asylum but it will work mostly for single males crossing illegally. It does not begin to deal with families who right now are the chief source of migrants at the southern border.
Trump needs to develop policies aimed at making asylum more difficult for families. We need to abolish the Flores doctrine so that families can be detained for long er period of time. Probably right now the simplest route is to make them remain in Mexico or to insist that asylum applicants from central American apply in their home countries.only. Also we need to make Mexico a safe third country so that we can immediately deport cental American back to Mexico.
In terms of the courts, we need to do a first in, first out policy so that new arrivals can have their asylum applications quickly dealt with and followed by swift deportation. It is imperative that we have a policy that includes swift deportation as a means of discouraging future applicants.
29
1. The right to apply for refugee status is guaranteed by our laws and international treaties, not by “policy.”
2. It is beyond stupid to keep cranking up the pressure when cranking up the pressure has been making things worse. Cutting aid is even dumber than that.
3. Anybody who attends church and approves of making things “harder for families,” is going to have a very, very hard time explaining themselves when the roll is called up yonder.
4. And of course, Trump’s point has zero to do with what’s best for this country. It has to do with his ego, and political advantage among the suckers.
By the way, congrats: you’ve rediscovered every single argument against allowing Jews and other refugees in during the 1930s. It’s a shame to see Americans cower like this, and demand all the bennies and none of the responsibilities.
4
@judyweller Let me see if I have this right, you think that asylum seekers should be forced to apply in their home countries, and what, wait for asylum to be granted before being allowed to leave? Either you don't understand the meaning of "asylum," or you're confusing it with applying for a visa, because forcing someone to remain in harm of the very thing they're attempting to flee, while the bureaucratic process plays out, is counter to the very notion and purpose of asylum.
3
@judyweller
Actually, I’m not a Christian myself, but I’ve always appreciated this quote attributed to Jesus. And it never ceases to shock me how people, most who say they are Christians, are so quick to abandon the compassion Jesus explicitly demands of his followers.
I am again shocked.
“For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”
There has been human migration as long as there have been humans. Exhibit 1: Humans on every continent, not just Africa. Migration has been with us from the beginning and is here to stay, and probably even increase due to climate change. We need to figure out how to deal with it in a way that minimizes the disruption to stable societies. But there will be disruption. There is no getting around it. If we just let everyone in who wants to come, it will be too disruptive. If we try to keep everyone out, that will also create disruption as people will be desperate and will have to go somewhere. The US has to face the problem. We can't pretend it's not a problem, nor can we pretend that the problem will go away if we just build a wall.
8
Trump’s opponents say let the asylum seekers in to make their case. But if they lose their petition and have to be deported, we’re told that the person is a law abiding taxpayer who has established roots here and we’re separating families and diversity is our strength, and on and on.
So in other words, open borders.
27
Didn’t they already pass this law in the 1990s but then just didn’t keep up with the funding to say adjudication should happen within 90 days? And didn’t trump say he refused increasing the number of federal judges which is one of the things both sides can get behind?
5
The mess that is our immigration system has existed since long before Trump took office. We need to make one immediate change, allow asylum seekers to apply for asylum at the US Embassy or Consulate in their home country, not have to apply once they arrive in the U.S. The asylum seekers then stay in their home country until their cases have been adjudicated, this isn't perfect, but it will alleviate some of the numbers arriving here with nowhere to go and ending up in camps or worse.
12
Yes, and by the time their asylum cases are heard in their own country, they will be raped or murdered, the very fate they are trying to avoid by leaving immediately.
especially if the seekers are killed right there at home while waiting for their papers. where are those letters of transit Ugati had for sale?
Didn’t Trump close those? And stop funding to South American countries.
They are creating the crisis.
1
There is currently no fee for applying for asylum in the United States. This is insane. Taxpayers are paying for law breakers to get a free ride and Trump is correct to change this.
Placing restrictions on work only protects US workers. Please tell us what is wrong with putting American workers first.
26
@Jon Galt Whos is going to pick strawberries? Surely not white males! It pays nothing, is backbreaking work and takes place in extreme heat! American workers first....please! No one is stealing those jobs!
4
Making it harder to go through the process does NOT deter anybody, it only pushes more people to do it the illegal way.
7
I believe in the human rights of illegal immigrants. I do not support unchecked borders. Our resources are not finite.
But, I can’t help wondering how our cities (and the world) will survive once climate change devastates our planet.
Where will we all go? What borders will then be trampled for our survival? What will we do? What choices will we have?
That’s what keeps me on the fence about immigration. What if it were me? Or you? How then would we feel about immigration?
4
This executive order "controversy" is a phony distraction and would be recognized as such if Americans knew their history: all our presidents have used EOs: FDR holds the record at over 3700. Clinton is at 364. Trump is currently at 100.
I'm not a Trump fan BTW.
14
@Hmm But not one of Trump's orders was helpful or legal. FDR did great things for the people.
One million a year! I’d call that a national emergency.
25
@Christopher
.3% of the population is an emergency?
1
WE the People have a very expensive group of representatives that are great at creating roadblocks and fighting against partisan problem solving. The House and Senate need to work on solutions rather than perfecting their haughty attitudes. Trump is simply the loudest voice of the Republican side.
3
How many is enough? Will people be satisfied when there are one billion people in this country? When our environment is completely trashed? When there are no wild places left- just endless slums of poor foreigners? When did the Statue of Liberty become a national suicide pact? When did we take a vote on becoming a third world nation? Moral signalling is great- but we are hurting our own children at this point.
31
Where is one slum in the US comprised of poor foreigners?
2
I dunno. Ask Jesus.
You’re joking right? Our wild places are threatened by Trump Interior Dept policies like radically reducing the size of National Parks and allowing drilling in previously protected areas.
We used to have a government that was divided into Congress, the Courts, and the Executive. Trump prefers that there be only one part....himself. The problem with being a dictator when you are a senior citizen (is he drawing Social Security?) is that you can't expect to rule long enough to establish the dictatorship as a way of governing.
1
We can hate Trump and his methods all we want, but there’s an issue at our border.
We’re seeing 100,000 asylum seekers/illegal immigrants cross the border each month, with an increase of families. How sustainable is it to continue to accept this many people? Also, these people will need housing, an education, which costs more for immigrants since they don’t speak English, not to mention healthcare all on the taxpayers’ dime. The process isn’t working as there are 800,000 pending asylum cases. We’re overwhelmed.
My biggest disappointment has been the democratic candidates’ lack of policy proposal to address this. Many candidates have proposals that increase the taxpayers’ burden including free college, Medicare for All, and other programs. Have they factored in the cost of adding millions of poor and low-skill immigrants to their proposals? How will these migrants affect our poor? There’s a rising cost in housing due to housing shortages and our public schools are overcrowded. How will this many people affect our environment? Traffic in a lot of cities is worsening. These people, unfortunately, pose a lot of logistical problems. We can’t just scream racism when people express their concerns, otherwise, we can just give Trump 4 more years right now. We need to consider helping them in their own countries. As a black immigrant who came here legally and is a new US citizen, I’m voting in my first election in 2020. I hope democrats can come up with reasonable alternatives.
257
@B.A. Maybe read what the democrats want?
20
@B.A.
This is a very real concern where I live. We have had an influx of immigrants because we have a lot of agriculture (apples). Affordable housing in an area that already had a lot of poverty (Appalachia) is not able to be had. Our schools never get good school performance grades, our funding has become atrocious and we are losing teachers constantly. It isn't the immigrant community's fault, but it absolutely has made an already dire situation worse.
38
@B.A.
We will need to clear more woodlands to make way for more homes, roads, parking lots and strip malls to support the newcomers.
6
These are rational ideas from an irrational President. The flood of asylum seekers - 80 percent of which do not qualify for Asylum - must end. Trump is right to enact laws to discourage unqualified applicants from entering the US.
I don’t want an America where the public schools are filled with the children of false asylum seekers. Tell me what that’s doing to the quality of education for American kids who can do nothing about it?
And yet we’re paying for all of this. Democrats - you know that, right?
23
@Louise
A solution to all of this, end welfare. It used to be in order to receive government assistance you had to work so many hours a week. These people who've been riding welfare should be put out in the fields to work. "You don't work, you don't eat." All honest work is honorable.
4
I can't help but believe, in the way mass shootings seem to always lead to huge spikes in gun sales (especially w/ ar-15's and the like), that this is rhetoric (and the harsher treatment, and ongoing 'promise' of getting even tougher) is causing the same thing re: immigration/asylum seeking. If things are nearly as bad in the most afflicted central american countries as we hear, no wonder families want to escape. And, if they think the chances of successfully escaping to the U.S. may be all but zero before too long, the more that are going to try and 'escape' while they still can...
4
remember the SS St. Louis?
Taxpayers have to support this influx of people. Interesting how sanctuary cities don't want them. Look at the family in the picture. Well dressed and clothed and most likely the parents have a late-model smart phone. Legal immigration is 100% OK with those who qualify allowed entry. Scamming the laws claiming asylum is the problem. And no one opposing Trump has stated what their solution is..... No walls, no ICE, let everyone in. Emergency rooms will be even further swamped with these people seeking free health care. Public schools already have Spanish only classes because the children of the immigrants can't speak any English. New schools will need to be built and serve a population that contributes little to the local tax base with property taxes. It is a noble thought to allow everyone in claiming asylum. Historically that has not been the case for the U.S.A. It is simply excessively disruptive to many communities.
18
@Boat52, we send back more than 85% of asylum seekers, so what are you talking about. By the way, the border crossings were twice as large in 2000. Trump is lying again.
Thse rules should have been put in place years ago. They can all go back to Guatamala or other places in Central America. There are plenty of our own homeless that need help. Lets take care of our own first.
19
He probably plans to use the additional funds to pay for the wall
Trump did use 6 billion dollars to fight the opioid crisis and not one Democrat complained and not one liberal news outlet reported this action.
3
If Trump had an actual plan for handling immigration, he would have put in place qualified personnel to implement such a vision. Instead, his first act, as with everything, is to stymie those few who are qualified...until he fires them...then replace them with "acting" 'leadership' to get around the snoops in the Senate who seek some assurance the choice is at least minimally competent.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary McAleenan...acting White House chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney...acting Ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Cohen.. acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt...acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan...acting press secretary Sarah Sanders (she certainly isn't "being" one)...
Let's face it. The entire Trump administration is an act. This is the longest one-act play ever performed, and it is far from intermission, let alone the curtain.
4
SAG and Equity should shut down the scab White House theater of actors!
I doubt that the moral nags have truly considered the ramifications of their policy of granting asylum to anyone with a pulse and a sad story. We face significant problems from global warming- my kids future is basically gone. The last thing we need is more people. Why are so many citizens ruining the future of our children by turning this country into a dumping ground of the planet? My kid shouldn't have to pay for the over-population in other countries. I am so tired of seeing poor people come to this country to take advantage of us- liars all.
18
@willt26 We turn away most asylum seekers. And we have a labor shortage; we need the workers. The US is not 'overpopulated.'
Remember when republicans screamed about the "imperial presidency"? Oh, that only applies when a democrat is president.
5
@EdBx You are absolutely correct. But the opposite is also true. Everyone loves imperial presidents as long as their guy is in the Big Chair.
2
Who elected Stephen Miller so that his personal fears and prejudices could become national immigration policy?
4
The United States should revise it asylum laws to automatically deny asylum to anyone who enters the country illegally. International asylum protocols require asylum seekers to comply with host nation laws when possible. Asylum seekers know they are supposed to apply for asylum at legal ports of entry.
Besides, the United States is not obliged to accept asylum seekers at its southern or northern borders. United Nation asylum protocols are designed to precent “asylum shopping.” Asylum seekers are supposed to apply for asylum in the nearest country that accepts asylum request. For Central Americans, that’s Mexico or South American countries.
U.S. asylum law states, “If the Attorney General determines that the alien may be removed, pursuant to a bilateral or multilateral agreement, to a country (other than the country of the alien's nationality or, in the case of an alien having no nationality, the country of the alien's last habitual residence) in which the alien's life or freedom would not be threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, and where the alien would have access to a full and fair procedure for determining a claim to asylum or equivalent temporary protection, unless the Attorney General finds that it is in the public interest for the alien to receive asylum in the United States.”
http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title8-section1158&num=0&edition=prelim
13
Can we please put Stephen Miller on the cover of Time Magazine saying that he's the mastermind of all of Trump's immigration policy ideas, and that Trump dutifully follows his barking orders, so that Trumps vanity gets flustered and he fires him? I mean, enough of this guy.
3
Central American homicide rates peaked several years ago and have been rapidly dropping, but the number of Central American migrants illegally crossing the U.S. border is going up as homicides rates in Central America are going down. Gunmen are not pursuing Central American migrants a thousands miles across Mexico to the banks of the Rio Grande.
The magnet drawing migrants to the U.S. border are “permisos,” which is what they call notifications to appear at future immigration court hearings. The permisos allow them to legally reside and work in the United States until the date of their hearings, which are now scheduled as much as five years in the future.
Migrants know no one will look for them if they don’t show up for their hearings. Department of Justice statistics show show 41 precent of migrants detained but released with notifications to appear never show up for their hearings, but the number of no shows will skyrocket as the hearing dates finally roll around for the tsunami of Central Americans not crossing the border.
The United States should revise it asylum laws to automatically deny asylum to anyone who enters the country illegally. At the same time, it should permit Central Americans to apply for U.S. asylum in their home countries. This would spare asylum seekers the long trek to the U.S. border.
https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1107056/download#page=34
12
When I see large numbers of people welcoming these folks into their homes and volunteering to pay for their support I will have a much stronger feeling the majority of people posting comment are not hypocrites.
24
@Thomas Smith, they don't allow us to. I'd gladly take a family in. Where do I apply?
@kay Go down to any Home Depot and you'll find lots of families to sponsor and care for.
1
We have any number of epithets to describe a person who
would seek to make a buck off people fleeing for their lives...
and an equal number of words for Americans who have forgotten how they got here......
but, I'm a lady
3
I would think just the opposite that if the immigrant doesn't find work within the first year they become a drain on our welfare system and should be deported. They reason for so many women with all their children coming here is the free aide, food stamps and housing. I think we have plenty of our own that need help, we can't take on other countries poor when we have our own that's not taken care of first.
8
Facts or opinions?
...and what are you doing to aid our poor and homeless? And I mean more than paying taxes. What charities do you contribute to? How much personal time do you devote to working in soup kitchens or homeless shelters?How many phone calls have you made asking the stranger on the other end of the line to donate to charities?
Democrats say that is a fact. They complain that their Sanctuary Cities are overwhelmed with immigrants but refuse to raise taxes to help pay for benefits.
2
Should the headline read "under latest Stephen Miller inhumane and hateful proposal" rather than "Trump order?" We know Trump doesn't have an independent or intelligent thought in his cranium.
5
Kick 'em when they're down! Make America Great Again! There is no low to which the Trump administration will not sink.
3
I think I get it.
<>Trump is taking over Congress' role in passing immigration law.
<>Trump is obstructing justice by ordering underlings and others not to obey lawful subpoenas
<>Trump and his family are trying to stop an American corporation (Deutsche Bank) from obeying lawful subpoenas.
<>Trump appropriated the Attorney General's Office by ordering Willy Billy to file a Supreme Court brief to vaporize the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, while that act is the law of the land.
<>Trump, by issuing at least (as of April 28) 10,000 lies, has harmed and debased the USA' Office of the Presidency.
<>Add your own as seen fit and tomorrow comes.
And the House leadership still is not actively pursuing impeachment?
Got it!
5
Yeah, let all those poor people pay a fee to get in. After all, they could probably sell a hotel or abandoned casino or a fake college degree, or something.
Let them hock a rag newspaper and buy citizenship like old, really old pal, Murdoch.
And cut off all chain migration, except wait until Melania gets her parents in.
It's a boy's model toy world, where human beings are just stick figures, numbers, or nothing.
4
Once again the President, Donald J Trump, is attempting to bring some order to the CRISIS on the border. What are the Demoncrats doing?
13
@Samuel Spade, they wrote the immigration laws that were voted into law last year on a bipartisan basis that would have solved the problem. Trump vetoed the bill because he'd have nothing to run on if he couldn't create a crisis.
Lady Liberty must be sobbing uncontrollably today. The ‘president’ just put the heel of the US on the neck of a migrant child. I’m sure Franklin Graham and other evangelical ‘christians’ will soon issue condemnations.
2
What a compassionate man you are, Donald. Adding fees for asylum seekers is about as stupid and out of touch as having work requirements for Medicaid recipients. This illegal action is further proof of your black heart and of the ignorance that arises from the kind of extreme privilege life affords billionaires such as yourself.
2
"The sheer number of families has overwhelmed the system, and because of rules that prohibit holding children in detention for more than 20 days, some families are released into communities along the border."
The system is overwhelmed BECAUSE OF Trump policies, which require detention of asylum seekers, including families. There are, rather were, better ways. Trump killed those programs because they worked.
10
Since Congress has been effectively neutered, I guess our dictator can do whatever he wants. Every "solution" that our dictator has proposed has only made the problem worse. If he actually wanted to solve the problem, he would work with Congress to create some meaningful legislation - but that's not how dictator's rule.
6
Are Trump’s chain migration in-laws working? Are they paying taxes?
Trump is the child of an immigrant, his mother. He is the grandchild of paternal immigrants. Two of his wives were born in Eastern Europe. His in-laws immigrated after their daughter married Trump. Trump even claimed that his father, formerly designated as Swedish by Trump, was born in Germany, which was news to both Germany and the Bronx where he was actually born.
You would think he would have sympathy for immigrants. You would be wrong.
8
Big diff is that these pesky immigrants are brown. Can’t have that, we need immigrants from Scandinavia.
4
@Steveb
Very true, of course how many would leave Scandinavia for the US?
Trump doesn't appear to understand that.
1
Democrats better wake up soon otherwise they risk losing the border emergency debate for good, not to mention the White House in 2020. Trump's moves may be radical and draconian, but he's proving to his base (and increasingly other voter groups) that he'll do whatever it takes to control the southern border. At least he's showing some leadership, perverse as it may be.
House Democrats can retake the political narrative by immediately calling hearings and introducing limited scope legislation addressing the most critical problems associated with asylum and immigration.
12
“Mr. Trump cut State Department funding to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala this year.”
This is the sign of someone who has no understanding of and/or interest in solving the root problem on our southern border. We should have a Marshall-type plan to strengthen Latin America.
1
I had no idea the U.S. was a dictatorship. When did that happen?
3
November 2016.
Seems reasonable to me.
7
DOA in the House. Next smokescreen to fool his "tribe" frothing at the mouth.
1
We need the people seeking asylum. Ask any farmer.
Why can’t Trump fix this?
1
Talking about dictators, in the U.S., used to be such a foreign concept. Although the United States of America has a long history of supporting dictators around the world. Now we have one at home. Talking about Machiavellian drama, I wonder if Stephen Miller ever sleeps?
1
I do hope people in Congress are keeping a list of all the abuses of power, grabs of power, and rewriting of the CFR this president and his staff are doing so that when we dump over Mitch McConnell and start the Congress working again, we can severely limit the presidency. While everyone debates and speculates about impeachment and stupid journalists get on TV and call it a political act instead of the legal process for dealing with presidential incompetence or criminality, the list is growing longer.
The number of refugees taken in per year is never supposed to be below 50,000. The president is not supposed to use emergency powers to usurp the power of the purse. The members of his administration are supposed to appear before Congress, under oath when appropriate, if asked. The members of the Cabinet are supposed to be confirmed by the Senate not placed in acting positions. The members of his family aren't supposed to find sweetheart positions. The president is supposed to recuse himself from his business interests and put them in a blind trust. Et cetera.
It almost reads like the section of the Declaration of Independence that nobody quotes. This man is a walking, talking abuse. This country needs to be rid of him and his minions sooner than later.
6
Sad state of affairs. Our country has lost it's compassion. Now, for a fee, you can apply for asylum. That's just wonderful.
Congress, where are you?
3
@vwcdolphins
That's is just wonderful
1
They should certainly be taking steps in this direction. Of course these things are often written with over the top language about what is to be done with the caveat that all actions be within current law so the actual changes are generally minor unless the law gives the executive branch broad discretion.
2
Reality Check im 100 percent Trump for president .Congress done little over there careers to ensure our border is maintained 100 percent. Mean while mexico an central america have empty there jails sent all violent criminals into usa. Wake up american people say no more drugs no more imports from mexico. We have power to change congress just like they did many moons ago in boston tea party.
16
@jerry lee. We can say no more drugs anytime we're ready to stop buying them.
7
They should be facing a LOT more hurdles to get into this country as we, the US tax per, are going to tone the ones subsidizing their lives here.
It's hard enough for a college graduate to find a job with a wage to survive in this country, what are the chances of someone who doesn't speak the language, has no skills and a large family have? None.
These people aren't going to be surgeons, so let's just let that dream go. We also don't need another million people cutting grass.....
78
@There Well, you provide them with free translators, free education, food stamp, affordable housing, you name it.. just like democrats envision..
4
Have all American citizens forgotten how fortunate they are to be in this country, especially when most of us did nothing more than be lucky enough to have been born here? Why so hateful of those less fortunate? What happened to gratitude, compassion, humility?
1
@Andrew Wohl
So true. Every brown baby in the world has as much of a right to a good life as a brown or white US baby and there are a lot more brown babies. We need to raise taxes substantially and establish a confiscatory inheritance tax and cut the defense budget to a quarter of what it is. If the voters would get behind that we could support the starving babies in the world and given them a home in the US. The voters are just not getting it. We need to replace the voters as they die off.
1
So, as per the article, its all families now, instead of single adults that could be easily deported. Nobody who applies for asylum the legal way is arrested and detained. Nobody. So the 103,000 detained last month were caught on US soil crossing illegally. The crossed, then asked for asylum. They are gaming our rules because they know if they have kids with them, they wont be deported. Thats why we have a backlog of over 800,000 cases. Thats why our detention centers are overwhelmed. The only way to stop this madness is prevent them from stepping foot on US soil in the first place. Technology wont do that. Drones and sensors alert border patrol of their crossing. By that time, its too late. The only way to prevent them from illegally crossing the border, is walls and physical barriers. Enough is enough. Of course, Democrat politicians know all this, and are now depending on illegal immigrants to win elections.Times writer Jamie Bouie admitted this the other day, fretting over not counting illegal immigrants in the census, which could lower population numbers in Blue states with sanctuary cities. That could allocate them less House reps, and less electoral votes.This is why Democrats set up sanctuary cities . This is why they are fighting Trumps wall. Do you really believe it was because it was too expensive? This is what the Democrat Party has come to. Enabling and encouraging illegal immigration to win elections. Is that what you call being "progressive"??
84
@Sports Medicine
So walls stop people. Tell that to East Berlin, oh wait there is no East Berlin anymore, and what about China are they still hiding behind there's. Hire more Judges to go through the legal process that has been set up by congress tens of years ago. In other words DO YOUR JOB trump and govern not dictate.
31
@Sports Medicine
Thank you sports medicine. What you say is right. The left is not left. It is just playing some pathetic game of virtue signalling without a real solution. Try living in California and having to deal with the legal system overrun by illegal immigrants.
21
@Sports Medicine
"Enabling and encouraging illegal immigration to win elections."
How's that again?
Illegal immigrants - no matter how many they are in America - cannot vote, remember?
18
Well done, Trump. I went thru the legal process of immigration, which involved considerable time and money.
I am sick of these line jumpers.
111
@j karna
You might explore the standards for asylum. These people have endured major hardship, often including risk to life. Moreover, they are put through a rigorous immigration process.
Undoubtedly, your processing involved time and money. But if it was via marriage, work, chain migration, lottery, etc., there is no comparison
9
@j karna
Me, too.
5
I agree. People should just stay in their countries and wait to be butchered.
1
A demand for softer approach on illegal immigration by Democratic Party and their candidates has encouraged illegal immigration. They oppose building a wall to prevent people crossing over illegally but don’t mind everyday Americans bearing the burden of paying for their expenses through taxes. Trump is the first president in decades who is accepting and stating the problem of illegal immigration as it is than sugarcoating it to get votes like Democrats. They can boast all they like about how saintly they are, but if the Democrats oppose Trump’s tough policies during elections, they will lose miserably and this time they won’t have the Russia excuse.
89
@Resident Repeat after me: the wall is a distraction.
43
@Resident
You fail the test of understanding basic terminology.
Asylum seekers are not illegal immigrants. Seeking asylum is legal and anyone reaching our land is legally applying for asylum. They deserve adjudication and many will be denied asylum through this process.
Trump's policies reflect a failure to understand exactly what you fail to understand. Or an inherent unAmerican attitude.
When other presidents faced an extraordinary surge of asylum seekers - such as after the Jews after World War II, the Cambodian boat people, Hungarians and other Eastern Europeans after the Soviet takeover - they came up with a way to handle the surge.
Whether through legislation or additional judges and procedures to speed up adjudication, there are ways to handle this surge without treating them as roaches. Which they are not.
29
@Resident Any evidence that the harder approach taken by Trump is working any better to drive away immigrants? We have a wave of families -- fleeing drug cartels and gangs that market their wares in the USA -- applying for asylum. That's a new development. What is Trump going to do to solve the underlying issues? Their not sneaking in, so the wall won't work, and it will cost more money. It's not hard vs soft, it's what will work vs what is simply grandstanding for Trump's base.
23
I lost a close family member a few days ago, and when I saw this headline the first thought that went through my mind was: "Trump is a man who has never felt even a hint of psychological pain. If he had, he wouldn't be so quick to hurt others."
I'm in no position diagnose Trump with anti-social personality disorder, but I highly doubt he even has an iota of empathy in him.
39
@pk ….And with all his Cursing and Swearing and the Venom unleashed on TV and Twitter etc....he still has the support of Religious leaders and calls himself Christian. The fruit of his Administration doesn't look too good to me !!
3
Give me your hungry, your poor - but make sure they can pay the fee! After all, we have to pay to have the Trump circus at Mar-a-Lago every weekend.
1
So who’s mounting the coup? According to this illegitimate “president” and his minion, it’s Democrats, because they dare to look into evidence of money laundering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy, bank fraud, tax fraud. Apparently, usurping Constitutional powers is not a “coup” in the eyes of these self-defined “patriots.”
4
Two thoughts...since many of the asylum seekers are paying the cartel to get them to our border...then a fee seems apropriate...to solve this migration problem from Central America....and this is a National Security issue for our country at our southern border...Mexico is very little help...I would let these countries know we will take control of them by sending in troops and declaring Marshall Law...however before that... special opps would be working with the CIA to detain the people causing the problem in these countries...this includes the police...the politicians and gang members...Latin America is the most corrupt region in the world..
3
So America should demand money from poor migrants just as “Coyotes”, smugglers and Cartels do? Do you like that moral equivalent?
President Obama: "I have a pen and a phone"
5
"A shining city on a hill."
-Ronald Reagan
Has become a hate-filled, xenophobic, walled-off nightmare of misery and fear.
This is NOT my America and this is NOT how presidents behave.
Run for office, especially the US Senate and ESPECIALLY if you're from Kentucky or Texas.
Who even recognizes America anymore?
2
Anytime an immigration article doesnt mention Trump the comments section is filled with people who support restricted immigrationand asylum processing.
Anytime an immigration article mentions Trump actually doing something to restrict immigration or asylum and all I hear is "shame!!" And "impeach" and "racist."
It's funny how all the NYT has to do is mention Trump and suddenly everyone stops thinking about immigration and starts a reflexive anti-Trump parade of comments. I find it pretty amusing as an independent whose views aren't determined by the twitterati and the new religion of liberalism. Funny and sad really.
11
Give me your entitled, your rich
Your friends of Donald yearning to fleece me.
The tired and poor you can keep.
3
As of course we all know, the only significant part of this is the memo, written by "an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Obviously, cases can't be adjudicated in 180 days, nor can a president change asylum law. So it will be tied up in court.
2
Why the Congress is so silent on both immigration and asylum laws? The Democrats are ignoring this only because of Trump talking about it. Clearly, the system is being gamed by a few. Uncontrolled migration hurts the poor and minorities by overwhelming public services, keeping wages down, and propagating exploitation. It is ironic that the Democrats support policies that hurt their own voter base even more. Not sure when people will wake up and realize what this elite class is doing to them.
10
@UpClose I guess you missed the bipartisan immigration bill passed last year that would have solved the issue, but Trump vetoed it. Why would he do that? Guess he needs a crisis to run on.
@kay
No bills cleared the Senate. The bi-partisan bill did not agree with Trump demands for ending the visa lottery and curtailing family-based immigration. The best bill had 54 Senators backing it. There was a lot of posturing on both sides, but they never sat together and hammered one out.
Now, the debate has moved off the table and the asylum policy has become a loophole, the window is open for anything and everything to get in. After some point, the enforcement will be impossible, and we would create a large population living in the shadows or will have to go for Amnesty. The Last Amnesty covered 3 million, and this one will have to cover 30. The required reforms did not happen in 32 years.
The cost of inaction grows exponentially - at all levels. The US can accommodate these 30 million with respect and dignity for the immigrants as well as its own citizens but that is not happening.
The more I learn from listening to so-called "evangelical" leaders, the more I see that Donald Trump both personally and through his policies does truly represent the values of that religion.
1
Yep. All those drug cartels are sneaking all those drugs and drug manufacturing equipment in the children's backpacks, along with their Spiderman thermos and My Little Pony T-shirts. They're setting up shacks all along the border by the hundreds to make meth. They've fooled us into thinking drug cartels are bringing all that over at our points of entry.
The real problem here is Trump circumventing Congress and getting away with it with every lie he tells. He'll continue to do it until he gets what he wants - total control over the country. That's fascism, and so far, he's winning.
3
If there is truly an immigration/asylum "crisis," I think it's at least 90% whipped up by the Trump administration. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if they were paying "trolls" to urge these poor people in Central America to head to the US. Somebody should look into that.
2
@Stevem: Didn’t you immediately think it odd that the biggest caravan ever started its march timed perfectly for the 2018 midterms? Not one news org went down to its starting point and asked questions about who were the organizers and how it got organized. That lack of ordinary journalism was scandalous. But still, not a peep from anyone. Are we all mesmerized by what comes out of the WH or something?
Congress please end the asylum program now. It’s become a complete farce, only a tiny fraction are given asylum but the US is footing the burden. Average of $15,000 per refugee to relocate them, then several times that for welfare while they wait for their cases to be decided. This money is totally wasted. Shut it down.
11
“Migrants who have entered or tried to enter the United States illegally would also be barred from receiving a work permit until their claims are adjudicated.”
If this idea was complemented by introducing significant penalties for employing an illegal alien, likely 90% of immigration problem in the US would disappear almost overnight and would save $billions which could be used as foreign aid to alleviate the causes of mass immigrations at its sources.
Incidentally, it would also help some of the presidential candidates to concentrate on those who elected them to the office, the US citizens, not on the foreigners.
9
Donald Trump is going to make 2020 a referendum on immigration. Every democratic candidate better come up with a plan they present -stat!
8
The apparent Democrat plan is open borders. Democrat politicians need to begin talking up their great idea and stop complaining that skilled, law abiding immigrants are flooding their Sanctuary cities. Republicans have a plan to control immigration so Democrats need to promote their plan of no control on immigration.
3
The overwhelming majority of asylum claims are ultimately denied (approximately 3/4) and this was the case even under Obama. Furthermore of those denied, many do not comply with orders of deportation and many are allowed to effectively linger even when they’ve been denied asylum.
Too many people are abusing this system to become de facto immigrants to the US without going through proper the channels and process to do so. The border is already overrun with asylum seekers, so rather than ask the taxpayers to fund more judges and processing centers, Trump is rightly asking these fraudsters to fund it themselves.
That coupled with making it harder for them to work should reduce the incentive to come at all. We have an affordable housing, affordable healthcare, and affordable education crisis. An influx of poor, minimally educated people only exacerbates that. We’re hopelessly divided as a nation. An influx of foreign citizens who don’t speak the dominant language only exacerbates that.
In short, we need to close our borders and fix our own country. If we’re not careful, our own internal problems and the perpetual influx of the poor and uneducated will simply turn the US into the next Guatemala and then we’ll all be in trouble.
12
I NEED to see Stephen Miller, Monster Immigration Administrator, before Congress at a Public Hearing. Who is he to stonewall?
1
Despite numerous court rulings against him, Trump has not yet realized that he cannot change laws set by Congress simply with administrative orders crafted by his anti-immigrant golem. Time for a judge to step in yet again and remind the wannabe emperor of the constitutional restraints on the powers of his throne.
2
Why do we keep saying the president isn't above the law when this one quite clearly is?!
3
Let's dismantle the Statue of Liberty, and use the materials in the Wall.
2
If the president truly wanted to solve the crisis at the border, he'd ask Congress for billions to fund amnesty claims processing: investigators, case workers, administrative law judges, and humane temporary housing -- not for the stupid wall. This isn't about catching them. This is about fairly, promptly, and legally processing their asylum claims.The administration won't, though, because its objective is denial of entry regardless of the legitimacy of the asylum claims. Critics of the administration also need to brace for unwelcome facts. Granting asylum needs much more specific grounds than merely, "my country is chaotically violent." You must have been personally persecuted for one of five defined reasons (race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group). I think we fail to distinguish between those who merit asylum and must be admitted and those we wish would be admitted to have a better life. My non-expert prediction is that most of the current asylum seekers will not reach that legal threshold of personal persecution.
https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/us-immigration/who-eligible-asylum-refugee-protection.html
Those requests by Trump were tied to a provision to increase border security and border patrols. Democrats don’t want that so they vetoed it.
2
Asylum rules do not apply to people who cross more than one border. These people are country shopping, are almost illiterate they are lying through their teeth. They are not going to be major assets to the US.
6
I agree!! Anyone who lies through their teeth is not an asset to America. Hope you take my hint.
It has been obvious throughout Trump's presidency that he wants the problem, not the solution. His self-defeating and cruel policies, like cutting off aid to Central American countries and ripping children from their mothers' arms, do nothing to solve the problem. They on exacerbate it.
The Democrats are powerless when the President will not seek real solutions. Although it would only be symbolic, it would be helpful if the House passed a bill restoring aid flows, vastly expanding the immigration judge pool, and prohibiting family separation.
Such a bill won't go anywhere in the Senate. If it did, Trump would veto it. So it would only be symbolic. Nevertheless, it could be a statement of decent values.
251
@thomas briggs Good points. The House already passed a bill providing some money for a barrier on the Southern Border, more enforcement personnel and money for more Asylum judges. I believe it also provided more aid for the CA countries which are responsible for the exiles.( I could be mistaken on this aspect.)It passed the Senate.
President Trump vetoed it because it did not provide "enough" of the 25 Billion $ he wants for a wall-to-wall ,wall. He also responded by attempting to reallocate funds from other departments such as Defense for the wall. I frankly don't recall where this stands now.
You are right, he wants the issue so that he can run on it again. If it were to be resolved, he would lose this valuable tool for keeping his base aroused.
Trump is not "faithfully" executing the laws and working to improve the lives of Americans.
27
@thomas briggs "Decent values" , whatever existed before, left the American Homeland when Donald Trump became the POTUS.
14
@thomas briggs
The problem of family separation creates heart rending situations, but it's a consequence of the policy requiring release of children from detention after 20 days and the volume of migrants attempting to enter the country illegally. What can be done? I only see 3 alternatives:
1. Adjudicate all asylum cases within 20 days and either deport or admit the families. Making that happen involves a list of alternatives in turn.
2. Ending the 20 day release policy so that at least the children and parents remain together as the lesser of two evils.
3. Release the parents from detention with their children after 20 days, which would essentially mean opening the border to migration.
I would like to hear each of the 20 Democratic candidates for president state their preferred option. It's easy to declare efforts at border control inhumane. It's much harder to come up with a responsible solution.
3
Having helped a number of applicants (mostly Christian converts from Muslim countries where such an act is punishable by death) obtain asylum in the U.S., I read this with a sinking heart. I recall the former (and future) engineering student who slept on a basement floor and worked punishing hours in a restaurant, taking public transport to bring cash to the office every few months to pay his legal fees. A work permit literally saved his life while he waited for his interview. Others like him will suffer needlessly due to this feckless administration's idiotic rhetoric and cruel actions. Shame on us.
310
@Rhondda May There is a difference between persecuted Christians asylum seeker and economic illegal migrants from Central America who are opportunistic and not fleeing any persecution.
8
@Rhondda May
"taking public transport" should never been seen as a bad thing.
3
@Rhondda May
I share in your feeling of a sinking heart. For every one "bad hombre" poster example there are easily thousands of individuals who are the opposite of what is portrayed for political power and expediency and low-information prone scapegoat hyped up voters.
While reality is we do need to address immigration reform, nothing out of the Trump Administration will feel sensible or humane because they are incapable of either. I don't hold much hope of anything sensible or humane coming from Republican politicians either on any front, foreign or domestic, any more.
2
I think Trump goal as president is to be as cruel as he can be to people that are not wealthy. He totally believes in kicking people while they are down.
As stated these are not economic migrants. These are people fleeing because they are afraid for their and their children's safety. The walk thousands of miles for safety and the best the USA can do is tell them to go back and die.
I am totally ashamed by the cruelty at our border caused by Trump and Miller.
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@Craig
I don't support Trump or his immigration policies. But let's be realistic. Some migrants are fleeing violence. But some of the the migrants are, in fact, economic migrants. Some bring kids who are not their own in order to game the system. The fact that some are gaming the system doesn't mean they don't have a right to at least attempt to come here to seek a better life. But be realistic. Most migrants are smart people who communicate with each other to teach and learn how to get into the US. To assume otherwise is to assume they are childlike in their vulnerability, which I suggest is racist.
19
@Syliva. Even NPR has let some of the economic migrant narrative seep into their otherwise staunchly "vicimts seeking legal asylum" narrative. Two quotes a few weeks ago mentioned that they had heard if they bring a child they have a better chance for entry and in another quote the would-be asylum seeker admitted he wasn't in any danger but just wanted (you guessed it) "a better life." By that metric, millions and millions of people would have cause to apply for asylum. Dems have a soft heart and don't want to seem cruel and heartless but, really, somewhere the line has to be drawn. But it's politically not useful for Dems to formulate some realistic policies that address this situation. By contrast, it is completely politically useful for trump to come up with whatever he and Miller can concoct. However much these new "policies" do not stand a chance in the House of becoming implemented.
8
@Leslie Some asylum seekers just want "A better life"? How dare they!
5
Application fees for asylum. What’s next? Poll taxes for voting?
17
That will happen
Trump will continue to expand his powers until he is defeated at the polls or impeached. He views the Muller report as a mandate to do anything he wants. Congress is just an inconvenience; the rule of law liberal hogwash. SCOTUS I hope you are listening. Your next, followed by massive civil unrest. The beast has been unleashed.
2
@John Tapley SCOTUS is his lapdog too now, sadly. Occasionally John Roberts may grow a spine to protect his legacy, but in general, I expect more and more rulings that will define our future in a negative way.
1
The GOP has supported a more dominant executive branch because it has the only true power left available to the GOP. Even though it is unconstitutional and savages the separation of powers.
The GOP has lost the popular in almost every election in recent history. Voter suppression, the electoral college and an amorally got SCOTUS has the minority ruling over the majority. The question is no longer their motives but how are Dem and the legislature going to fight back against tyranny. We have seen what happens to countries in this situation.
He created a mess at the border, caged children and went against policies backed by laws. We have had ENOUGH of this damage. His entire administration are bigots and this would never have been an issue if these asylum seekers and victims of such violence were all white.
We are ONLY leading the world in bigotry. We are not leading it in climate, inequality, safety, privacy or even alliances. The most disturbing photo this week was a cozy Kim and Vlad.
1
Another case of Trump's Chaotic Dysfunctional Administration in operation ! With all the Hirings, Firings,Resignations,Indictments,and Convictions...not to mention the Mueller Reports implying impeachment and further investigation....how can there be any support for this President. Why is there a Fox Nation. A Nation of us within our Nation support the worst President and Administration in American History. The Mueller report is not Fake News, Alternative Facts, or Locker Room Talk. I can't wait until he testifies. If the GOP had not decided to support Trump to ride the coat tails of his Popularity this would have ended long ago. Even his staunchest supporters have to agree...he's no more Presidential since being elected. Health Care..?? GOP where's the Plan ? Tax cut...?? For who...no one I know! I see no Infrastructure Improvement ! Economy is booming? What about the BOOMING DEFICIT !!!! MAGA? I can't see it. All I see is a MEGA....MESS !! There should be no support for the Worst President ever Elected in our History !! Too many of us are citizens of this Fox's Nation !! Popular Voters had better overwhelmingly prevail in 2020 !!
4
If the current vindictive and self obsessed occupant of the White House devoted as much energy to bipartisan immigration legislation as he does to ruthless pandering to the worst instincts of a clueless base, we would all be much better off. Instead he repeatedly “orders” draconian and unconstitutional measures knowing full well that their only impact will be a base pleasing headline further inciting the fear and division which is his stock in trade. It seems as if everyday brings another example of the pitiless and abhorrent world view of this man.
7
@Andrew Exactly. Remember when the Muslim ban was just supposed to be temporary while we "figured out what was going on"? Have seen no attempts to figure out, let alone fix, any such thing.
Trump's behavior aside, Congress in both chambers and on both sides of the aisle just stands silent. When Obama attempted to help the Dreamers, they took him to court. Nothing like that will happen here I'm sure. The dictatorship, autocracy, imperial presidency is well underway--and we're watching...
5
Trump was taken to Court when Obama’s Executive Orders allowing Dreamers to stay in the US expired. Liberal judges believed that it is unfair to deport persons who are in the US illegally and said the protection for Dreamers must continue indefinitely.
3
My freind Jay at the age of 52 -working for the past 17 years in a diamond processing factory in NY - was just fired and replaced by an immigrant in the US for less than a year and going to be paid less than a half of my freind.
So to add insult of coming to the US illegally and ducking the system he replaces an American born citizen because hes willing to work for peanuts ...
And pro-immigration people claim to be on the same side as workers ... why are union leaders all pro-immigration, when eventually the tons of immigrant workers will swamp the country and lower salaries for all Americans ?
We all know the "asylum" seekers is just an excuse to get into the US and immigrants to get "legal" jobs here - but fair is fair. And it's not fair to replace American jobs for immigrants and this is the real reason the price of labor is falling in America, because every job has now an applicant ready to work for practically nothing.
11
I sure hope you are speaking out and voting pro-union. I do hope you saw trumps tweet yesterday dissing firefighters unions.
I’m sorry for your friend, you need to vote!
I’m old enough to remember when Democrats heartily cheered a president who used a pen and a phone to get things done.
8
@EGD I must be older than you, because I remember a time when Dems and Repubs believed in compromise and ruling together.
@Susi
The last time that happened was under Reagan and we all know what Dems said about him.
2
Migrants pay traffickers thousands of dollars to smuggle them through several countries to reach the U.S border.
They are clearly not penniless and not seeking the first safe country.
They are seeking free U.S benefits and U.S work for which they will not pay the same U.S income taxes a citizen would. That's the harsh reality.
They are destroying a system meant for compassion not opportunism.
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If you talk about the Indian seeking “asylum” maybe you could be correct. The rest of the world are literally penniless.
So what you are saying is that the United States should do to immigrants exactly what cartels, smugglers and “Coyotes “ are doing. Nice!
trump, a self appointed tyrant king of the United States "trump base", will soon be shown the exit door, on November 3,2020. In the 2016 elections there were two unpopular choices, and many stayed home rather than vote. In the 2020 elections there will only ben one unpopular choice (guess who?), and those who stayed home in 2016 will turn out for serious change. trumps base may be loyal and will again support him in 2020, but from all indicators it hasn't grown. trump lost the popular vote by 3 million and barely squeaked out winning the electoral college by 700 thousand votes, that's not a land slide by any means. trump will loose by a much larger popular vote margin, and won't be able to carry the electoral college because of that. The GOP members of Congress have sold there souls to trump, guess that don't want another Nixon on there watch. trump each day proves he is a re-run of an ugly unfit human being. The elections are months away and no doubt trump will make it seem like an eternity. I already know that my vote will be for change, even though I don't know my choices name.
@Ricky - there will be two candidates that people hate if the Democrats nominate Sanders, Warren, etc.
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@DRS sorry but i think anyone will be better accepted than a trump/clinton face off again.
This isn't the early 1900's any longer! The work force has changed to employing 3 people to do the work of 12. Our immigrants should come from blue or green people who have a high skill set and can help the betterment of the U.S. Taking in people who can't speak the language, have no skill set, with multiple children and are paying cartels thousands of dollars to cross illegally is insane! In the cases of legal entry of people escaping dire violent environments those should be considered with dignity & scrutiny.
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Democrats are for "open borders'. Just read all these comments.
Republicans, however, agree that legal immigration is a good thing.
These "asylum seekers" are economic migrants. Nothing more, nothing less.
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@John Murray Who, who is for open boarders? Nobody has ever suggested that people should be able to walk back and forth across the boarders without guarded check points, nobody.
1
@MDM
I’m sorry, MDM, but that is exactly what is happening now. Illegal immigrants openly walk across our southern border and disappear into the US. That’s an open border!
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Yes several Democrats in Congress advocate open borders. You really need to keep up with the news.
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When I consider that Trump cut State Department funding to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala this year, It occurs to me that that may be a considered policy. What's needed to stanch the flow of migrants is improvement in the countries they are fleeing. Cutting aid tends to keep the number of desperate migrants high, reinforcing Trump's contention that the border is under assault, and he alone can protect us.
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There are so many UNaddressed basics in both the article and in asylum scenario between CA, Mexico and USA. Here’s two:
1. If it is truly and purely ‘asylum’ which is sought - Then why don’t the refugees from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador who seek such should rightly plant themselves across a border and apply in the nearest venue - Be it Mexico or Costa Rica which also ascribe to international asylum norms ?
2. Is it LEGAL under international convention to which USA ascribes to actually have a FEE for applying for asylum ?
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What’s clear is that none of Trump’s orders have reduced the number of people showing up at the border. Instead, more have arrived.
It’s time to recognize that this strategy of deterrence is simply not working. Whatever the solution is, this definitely isn’t it.
2
This is the result of Congress not doing it's job. Going back many years, if Congress had studied the problem and enacted smart policy the President would not be able to single handily control the agenda.
Congress is supposed to make the laws and the President is supposed to carry them out.
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The United States should absolutely charge a fee to migrants entering this country - through asylum or not.
Migrants are willing to pay human smugglers, or "coyotes", thousands of dollars to help them enter the U.S., revenue our government should capture.
Still, a quicker path to citizenship, not through a loophole like asylum, is needed for all who want to enter.
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There is a completely simple solution to the asylum backlog - grant asylum to everyone who has passed an initial screening before the new rules implementation date. Give them green cards so they can legally work and pay taxes. And grant the DACA and TPS immigrants permanent residence, moving to citizenship if they want.
Then you can revise the asylum process to reflect the international and other laws we are bound by. And you can also create a work permit system to allow economic migrants to work here and then return to their home countries, as they do now.
It does not make sense to increase the immigration judge corps for a temporary surge in asylum seekers, or to waste expensive resources in trying to deport people who have worked here for any significant amount of time and have not engaged in violence or criminal activity (being here undocumented and misdemeanors would not be a sufficient crime). This is a cost based, risk based solution that any corporate executive would embrace in his/her company. Simple and effective.
2
Refugees seeking asylum from places like Syria must wait in either their home country or another country for the granting of asylum in the US waiting patiently for months. My in laws (Jews from Iran) waited 8 months in Vienna ( after waiting over a year to be allowed to leave Iran with their possessions limited to 2 suitcases after a family history of 800 years) before receiving approval to finally come to the US. I have never, ever been able to understand a reward system for people crossing the border illegally that bypasses the system that refugees and asylum seekers others must follow. Plenty of fees and costs for those seeking asylum in the legal way - all of that time waiting for permission is at the person’s own expense with help from charitable agencies in some cases. Our Afghani translators had to follow this process but apparently anyone seeking economic opportunity from the Golden Triangle is exempt. Why?
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It has been pointed out that President Obama tried to rule by executive edict. His executive orders were often challenged, in the courts, and turned back. It is almost certain that this order will be challenged in the courts. I hope that Democrats in the House lead the way.
3
If the president invested as much time and money into helping these people as he has in making their lives even more difficult he might have actually made a difference by now.
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Before Trump, when our laws and constitution meant something, a cabinet secretary (even an "acting" secretary) would refuse to carry out an illegal order such as this, and Congress, as the legislative branch of government, would determine whether changes in current law were warranted. Since law and the constitution no longer have meaning, we're seeing Trump making law on a whim. We will see what kind of American Mr. McAleenan is: law abiding, or part of Trump's lawless coterie of autocrats.
1
Birthright citizenship needs to change so those born to asylum seekers waiting two years for their cases to be heard are not automatic citizens. Cases need to be resolved quickly to prevent a newly conceived citizen baby from providing anchorage to families with rejected asylum claims.
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I have asked this question before and interestingly no responses. Last month 76,000 people (source Border Protection). arrived here. There is a new job open. All the people have been transported to a sporting venue waiting. The job is to process all the people in the stadium. This would include. Housing, food, saftey, health assessment, criminal background check, documentation etc..) Your phone rings and your offered the job to lead the effort. FIrst would you take it? If not why? If you would take the job list a short 10 item plan you’d start immediatey because these folks are in an open air stadium currently.
Perhaps it’s time to shut boarders down and revamp the laws to help end the chaos. Congress has sat on their hands long enough.
7
Yes, Mr Trump will be remembered by history. Although, not for the reasons he would like. I chalk it up to plain old ignorance. You have to assume no one was teaching him, or he was unmoved by, the meaning of the poem "The New Colossus."
When I was young I was awed by the Statue of Liberty and the words of the poem. I could picture my grandparents arriving from Europe with one bag each seeing the Statue of Liberty in person for the first time. I was 4 years old when my father took me to East End Avenue to see President Kennedy arrive at Gracie Mansion. I can still vividly remember seeing President Kennedy.
My bet is that Mr Trump will be indicted within days of leaving office. What we are witnessing is a rising crescendo of lies, inhumanity and avarice. But the tide will turn and we may see a fall that even Shakespeare couldn't imagine.
1
The US currently issues about one million green cards annually. Many of those immigrants wait years or even decades for their visas. They also pay fees.
These Central American economic migrants bypass the legal immigration system simply by raising fraudulent asylum claims. It’s shameful that this chicanery is allowed to continue.
We can’t absorb one million asylum frauds a year indefinitely. Particularly since open borders groups are making deportation of failed claims nearly impossible. If this asylum fraud is allowed to continue, you’ll end up drawing hundreds of millions of economic migrants to the southern border.
This is a winning issue for Trump. Democratic Party leaders and the far left are delusional. A majority including many Democrats want to deport these economic migrants. Even if that requires repealing the asylum statute completely.
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Ho-hum. I'm sure the rich people who run things will work this out to keep the poor poor and the rich rich. It's the rich who are hiring the poor, over the poor already here, keeping wages low and quality of life low for everyone on that end of the stick. "Bring us your poor, your sick, your etc. and we'll soon have you fighting each other for crumbs - for generations..."
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The US government should consider changing some of the laws related to children born in the United States and allow only those babies US citizenship if at least one of their parents is a US citizen. Why are babies born to non US citizens allowed automatic citizenship with all the rights and benefits of US citizens who pay taxes? In my opinion, only babies born to parents where at least one parent is a US citizen, should be granted US citizenship.
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@Rain: That "law" you want to change is in the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, passed in the late 19th century. While this president is happily trying to shred the constitution, it would take a new amendment to supercede what's already there. Try to imagine that, a campaign to overturn it through state ratification of the change, and it would take years, if it could pass at all.
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@Rain
The 14th Amendment, which states that all laws are supposed to be applied equally to all people.
1
You might consider this a bit deeper. Consider how many great, good and decent Americans were born here after their parents legally immigrated.
Immigration is the one issue I agree on with Trump. The immigration system is beyond broken. Friedman just wrote about this last week. We are not in a political position for sides to come together to fix it. Trump is seeking ways to stem the time. Push8ng the line without question, nut something needs to be done - tens of thousands of families walking across the border is madness. Assimilating ONE family into a community and schools is a huge effort and that is when the family is welcomed. I’ve seen firsthand what happens when an immigrant child who speaks no English is placed into a classroom that can’t support him. Everything slows down and all the kids and the teacher suffer. We are NOT able to assimilate tens of thousands of people at the local levels. Something has to change and trump is fighting with any tools he can. And no, I am not a trump supporter overall.
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This is all fine with me, as long as the non-citizen workers at Mar-A-Lago ALSO face the same restraints. The ones who work are working legally, of course....
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They will. Glad you’re on our side.
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America is in the middle of its first go at a full stop "designer presidency". The experience to date is what might be expected when the head of state crafts every decision made (literally day-by-day) based on the calculation of "how do I advance my narrow, personal interests and how do I remain in power to continue advancing my interests and forestall being prosecuted for doing that?"
Democracy is not the automatic product of a set of written guidelines (the Constitution). Democracy assumes the active participation of a rational, informed electorate and leaders committed to those who they are elected to serve before the pursuit of personal agenda. Not only are those criteria not being met, they are under assault.
Yes, the American empire is in decline and that has generated a crisis of rule that's reflected in the aberrant behavior of this president. However, this takes the cake.
Welcoming immigrants and integrating them into our society is essential given the demographics of an aging population of declining birth rates.
Xenophobia runs counter to the long term interests of the nation. However, for a president that has nothing else to offer in the way of leadership it has become the clarion call of divide and conquer and is the only path to re-election.
We know what Trump will do. His modus operandi is absolutely clear. The real question is - what will the American people do in the face of this growing, mindless catastrophe? The fate of humanity hangs in the balance.
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@Robert very well said, and truthful! I particularly like your notion of a “living Constitution “, rather than some dead piece of paper that the neo-fascists hold up for admiration, but as is plain in Trump’s actions, have absolutely no respect for. It still bewilders me that, after coming off rule by a mad king, those that wrote the Constitution didn’t put in stronger safeguards against what we are seeing now.
Our asylum laws are being exploited. I'm glad to see the administration doing something about the issue. What we really need is Congress to change the laws so they can't be taken advantage of in such an egregious manner. I'm not naive enough to think that will ever happen.
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We need asylum policies that serve the needs of US citizens while providing an appropriate level of shelter to actually persecuted persons qualifying for entry. Congress has fumbled for more than 30 years and now seems utterly fascinated with chasing any shiny object with which to batter the President, citizens take the hindmost.
Will congress step up, or continue to stall?
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I paid $725 to become a naturalized citizen last year. When I saw all that goes into just THAT process, I understood why the fee was so high. I can only imagine what the operating costs are managing the southern border.
7
The US cannot afford to grant asylum to everyone who wants it.
There are too many people wanting to come in. The US has no rational choice but to close down the asylum process until it can achieve a workable policy that lets in a very few cases of extreme hardship.
This might seem like a Draconian policy. But both sides in the dispute are partly wrong.
It is true that Republicans have ignored the need for effective birth control in third world countries including Guatemala and others in central America. The US should have been providing access to family planning for the past 50 years. The population of Guatemala has more than quadrupled since 1960.
It is also true that Trump has used inflammatory rhetoric which has made agreement on rational immigration policy impossible.
On the other hand, Democrats have been irresponsible in suggesting that American resources are unlimited. Declaration of sanctuary cities essentially says, "forget limitations of resources. We have a moral imperative to let unlimited numbers of poor into the country.
Meanwhile, liberals and conservatives alike have held up for ridicule the views of biologists and others who have maintained that the earth has a finite carrying capacity and unlimited population growth leads to increased death rates by some cause, political unrest, the growth of gangs or outright starvation.
Democrats declare others as racists and bigots, denying the opportunity to discuss the full complexity of the problem
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@Jake Wagner Lol. We're nowhere near the carrying capacity of the Earth, and that's in general; for a single country, the US is FAR away from its capacity. True, that's no reason to ignore population growth problems, but the carrying capacity argument, when we're talking about the relatively minuscule number of asylum seekers, is disingenuous or downright poor thinking. And as technology has advanced, the determination of maximum carrying capacity has risen over the years.
That's doubly so when what many say is one of America's problems is that our birth rate is not enough to sustain our economy! If asylum seekers come here and are allowed to flourish as net-positive contributors to the economy, then they pay their way; in the short term, we are saving lives, assuming they meet the criteria for being allowed asylum. If we had better policies for the areas from which thy come, they'd want to return home after home stabilized. Part of their problem with home, WE CAUSED at worst, and allowed at best.
And one more thing. If these people become Americanized, those families actually contribute LESS to the general Earth population problem than they would have at home, because Americans have fewer children. Remember, one result of the general Earth problem is global warming. Americanizing more people actually helps mitigate global warming!
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@Jake Wagner
You forgot to mention that Republicans have portrayed the Democratic POV as amnesty or naive, as if they’re saying the earth has endless resources or that the US does. Or maybe that was implied by your comment. If you actually look at policy, team Dem and team Rep are not that far apart on this in the broad strokes (they both want to secure the border and enact comprehensive immigration reform) but both sides are just pretending they have very different goals for, I don’t know, entertainment purposes?
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@Jake Wagner
I agree with you as long as EVERYONE follows the law. Why is it that large farmers, IT companies and a certain Florida resort can hire illegal workers with impunity, no, with the approval of the legal system bought by wealth, while others have to wait for entry as American workers are fired to be replaced by H-1 visa holders? This is my problem with the US immigration code (full disclosure: I am the daughter of legal immigrants married to a naturalized American citizen).
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Beyond the fact that the whole point of this is to show how “tough” this President is on immigration: it is a fact that President Trump’s “policies” failed completely. The numbers at the southern border are way up. Another great example for reality colliding with ill advised rhetoric and incompetence. This administration did never come up with a concept to counter the main driving force behind illegal immigration: illegal employment. So now they have to “show” something and there is nothing easier then to go after those who actually take the legal approach to apply for asylum - instead of doing something against the root courses of this immigration issue.
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@Thorsten Fleiter
What has failed is the court system and the use of the judiciary to cripple enforcement of even existing laws with “stays” from the most irrelevant quarters. The ridiculous and ongoing litigation on behalf of people trying to get into the US who have crossed the border illegally is draining and diverts resources and time from resolving the actual issues.
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@Thorsten Fleiter
The ‘root cause’ of this ‘immigration’ issue is that one political party in this nation encourages and enables illegal immigration.
Sanctuary cities and sanctuary states provided by Democrats lure illegals who are then provided with nearly limitless public benefits.
Add in identity theft with the use of stolen Social Security numbers to the mix of criminality Democrats encourage.
E-verify is only so useful as it merely confirms that a SSN is valid. It could be yours or mine.
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@Thorsten Fleiter it was the failure to follow through on family separation that persuaded people to come. I guarantee you that if a few thousand illegal aliens were eliminated while trying to illegally cross our border that the caravans would stop.
3
The U.S. is a signatory to the 1967 Protocol on the status of refugees, a multilateral treaty. Is this another protection for the unfortunate of the earth that Trump is tearing up? Let's just return the Statue of Liberty to France.
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Legal immigration is encouraged. Trump has never been against legal immigration but Democrats want illegal immigration. I hope Democrats in Congress loudly and often proclaim their support of illegal immigration.
1
Another step on the current road to authoritarianism -- as the R's cheer. So what else is new?
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Seventy some percent of all asylum claims are rejected when they get to court. Our system is being gamed in a massive way by the traffickers who are by all accounts making so good money off system.
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And is the stable genius providing the judges needed to facilitate the process? He doesn't really want to solve anything; he thrives on the fake chaos of it all.
6
By now it's pretty clear. The left will simply claim any restrictions on entry are "inhumane".
This is why they are accused of being for "open borders" because if you resist everything that would close the border, you are, in effect, in pursuit of keeping them open.
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@AACNY
I disagree with your premise. The “left” is no more in favor of “open borders” than the “right” is in favor of separating and incarcerating children from their parents. The solution, if there is one, to this real immigration problem will only be achieved with presidential leadership and hard work toward bipartisan negotiated reform legislation. The current occupant of the White House wants none of that hard work. He much prefers dictats and golf.
Let Trump continue to focus on the border while the Democratic candidates focus on what Americans really want:
Economic Security
Affordable Health Care
Education
6
If an immigrant family reaches the U.S. asylum process they're asked to demonstrate that their fear is well founded. If they've fled gangs in Honduras, gangs of coyotes and drug men in Mexico then armed vigilantes in New Mexico they have demonstrated bravery in the face of fear. By the time they get to ICE they might be relieved to be in custody.
4
Fantastic news. Exactly why he was elected. So good to finally have a president that looks out for the American people. TRUMP 2020!
7
Taxing asylum seekers is a good thing. It is educational. It shows that it takes money to make money. It also teaches new comers that money is important and you need money to survive in America. And you don't want to depend on our social system to take care of you. You are on your own. Very educational. Let Trump do it.
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@Usok Most if not all asylum seekers find jobs during their wait for a hearing, and pay taxes on that income. Some of them, if you haven't heard, work for Trump's golf clubs and hotels. One of them who has been working for them for 8 years is currently waiting for deportation.
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@Usok Requiring a fee from ordinary prospective immigrants actually makes some sense. But, let's not make the mistake that Trumpettes make (either purposely or ignorantly) and conflate asylum seekers with ordinary immigrants. That's regardless of whether some asylum seekers actually want to be ordinary immigrants; legally, there is a difference. Someone could arrive out of desperate circumstances, fleeing for their lives with little beyond the clothes on their backs and looking for what would arguably be the safest country in the world (the USA) to rest for a while, hoping to go home again if things improve there. You want to charge them a fee to seek asylum?
Oh wait, I forget - people like you want everything to be transactional. It's all about the Benjamins. Okay, fine; but if they're destitute, do we throw them out until they're able to pay? No? Then we really haven't solved the border crisis generated by families arriving seeking asylum, have we? They still have to be processed, sheltered and fed, judged as real asylum recipients or not, then provided with a means by which to obtain the funds to pay your fee. And if they eventually apply for permanent immigration, that should be another fee.
You see, when one throws ideas out there, one has an intellectual obligation to think through ALL of the ramifications of that idea. But then, expecting most Trumpettes to be intellectually honest may be expecting too much.
26
@Usok. Ah, that rare pro-tax right-winger (as long as the tax is on people they don’t like).
37
President Trump is actually interested in correcting the abuses heaped on our country by illegal aliens crossing the southern border and claiming asylum. I really can not understand why the Democrats are trying to prevent Trump from stopping illegal aliens from crossing our southern border. Trump has exposed all the problems we are having because illegal aliens are refusing to obey our immigration laws and causing havoc and great division in or country as well as draining our treasury and changing the population mix in our country that will create a majority of people who will have originated illegally by simply crossing our southern border and then having lots of babies. Please, I know about VISA over stays. One problem at a time. At least with VISA overstays we know who the people are and can eventually track them down. Congress of both parties has been totally negligent when it comes to fixing the laws so we can correct the many areas in our current laws that lend themselves to abuse.
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@NYChap You write: "Congress of both parties has been totally negligent when it comes to fixing the laws so we can correct the many areas in our current laws that lend themselves to abuse." You are right, and the result of the negligence you mention is that Trump, a misguided missile if ever there were one, wreaks his ugly brand of havoc as he represents the people of the United States of America. He is not who we are.
19
@NYChap You're last comment are incorrect " Congress of both parties have been totally negligent...". President Obama formed a congressional committee, Rubio, Cruz, etc, to address immigration but the Republicans pulled out at the last minute because they thought it would be a win for Obama. They lost the election anyway Obama served a second term.
My point is this, it is up to President Trump to work with both parties in Congress not make policy himself and Steven Miller. Who wants to help when he keeps calling you names?
32
@NYChap First of all lets deal with the facts. You are wrong stating that people are illegal aliens when applying for asylum. They are complying with the US immigration law when doing so. Your statement that illegal aliens are causing havoc and great division in our country ignores the basic fact that our President by his behavior and rhetoric regarding immigration has used it to divide Americans play to their fears. He is the cause of the havoc and division. It is ironic considering Trump resorts has been known to hire illegal aliens. Also your statement that illegal aliens are a cost to our economy is wrong. First, to receive most public benefits under the social safety net, immigrants must be lawful permanent residents for at least five years so illegal aliens can't apply and receive benefits. Also it's estimated illegal aliens pay $11.6 billion in taxes annually.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/making-sense/4-myths-about-how-immigrants-affect-the-u-s-economy
Finally lets get to the nub of the problem when you express your fear that they will change our population mix in America. You are afraid of anyone that doesn't look like you and share your culture. You automatically assume because of this they are bad and inferior. Haven't you yet realized that skin color, culture or place of birth doesn't define the worth and character of someone. That there are good and bad people all over the world in all skin colors; there is no monopoly of either anywhere.
39
I have finally come to the conclusion that in spite of so much apparent opposition to Trump, he can pretty much do what he likes. Either I'm missing something when I read and see the news or the US is proof that in spite of the ideals of justice and free speech, a sufficiently brazen and immoral individual can get away with anything. I wonder if the Founding Fathers ever saw that coming.
29
@youcanneverdomerely1thing Trump is possibly seen as the "anti-Obama" and is able to, as a surrogate, express the possible racism his followers harbor.
And, there is no GOP politician willing to call Trump and Miller out for their blatant thumbing their noses as the Constitution and practicing their not quite so hidden racism.
@youcanneverdomerely1thing what the so-called Founders never foresaw was a spineless Congress reluctant/afraid to defy the tyrannical dolt in the White House!
If the Republican Senators were not so afraid of losing the support of Trumps White Nationalists and 'Joe-Six-packs' that reside in their respective districts, you would see them check his brazen tyranny.
Although maybe we are seeing the genuine character of these lame Senators. I seriously doubt they would stand-by and let Irish, Polish, German or French asylum seekers get treated like those Central and South Americans. But...that is the nature of jingoists.
More bad ideas from a desperate Trump, trying anything to salvage his ill-conceived immigration policies. How can anyone believe his exaggerations about the dangers of immigrants? How can anyone take him seriously as a leader? How can anyone believe his bizarre ideas that these immigrants will "take your job"? These policies are driven purely by his political strategy - preying on people's unfounded fears.
12
Stephen Miller (Trump's bizarre and draconioan young immigration czar) has suggested busing migrants from Central America to sanctuary cities (strongly Democratic cities) to relieve the "national emergency" at our border. How can more than a million Central-American asylum-seekers be treated within just one year? Honest migrants? Not just "Coyotes and Drug Cartels in total control of the Southern Border" (Mr. Trump's Tweet just now). Will Kevin McAleenan be any more effective than Trump's woefully inadequate Homeland Security Secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, in dealing with Trump's demented wrath against people of colour, Latinos, Hispanics -- foreigners from Central America -- at our gates? Is turning away immigrants, migrants, seekers of the American Dream, any way to run our Democracy?
3
Perhaps my understanding is incorrect, I thought that only governmental oppression due to you being a member of a group qualified for asylum. Not say poverty, gangs, corrupt police, abusive spouses, or other things. Almost nobody from these countries should be able to show this. Now that they are afraid for all those criteria above I understand, people in say Chicago are afraid of all those things, they get killed by gangs and somewhat the police.
9
Negativity increases in the world when souls who should know better besmirch goodness with acts that negate freedom of movement, freedom of welcome, freedom of open arms.
2
If all these people are now rushing the border.....
isnt the real problem down south in "Guatamala, HOnduras, and El Salvador?
Maybe I'm missing something here.....but the problem doesnt seem to really be Trump.
I suspect its actually some incredibly corrupt, perverse, brutal police tactics in use by the beautiful cultures of diverse people south of the border.
2
Trump's (actually, Stephen Miller's) cruelty has no measure, it's all out there, trying to 'punish' the precarious situation of asylum seekers...escaping violence at home,,,to encounter a similar violence in Trumpland. Is this 'torture' by any other name? No humanity, nor justice in this greedy world, where those with ample means become so miserable towards the least among us? Just look how bloated the military budget in times of relative peace, where there is always money for more weapons...but zero for humanitarian purpose? Are we this brittle that these awful Trumpian times have changed our psyche...that we think that punishing the victim is O.K.? And now, similar to the injustice of keeping in jail folks that can't pay bail, we are becoming 'coyotes' charging the poorest of the poor asylum seekers a fee to process their plea?
8
Another brilliant idea to appear tough. Stephen Miller was not elected. Congress was. Time for Congress to step up with immigration plans or Stephen Miller will be filling the void with more ridiculous edicts whispered like Iago in Trump's ears. Congress can decide to fund more judges, over ride a veto for a wall, take Trump to task for separation of families, continue to fund these Central American countries people flee. Where is the development of policy to stem the tide at the source of discontent? The knee jerk reaction to cut off funds to countries of origin of many asylum seeks is not a solution. Reality check - where are these seekers going to get their money for fees? What are they supposed to do while waiting for hearings? There never seems to be any thinking through of these Trumpian edicts.
I propose that Trump visit these countries producing the most asylum seekers and address the issues directly instead of hiding behind Stephen Miller. Give up Mar a Lago for a weekend or two to get out into the real world.
135
@Hypatia
Here's a glimpse of "the real world" for you: in the largest border state, California, the public schools have been so overwhelmed by the illegals' children that CA schools are now among the worst in the nation.
California's real poverty rate is now close to 33%, and rising.
Huge swaths of California's interior are indistinguishable from impoverished Mexico. Crime is rampant. Emergency rooms are closing, hospitals are swamped, municipalities are going bankrupt.
In effect, California is converging with Mexico.
Who asked for this?
When was this nightmare scenario presented to the people for a vote?
Why do progressives think that Americans - unlike Canadians or Frenchmen or Australians or Britons - are not allowed to have and enforce their own immigration laws?
9
Its not about illegal immigration. California is ranked 41st per student spending but the schools are rated 30th in achievement. We are doing more with less money. Prop 13 effectively froze property taxes. I have a friend who inherited her grandmothers house and pays a $100 bucks a year in property taxes. We pay over $8000. Prop 13 needs a serious overhaul so we can funnel more money into our school system.
10
@Hypatia
Think WormTongue, not Iago.
1
I am convinced he has done all this so he gets the photo opps he wants — so he can scare Americans of the throngs.
What he is done:
- eliminated asylum application in their own country — making people make the trek. (Only 10% of applicants then and now made it to next phase.)
- demanded people be detained on the Mexican side creating a jam at the border
- limited the number who could apply so the crowd size builds.
- divert money from judges so backlogs continue.
This is a man made disaster — and don’t be fooled, he is using it to whip the country into a frenzy.
21
@DIane Burley sorry but wrong! What you want is to shut down other countries and let ours become the country for all. We would be so overran that it would take merely a few years for us to be just like the countries they left. We do not have the resources to do this ma’am. Obama didn’t just eat them in he fought it also, until a republican took office all democratic leaders were aging the same as Trump. What changed? They became socialist that care nothing about Americans only votes. We help these people or try to while they are in their countries. Most don’t have immunizations, or the ability to support themselves when they get here, many are sick, many are in fact drug cartel runners or prostitution rings or just thugs, not all are Mexicans. We are opening the doors to tearing our country down to be the same as the country they left. Why don’t you and others go to their countries And fight for their rights and help them do better there instead of emptying their countries and overfilling ours. Makes no sense at all.
1
So often Trump's motivations seem to stem from his own behavior or past projected onto others. Is Trump still trying to escape his family's history?
Donald Trump's grandfather Friedrich Trump came to the US "amid a flood of German" immigrants, "likely illegally", to escape German military service. Certainly seeking asylum from German authorities by any other name. His illegal activities cost him his Bavarian citizenship and he was forced to return to the US.
And so proud of his German immigrant history Trump lied, and lied, and lied again about it making claims of being from Sweden with Scandinavian heritage.
I am not sure if self loathing is part of his motivation as it so often is for those who come out strongly against something hoping that others won't notice it is them but his loathing of immigrants seems particularly motivated.
https://www.history.com/news/donald-trump-father-mother-ancestry
12
Though an attempt to quicken the application processing time is comendable introduction of toughened criteria like fees etc. will promote illegal crossings.
3
If Congress won't act, the man has a pen & a phone.
Hmmm...where have we heard that before?
10
Trump immigration policy means dividing and punishing people. It has none of the generosity of spirit taught in all major religions. The restrictions are petty and intended to create a society for the select. There is no faith in the American dream. Trump policy makes us look cowardly and greedy as though we are afraid to open our hands to the needy. The specifics come in bits and pieces, but the over all policy is the same...”This is mine and you can’t have any of it unless I need you to do something for me.”
2
@lee113
No family is divided who accepts asylum offered in Mexico. They risk consequences when breaking our sovereign laws, however: we aren't, after all, kidnapping people!
5
@lee113wow. Trumps policies were the same as Obama’s, Bush’s, Clinton, etc. they all should be required to enter lawfully and be vetted for sickness, drugs, violence etc. not asking too much. Demo socialist are asking to little at our cost. We have enough homeless, and children separated from parents already here.fight for them!
3
I think it the New York Times should do some more in depth reporting on why these people are fleeing Central America, where they're coming from and how our failed foreign policies created this refugee situation.
The president, nor any politicians that signed off on those policies, will discuss that and I'll bet if you sat down and talked with some of these people you would get an earful about our culpability in this mess at our border. They know, but do most Americans?
15
@Bryan in a nutshell sir, the answer is socialism and self righteous governments who push their people down. Like the one our demo socialist want.
2
@Bryan Thanks for your comment. I'll forward it to our editors. You can find here some of our ongoing coverage that touches on why migrants decide to leave their home countries and risk trying to come to the United States:
-https://nyti.ms/2A5iEQ4
- https://nyti.ms/2Xa8tmo
- https://nyti.ms/2OCSzOl
- https://nyti.ms/2w4wGBE
- https://nyti.ms/2GYOi7v
- https://nyti.ms/2tkUGgm
I hope this helps. Thanks for reading.
6
@Aidan Gardiner The above comment and the response to it, implying active follow-up and providing historical examples for what's being suggested, is exactly the sort of interactive journalism that is possible with digital media. An engaged readership and a responsive press and editorial staff seems to me to be one of the best ways to promote democracy, especially at times like the present when democracy is threatened.
Allowing international asylum from domestic abuse and gang violence will not reduce those problems where they exist.
9
@Steve Bolger Maybe not, but they will save lives. Ever hear of something called the "Bible?" It's a socialist document, starting after Genesis and Exodus. The most Satanic spouting comes from those who never tire of calling themselves "fundamentalist Christians."
Asylum seekers are fleeing for their lives —fearing torture, rape or death in their home countries. Often they cannot afford to survive without assistance in the US. These people have come thousands of miles and leave in the most urgent of circumstances. Those who legally qualify for amnesty should not be required to pay a fee. As a group, they are very short on resources.
A study of 147 countries found that the vast majority did not charge a fee to apply for asylum according to a December 2017 report the the Law Library of Congress’ Global Legal Research Center.
Trump is a vile person with no ability to feel any compassion for those brown people who had to leave their homes due to the instability brought about by US corporate interference. This country should be working to help those economies but Trump decided the US should no longer provide aid. He is exacerbating the problem.
12
@Carol Ring, not a single Central American country has a homicide rate higher than in South Chicago (>100 per 100,000) or the other immigrant-heavy sections of large cities in the US. Moreover, the largest Central American gangs have no smaller presence in the US than in Central America. Where is the evidence that the entire population of these countries are threatened? Those asking for asylum were one a few percentage of immigrants, but now it is nearly all of them. Clearly this is a legal tactic for entry and has nothing to do with the actual situation on the ground. I am a lifetime Democrat but see the creation of these ideological myths as destructive to the party and our country's security.
6
@Carol Ring: and Trump's mother was an undocumented immigrant, I believe. His paternal grandparents came over here to avoid the Bavarian draft, tried to return, and were refused by the Bavarian government. The whole Trump family is a septic tick in our national gene pool.
1
@Carol Ring my president Trump is not vile. You are a little misinformed, the democrats also wanted a barrier and better vetting and searching practices until a republican got in office, they are the vile and petty ones. We can not become the countries they left just to let all in unvetted. Not all are being persecuted in their countries, not all are trying to get in for good, theirs or ours. We have no idea their motives because they want to sneak in unlawfully. Get it!
4
Many asylum seekers apparently pay ‘coyotes’ several thousand dollars to cross the border. Why not make crossing easier and charge them several thousand dollars? Get rid of these illegal middlemen and bring in revenue. Also, let them work. We need people to do jobs that most Americans won’t do.
6
Adding fees? Does Donald, as I call him in homage to "Nancy", imagine that he is the owner of Mar-A-merica?
Honestly, this is a mis en scene of his approach to everything, coddling the rich, powerful and dictatorial while imposing petty, cruel and entirely gratuitous punishment on the most vulnerable or most threatening to his narcissistic grandiosity and mendacious narratives in any way and in every situation.
8
Very good move. The moral hazard of defending the rights of women and children and asylum seekers to freely enter our country has only increased their numbers at our border. Not unlike how over 70,000 unaccompanied minors flooded our border in one year when Obama "signaled" it was acceptable.
12
Illegal crossings were a third what they are now when Obama was president. Maybe Trump’s “hard” policies don’t work? Just look at the numbers.
The autocrat now demands that a legal, red-tape wall be built. You can be sure that Nancy Pelosi will get right on it. Not!
As someone who works in an industry staffed by illegal immigrants, those who have taken time to learn English and have become my professional allies and also my closest windows to this world, do indeed confirm a behavior of charade. Word is out on how to fake your way into the U.S. system and has been for a long time.
12
@Brooklyn . With no offense to your industry, because this is a more general problem - the deeper issue in my mind is not illegal immigration. It's the ability to work without authorization so easily. If we had a functioning, mandatory system for work authorization verification, so employers knew they seriously risked jail time or high fines for hiring unauthorized workers, I think it would lead to a significant change in immigration patterns.
Unfortunately, many of the same politicians who complain about illegal immigration - including Trump - protect companies that hire unauthorized workers. We often hear imagery of "one world government" used to avoid setting up a proper national ID system.
4
Fees for asylum!?
How low can this country sink?
6
@The Falcon.. Hm. How about we charge them high fees to get into this country - and then we retire to where they came from?
1
Prosecute employers like The Trump organization that hire undocumented.
Problem solved.
13
Typical Trump: tax breaks for the 1% and tax the poorest of the poor. Right-wing "Christianity" at its finest!
7
Trump is working around the congress because both legislative branches have proven to be completely inept. Both parties have foolishly painted themselves in to a corner. The Republicans want the cheap, compliant labor force but can’t get past their racist base. The liberals want their cheap food and clothing but don’t what to treat the vulnerable unfairly.
Perhaps the turning point in all of this happened a long time ago, when Reagan and the conservative landowners broke Cesar Chavez’s attempt to organize the migrant farmhands. With more expensive labor comes more expensive food. Maybe then we would have realized the true cost of easy immigration.
40
@DMO
Nice spin but not true.
The floodgates opened after the 1986 Amnesty Bill that Reagan signed. Reagan later said that signing that legislation "was the stupidest thing I ever did."
There is only one policy option that makes sense, and it was articulated neatly in the mid-1990s by the great liberal African-American Congresswoman from Houston, Barbara Jordan: zero tolerance for illegal immigration.
14
@DMO
>Both parties have foolishly painted themselves in to a corner
Might that be because both parties are inherently foolish?
The US, my country, is going down the tubes, and that's because people elected to office are beholden, unable to extricate themselves from monied interest$.
What is best for the citizens at large?
Does anyone in government care any more?
I'd like to see some evidence.
5
@DMO Up until a few months ago, both houses were controlled by the GOP and had given Trump a free ride. Yes, I agree, Congress proved itself to be inept. Its a good thing we now have a Democratic controlled House in order to exercise congressional oversight on this wannabee autocrat.
8
Once again extreme, inhumane policies created by an unelected devious senior advisor (Miller) followed by an Acting Secretary of Homeland Security (McAleenen) to implement and administer programs that go against the very grain of America's principles. The POTUS is once again overtly circumventing Congress. Plain and simple we are moving towards a dictatorship. We talk about it. Please - Congress stop giving the POTUS the benefit of the doubt. Stop being afraid. He sees you fear him. That's why he can control you. Think about what's right, what you are there for. Think about your constituents. Be bold. Make policies. Implement and administer for the good of the people. This "policy" is wrong for asylum seekers and wrong for the country as a whole.
147
Sometimes the issue isn't the issue. Sometimes it's about the "Theater". None of this will probably happen either by the courts or the incompetence of the administration. They probably know it. These folks have enough trouble with an Easter Egg Role.
What it is about is the Theater that follows the end of the show when it all comes crashing down in flames. The confusion and failure with be the main course for the "Presidential Road Show to 2020" for the coming months. A national show about how poorly the the POTUS was treated and the serious immigration problem will never be solved because the Demoncrats want open borders, gangs and more drugs.
The evil genus of this plan is executive orders can launch it NOW and after it launches the result is assured on auto pilot. Total confusion and outrage. The nastier the results the better.
He couldn't build his wall and he couldn't change the law. The Mueller Investigation is nothing compared to where this abuse of power is headed. Real innocent persons are in the crosshairs.
Some of what the President does is just ordinary stupid this one is evil.
18
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to....pay a fee”?
17
@Patrick The most contemptible "American" is the one who enters through that "golden door" and attempts to slam it shut behind him.
The immigrants are the dry run for us.
Americans are next.
15
how cruel and heartless
5
How can anyone call themselves Christian and support this man and his minions? What side would Jesus be on?
25
@Ed MahalaH
Ever heard of separation of church and state?
6
@Ed Mahala: They would turn away Jesus if He appeared at the Southern border.
@Ed Mahala If Jesus exists, those conservatives who call themselves "Christians" will spend eternity on their stomachs on fiery embers, satisfying Satan's imps.
yeah: you can bribe school officials but if you are from central america and you seek asylum here no matter how much money you do or don't have you can't come here. classism for the rich. & hypocrisy.
6
May Trump Reap from his Sowing.
16
Note to all MS13 members wanting to get into the US. CASH. Don't leave home without it.
7
How many "Mothers with 3-children clinging to their skirts" are YOU willing to pay for -- because she can't pay for herself.
There are just so many tax-dollars to Do Everything. As more of these people are allowed into the USA the less money is spent on YOUR children's education and roads and bridges and weapons to fend off the Russians, Chinese and terrorists,
So....how many "immigrants" are YOU willing to pay for?
23
@EdwardKJellytoes It might be easier to believe that if there hadn't just been one of the biggest tax cuts in decades, so if public spending is going down it's more to do with the decision to cut revenue than the cost of dealing with asylum seekers.
11
@EdwardKJellytoes
We've already paid untold trillions to the Pentagon and CIA to create these refugees. I'm willing to switch priorities on how my taxes are spent to help them.
5
@EdwardKJellytoes
They want to work to pay their own way. Trump is blocking them from contributing by working, while simultaneously making it more likely they will have to flee their homes in Central America by loosening restrictions on gun exports.
Someone let one of your ancestors in,
Perhaps, unlike Trump, your ancestors, and current family pay taxes.
5
The slant of this report suggests that the current incoherent situation at the border is okay and that any attempt to control false claims for asylum would be cruel and inhuman. The Times position is knowingly dishonest and amounts to political posturing.
27
@jim kunstler
Opposition to Trump is at the bottom of all these articles criticizing the president for trying to control our border. The problem is that many Americans don't hate Trump enough to buy into their arguments. They know there is a problem, and they see who is trying to do something about it and who is obstructing those efforts
Bottom line: Most Americans support Trump's efforts to enforce a border, even if they don't support the man or his politics. You can hate Trump and still like some of what he does.
5
@jim kunstler I don't recall seeing the surname "Kunstler" on the Mayflower passenger list, or the passenger lists of the Winthrop fleet, or among the residents of Maine's 17th century coastal fishing settlements, or the Jamestown colony.
1
@jim kunstler
Setting up a system to charge entry fees is ridiculous.
1
The solution seems pretty obvious: process asylum claims at U.S. Embassies and Consulates and only at these designated locations, not at the border.
Rather than spending thousands on traffickers, the approved asylum applicants could buy a plane ticket for a few hundred bucks and would be able to legally work when they get here.
But The Dotard needs the approval of Congress to do this and the compromises would upset his base: thus, the nonsense currently happening at the border.
23
@Michigander. It's not safe for an asylum seeker to just walk up to our embassy. Anyway Trump would just want to charge an admission fee.
1
@Michigander wow I was thinking the same thing, the countries we do have Embassies, do exactly what you said, that would save these people a lot of walking and reduced the number arriving at out southern border. if they were to get approval then help them find the best way to America.
1
Simply put, were it not for the immigrant the USA would not have the increases in GDP necessary to keep our economy humming along. Dollar for dollar and pound for pound, you don’t get a better value. Why you would try to prevent that 18 months from an election can only have one answer: appealing to a deplorable base for votes.
18
The flood of refugees at the border only magnifies the failure of Trump’s immigration policy. Nevertheless, the flood works to his favor as he can use it to further stir up fear among his base supporters.
8
@Michael Tiscornia
You are right.
It appears that his policy IS to make the border situation worse in order to stir up his base
2
@Michael Tiscornia You have that right: All of Trump's supporters are base.
1
@Michael Tiscornia Exactly. He creates chaos, and then say "there is chaos. We have to do something!" Joe average Trump supporter just eats it up. Pathetic.
1
Trump wants to increase asylum seekers by changing the rules at the beginning of spring, knowing it will take 90 days of good weather to implement, giving seekers the reason they need to move now. He wants them to pile up, create a crisis and drive fear into the electorate
A real president who loves his country would work with sending countries to stem the flow.
A real leader would compromise with congress. Trump doesn’t even pretend to lead- only divide.
18
I find it worrying that the president is blatantly overriding congress and none of his supporters are concerned.
19
@james They were concerned when it appeared Obama was doing the same thing...
3
@james McConnell and friends seem to be OK with as well.
The reality seems to be that most asylum seekers have no basis to seek asylum but those seeking asylum know very well that their chances are better to disperse in the USA and never return back to their god forsaken, overpopulated, corrupt and dangerous countries. Question is should the US be the final destination for these kinds of asylum seekers or allow only those immigrants who bring scarce skills into the country and not bring burden to job seeking unskilled Americans.to the country.
The 2020 election should be a referendum on how this crisis on the Southern border should be resolved. With congress unable to reform the issue of migrant exodus into the USA, the president is forced to act and find solutions to the problems of failed Central American countries.
If voters disagree with how Trump is dealing with the crisis on the border overwhelming our abilities to process the applicants promptly, not separate families, feed them clothe them, shelter them and provide standard of care, medical care then by all means choose an alternative who articulates a viable solution to a mega humanitarian crisis pouring into our porous Southern border. As far as I see it Trump is doing everything possible and his very best under the current laws and congressional mandate to deal with the thousands of asylum seekers. His very best is not perfect and possibly not good enough for many but what else could he practically do to resolve the crisis. A well planned multi pronged approach?
15
@Girish Kotwal
Trump's advisers don't even want people with "scarce skills". They want to stop people from bringing their families over some day. What foreign born doctor or computer engineer wants to come to the USA and not ever bring their mom or dad?
4
@Girish Kotwal I disagree with almost all the points you raised but I will only address one. Of the many things Trump could do differently to help the situation (instead of exacerbate it,) would be to send aid to the Central American countries where the violence is so bad their citizens are needing to flee to save their and their children's lives. Instead he has pulled back the aid, presumably because those countries are not using the money in ways for which it was intended. But that premise is misleading and mostly untrue. He wants the crisis to continue in order to stir up his base. Now THAT truly is deplorable.
3
@Agnate from Canada. I take Trump at his word that he wants to henceforth recruit highly skilled college educated persons who could one day run high tech almost trillion dollar companies like Google and Microsoft. Whether they brought their mom and pop is a trivial issue. Canada, Australia and New Zealand has already been doing what Trump is proposing. None of these countries have a statue of liberty guarding their conscience. Who worries whether their mom and pop would be able to come to retire in America and benefit from the best health care in the world and by that I mean the private health care in America and medicare for all those above 65.
2
I see a political cartoon where Donald Trump and Stephen Miller are pictured as trolls on a bridge saying "None shall pass, without a bit of coin to line our pockets." to a group of refugees with empty pockets out turned and rifles aimed at their backs.
If asylum laws need to be changed as to who is eligible or enforced than that is one thing. There are many who would take front row seats gleefully hoping to see asylum seekers gunned down on the other side of fence after being turned away by the US.
But to turn the United States into an extortionist on par with the smugglers with a "Your money or your life" retort when many people escape with little more than the clothes on their back is reprehensible.
14
Americans welcome LEGAL immigrants, but do not want ILLEGAL immigrants. They recognize that the US cannot afford (or choose not) to support our own citizens: the poor, the ill, elderly, disabled, veterans, et al., and that they and other US taxpayers cannot possibly support the hundreds of millions of foreigners who would like to come here.
US laws allow foreigners to seek entry and citizenship. Those who do not follow these laws are in this country illegally and should be detained and deported; this is policy in other countries, too.
The cruelty lies not in limiting legal immigration, or detaining and deporting illegal immigrants, or forcing those who wish to enter the US to wait for processing. What is cruel, unethical and probably illegal is encouraging parents to bring their children on the dangerous trek to US borders and teaching the parents how to game the system to enter the US by falsely claiming asylum, persecution, etc. Indeed, many believe bringing children on such perilous journeys constitutes child abuse.
No other nation has open borders, nor should the US.
38
@Mon Ray
Unlike many other places in the world, we are fortunate to have friendly countries on our border (so far).
These are our neighbors.
They are suffering in large part _because_ they are our neighbors---too much gun running from unregulated sales in the US down to their countries, arming drug gangs supported by people in the US who buy the drugs they run up here
and, a history of our undermining democratically elected governments
https://www.sapiens.org/culture/guatemala-migrants-united-states/
Droughts
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/30/migrant-caravan-causes-climate-change-central-america
caused by our massive per capita fossil fuel use and land purchases by our conglomerates drive small farmers from their land in what otherwise could be a peaceful tropical paradise.
https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/farmers-struggle-for-land-in-guatemala/
But instead of trying to help our neighbors Trump uses their struggles to gain political points,
while welcoming people (mostly from China) who buy a visa with a $500K purchase of an apartment from the Kushners,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-a-beijing-ballroom-kushner-family-flogs-500000-investor-visa-to-wealthy-chinese/2017/05/06/cf711e53-eb49-4f9a-8dea-3cd836fcf287_story.html?
(or Norwegians).
4
@Mon Ray
Asylum seekers are NOT immigrants. All western countries have agreed to international accords on asylum seekers (developed by the U.S.).
5
@Mon Ray My roots in this country go back to the early 17th century, and I welcome them. If you don't agree with our welcoming traditions, consider returning to your ancestors' homeland.
2
One of the goals America aspires to is the spread of Democracy. Well, this is how it spreads: people who want to take part in it come to where it exists. We spread Democracy by including more and more people in it. Trump's presidency is getting in the way of America being that "shining city on a hill" Ronald Reagan talked about.
5
@Peter Trump has absolutely no interest in "spreading democracy" as his embrace of white nationalism demonstrates.
5
@Peter: This system isn't a democracy, it is a relic of liberty to enslave.
1
@Steve Bolger
Hmmm... perhaps MAGA should require an indentured slavery program for immigrants. Except for the ones from places like Norway, if you know what I mean. In America, compassion is a commodity that can be bought and sold like any other, and not everybody deserves it at the same price.
Emperor Trump is at it again. If this keeps up we won't have a Democracy left by the time he is overruled.
8
Asylum applications are filed with US-CIS or with the immigration courts. Where will the fees go? US-CIS is not budgeted but operates solely on fees . The immigration courts are under DOJ, which is funded by the federal budget.
An asylum applicant is not charged for the intial work permit, but is (presently) charged $410 for subsequent applications.
It is curious that these financing questions (and particularly that other US-CIS applicants are essentially funding the asylum program) have not received any attention.
8
A lot of posts express alarm at the prospect of 1 million asylum seekers being let in. Let's for the sake of argument assume that we actually did accept a million a year - that amounts to .003, or 1/3 of 1%, of the US population. Do people seriously believe that we are not capable of absorbing and handling that almost infinitesimal increase? Especially since the US population growth is currently at the lowest level since 1937, at .07%, due to low birthrates and higher number of deaths.
19
@Sarah But our sustainable population is in the low 200 millions, not the over 300. We need fewer people, especially those of low capabilities not more.
16
@Sarah: This whole crisis is rooted in the dilution of the value of human lives by sheer numbers.
2
Just a correction - my US Population growth should have been .7%.
'Credible fear' is the standard to apply for asylum. This is a low bar, and migrants are being coached what to say to meet this standard. The greatest driver of migration on our southern border is economic, not the traditional bases for asylum requests such as fear of harm based on religious, ethnic or political factors. Our immigration system is not designed to cope with the numbers of migrants requesting asylum and most migrants who meet the threshold for requesting asylum ultimately stay in country, legally or illegally. So what we have is a dysfunctional immigration system that is easily scammed and unable to cope with the vast numbers requesting asylum. Do we want to import half the populations from failed or failing nations? Is this result outside the realm of possibility? For an assessment of the nature and scope of the migrant crisis, read Thomas Friedman's recent column on the topic.
24
@fgros
We turn away over 89%of asylum seekers. Who are you trying to kid?
What's up with the Vantage Bank logo on the CBP watchtower?
8
@merchantofchaos I was thinking...what's with the Northface down jacket the woman in white is wearing?
4
With the exception of a few commentators here, is anyone....anyone....paying attention to the fact that DT is overriding Congress? Completely ignoring Congress? Not just this issue but defying subpeonas? And no one cares? No one is screaming at GOP legislators to do their job and defend the Constitution from this dictator? I bet if we'd replace the name Trump with Obama we would see a "mushroom cloud" over the GOP caucus. For God's sake, people. Will you please wake up?
239
@Ken Try screaming at Republican senators about "law" and "justice" and see where it gets you.
13
@Ken...Forget whether Barr ever testifies before Congress...likely McGahn will...and Mueller definitely will. When we see the Deutshe Banks records that should be revealing and with some luck..in time.. we may see his taxes. Even his supporters would be interested to see that !! If the GOP had not chosen to support his chaotic Administration..this would have been over with long ago !! Those who haven't awakened yet will likely never do so...sad but true !!
4
@Wherever Hugo, name one law that Congress is breaking right now.
6
the president took another step to reshape asylum law, which is determined by Congress....
Impeachment. The man is simply begging to be impeached at this point. He cannot usurp the power of Congress. But he is sure trying to. And Congress is letting him get away with it.
81
@Moehoward
Trump is merely doing what 50% of Democrats also condone, yet won't say for the sake of political correctness.
Trump knows exactly what he is doing. That is another reason why impeachment would fail miserably. Only the 20% on the extreme left are unwavering in their quest to impeach and that is just not enough. They also turn away all the moderates.
7
@Moehoward
The days of checks and balances by the US Congress are over!
The spineless Trumpets have won!!
3
@Moehoward Trump can usurp Congress because he IS.
"All of it has been aimed at reducing the number of people who can access the system as opposed to reducing the need for asylum by addressing root causes"
Having thought of this quote by Ms. Brane, two questions arose in my mind.
1. But America is already being bombarded by the sheer number of people who want to get their foots on the soil of the States because they know they can use its asylum law to make them disappear anywhere in that country once they step in the land.
So a reasonable third party would think that you should change this virtually open armed policy toward those illegal border trespassers First before your think about how to help those broken countries in the South on this refugee crisis.
Addressing the root causes is something that you should worry about later in that the severity of the current situation along the borderline is almost unbearable, sickening and threatening to the social stability.
2. Why majority politicians on the side of so called progressive persuasion on Democrats won't admit this simply fact and logic. Why did it take so long for Americans to see this simple fact of the urgency of law and order for social stability, nation-building and self preservation and wait until someone petulant like Trump came and savagely attack them, Democrats and "people with kind hearts" by using this obvious immigration fiasco.
Is it really because Democrats believe illegal aliens from the South will help them get elected?
22
It's only a crisis because we're artificially making it more difficult for people to come and work here. Then US is no where near capacity or resource restrained to the number of immigrants that we allow in our legal process. From an economic perspective immigrants are good for our economy and we need them to replace our aging work force. And I have 0 sympathy for anyone who says cultural disruption is something scary. Cultures change and grow over time. Different doesn't mean worse.
12
@fleetingthought
Why do Republicans allow the President to ignore the Constitution and why don't they care that Russia is controlling our elections? Is it really because that Russian interference will help them get elected?
4
@fleetingthought You know, busing them to Canada is probably next on Trump's list.
1
Love how the wealthy always think everybody has pockets full of cash to pay fees.
24
America, the Land of the Fee.
30
Trump will invariably find that he cannot " give orders " to Congress.
15
@scotto So far he's winning. Hate sells.
@scotto
I hope I live long enough to see that day
There is a huge labor shortage in the United States. The labor force could easily absorb 2 million workers. The Administration’s policies are counter productive.
40
There isn't any labor shortage. Just a plethora of people who don't want to work at certain menial jobs that don't offer a big salary. Let them run out of unemployment insurance and tighten welfare requirements and then they'll take those jobs.
17
@William EXACTLY! Not like these people are likely to work off the books, lowering salaries for low skilled workers and further resulting in more labor shortages.
8
@William There is??? For unskilled workers and small children? No we could get jobs for US citizens first, plenty on welfare.
13
Another attempt to change immigration policy without having to change the laws passed by Congress. Congress has failed to act for decades and this administration is too hyper partisan to even attempt a legislative fix. Asking Courts to resolve all cases within 180 days is shortsided
7
I was a volunteer at a food bank in Texas for 19 years. Until about 2005, a majority of our clients seeking food and 1 time rent help were illegal aliens (the economy started tanking then sending "real Americans" who never asked for anything to us for help). They were not criminals, they were poor hard working people seeking a better life for themselves and their children. They lived in the worst apartments and were regularly cheated out of pay by opportunist Texans. Nonetheless, I knew we would have to get hardhearted one day. It was a strain on the economies, schools, and healthcare systems of all the border states even when we wanted to help. It is possible the day has come to suspend Asylum as a reason to enter this country.
I am afraid that the asylum seekers are paying the money they have to opportunists in Mexico and central America who tell them all they have to do is get to the border and they will get in by seeking asylum whether they need asylum from political chaos or not. I do not think Asylum was established as a policy to cover any reason for coming. Otherwise, embassies in South America would not be jammed with people seeking legal visas to come here. I do not agree with the current administration on anything but I do believe we need to at least temporarily suspend current immigration policies and not admit any other asylum seekers in order not to put another child or adult in some kind of hellish holding facility.
56
@LSamson you are closer to the issue than I but we share the same thinking and you said it well. Thank you.
2
First, our asylum laws are to a large extent designed to carry out international treaties which we urged on others for obvious humanitarian reasons. The solution is to assist the countries they are fleeing to meet their countries needs and second to change our emigration laws so they meet our needs for workers. These people do not come for a hand out but a hand up. Those steps are the humane and less costly response to these problems.
@LSamson It is hardhearted to come here expecting Americans to provide food on your table and a roof over your head. The whole world wants a better life. That does not make us responsible for providing it for them.
2
Ignore him unless he has a) presented proposed legislation to Congress that is going up for a vote or b) there are proposed new regulations published in the Federal Register. It is NOT within the powers of DJT's office to simply make up laws on a whim.
33
Why isn't Trump cracking down on the thousands of wealthy Russian women who fly into Miami just in time to deliver their anchor babies? This is such a common phenomenon that there are deluxe travel packages marketed just for this purpose. It seems his crackdowns are selective.
208
@Mary Spross Because, by definition (ie children of wealthy parents), these 'anchor babies' will never be burdens on indigenous US taxpayers. In addition, their rich parents can be charged hefty fees to establish US residence. In addition to highly-skilled immigrants, this is precisely the type of 'high value add' immigration a sensible country should encourage.
11
@Mary Spross
How about Trump and his administration cracking down on the wealthy Chinese women who come to California and stay in maternity homes just so they can give birth in America? I don't see Trump concerned about that.
11
@Richard
And every one of these anchor babies can grow up and vote in U.S. electio ns.
7
Re below passage from the article: Don't forget that both the US born children of refugees and non US born refugee children are likely in their future to spend 40 years working and paying taxes so the money paid to them in benefits now comes back later in taxes, some of which will go to funding Social Security, Medicare, Defense, etc etc. Its not a free ride. In addition, a percentage of these children will end up in the military defending the USA and some will die in that pursuit.
"Asylum seekers are not eligible for benefits while their cases are being adjudicated, but their US-born children are, and the families I know in my community all comprise at least one working adult who makes low wages doing manual labor and supplements that hard-earned yet low income with public benefits for their US citizen children."
16
This is not entirely true. Many take jobs off the books where none of those taxes are collected.
12
@Norville T. Johnson
First of all, you don't really know this, it's just what you have heard...unless YOU are the one paying the workers off the books. And I KNOW plenty of American citizens who are also working "off the books".
Which brings me to ask why the business owners are NEVER held accountable for their illegal practices-like the Trump organization at MaraLago.
4
@Norville T. Johnson You do overlook the huge number that do pay those taxes but without real SSN are unable to get tax returns, so they mostly pay more than others in their income class just because of that.
If you really want to be effective, put those that hire illegals in prison, the company CEO and top board members go to jail, no excuse that it was handled at lower levels, they are RESPONSIBLE for their company and need to be aware of all going on in their plant. If they do not then they are not earning their high pay, and if they are intentionally hiring illegals then the business should be impounded and sold.
If you are going to operate businesses illegally we do not need you here, especially since you are the cause of the increased immigration with people knowing there WILL be jobs here when they get here because American Bosses always go the cheap route, even when illegal.
To corporations fines and fees for criminal activity is factored in like the taxes they avoid and safety regulations they say is in the works to pay for, and never get around to it.
The toll on human bodies and minds is terrible, so yeah, curb immigration, but do it by being severe to those who Hire illegals since they are the main problem, not the poor people who immigrated to find better and instead ended up enslaved to an illegal company.
3
As a landscape architect, the property maintenance staffs have been increasingly relying on undocumented workers and those on temporary work visas, especially Mexican. This year, local (Philadelphia) firms for the first time have been refusing new customers as they are unable to get the Spring to Fall temp workers that they now rely on. I attended a lunch of landscape contractors some years ago, and much of the conversation was about migrant workers, how to get more, and how to keep them in line. It's been a change. Undocumented workers to whom I have talked recently report earning half what those who are documented are earning. It's a form of slavery, and although I do not support the current adminstration's policy, it should be abolished.
33
@William Menke I can tell you firsthand, undocumented workers do not make half of what documented workers do. By definition, they make about 30% more (they don't pay taxes).
11
@William Menke
Shame on your profession. Why not hire permanent workers and you'll have enough people to work for you from Spring to Fall.
17
@Patrick
If they are "on the books" with fake s.s. numbers, they pay social security, but they can't take the money out. This has added more than ten billion dollars to the s.s. coffers over the last decade. If they aren't on the books, they aren't getting paid half what documented workers are.
5
If only 1 in 5 applications are ultimately accepted a better job of screening at the border needs to be implemented. When school starts each of those school age children will start being a burden on the local taxpayers.
19
Although political unrest is a source of much of the migration of people from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, no one seems to be paying attention to the fact than when the effects of climate change begin to manifest themselves in the poorer regions of the world the scale of mass migration to the USA (and Canada) from countries closer to the equator are going to make our current problems with migrants look like child's play.
And we nothing about the cause of either source.
15
@Bob Burns ....good grief. Climate Change? You were going in the right direction with locating the problem back in Central America.....then you hopped the track.
2
@Wherever Hugo
I don't know how old you are but I sure as heck won't be around for all the fun. If you are around, just remember that you read it here first. :)
This policy is cruel at best but not a deterrence.
14
@SridharC
why cruel. these persons have money to pay smugglers.
5
@Rhsmd1
Most of the asylum seekers just come on their own. You know, in "caravans".
1
@SridharC It is not cruel to refuse to allow all unskilled Latinos their alleged right of access to our job markets.
‘...the president took another step to reshape asylum law, which is determined by Congress, from the White House.’
Yet another example of the executive branch’s disregard for the legislative process. This president would be a king if we let him. If he wants to make actual changes to our country’s immigration laws he should be doing it with legislation that goes through Congress. His position is such that he either cannot or will not do that and instead will continue to rule by executive order and memos if he is allowed. Our country is being forever changed before our eyes.
420
@Lauren Really, it is not the "king" by the name of Trump but more likely the one named Miller. The memo was coherent.
45
@Lauren...Perhaps tyrant, dictator, absolute ruler, totalitarian, authoritarian, oppressor, but King, absolutely not.
25
@Lauren Edgar.....you could have been part of the solution ... if only you'd voted for Gary Johnson instead of being controlled thru Fear and voting for HIllary......now you're the problem not the solution.
It's time to intervene in South Americas politics. Let's create opportunity down there and force the governments to take care of their people.
14
@Concerned
Unfortunately we have interfered in the past in South America. We need to work with them in a proactive manner vs overthrowing governments as we have done in the past.
People wouldn’t be selling drugs if they could get a real education and a job to feed their families. They love their own country but fear for their lives.
We are creating new terrorists by our treatment of the immigrants. Children do not forget.
10
@Concerned
Let's flood them with latex and force birth control on everyone. The unbridled population explosion there is the one main driver of this "crisis" and the blame lies at the foot of the church for preaching that birth control is evil.
7
@Concerned
Let's simply take over Central America and throw all the corrupt politicians in jail. Make Central America part of the United States of America. Make them all citizens. I'm curious to know what percentage of the Central American population would be happy to see this happen. Of course, America with Trump as president is not that appealing, but I mean if they could be part of pre or post Trump America.
Report this correctly. Stephen Miller ordered this. Trump is not bright enough to think up a policy like this, but he is mean spirited enough to go with it.
403
@LFK: Trump took 'credit' for his 'sick' idea of sending asylum seekers to sanctuary cities but I'm sure it was Stephen's sick idea.
31
@LFK Steve Miller was on the right track when he sang...."I want to fly like an eagle....."
2
@sophia
The plan isn't supposed to work. It's supposed to fail (it clearly will). Trump can use it in his 2020 Road Show. It's "Wag the Dog".
11
Democrats are not demanding softer immigration laws or open borders (Democrats are not typically the ones offering undocumented workers a job). What Democrats are demanding is that a reasoned, competent, non-xenophobic, humanitarian response to the asylum seekers conforms to the law. What Democrats want is a requirement that all job seekers be subjected to E-Verify and that individuals and companies that hire undocumented workers be fined and their owners jailed. What Democrats are asking for is that the immigration system in the United States be modified to reflect the reality of 11 million undocumented living in the United States and to prevent further growth in this undocumented population.
Hard to do when the person at the head of the process is a mouth frothing xenophobe.
136
@Harry In California, a blue state with the country's highest number of illegal immigrants, it is illegal--by state law--to use e-verify for job seekers or those already employed.
It can only be used for someone offered a job but not yet hired and it's certainly not mandatory.
That's the kind of thing that undermines Democratic claims about border security.
22
@Talbot
Valid concern on one front (E-verify does seem to have merit as part of a solution so move to national E-verify standards?), but State's Rights on another front according to Republican position. Interesting dilemma.
Just one element of the complication that is immigration reform.
2
We're looking down the barrel of 1 million immigrants per year seeking asylum. How do we as a nation manage 1 million asylum seekers a year entering the US? The Democrats have no answer for it other than just let them in. The social and economic cost is staggering.
The Democrats got what they wanted by not enforcing immigration laws and now bemoan Trump for attempting to resolve the problem.
Western Europe has already turned off the immigration spigot. Greece is turning away refugee flotillas. France is reeling from the social unrest. Social Democracy in Europe is hemorrhaging from it and cutting services. The Democrats are taking their typical Marie Antoinette view of reality, the rest of us can just eat cake!!! New York is all in favor of being a sanctuary city but when called upon to except these asylum seekers cringe at the concept. Liberal vanity is clashing with economic reality and perhaps sanity will prevail.
57
As someone who lives in France and travels extensively throughout Europe I’d like to point out that everything you said about Europe is essentially incorrect. Also, unrest in France has nothing to do with immigration and everything to do with income inequality.
Additionally, when did Democrats. It enforce immigration law?
It’s important to understand the topics before you start talking.
17
@George Lets for the sake of argument imagine that all 1 million applicants for asylum were accepted - something that in itself would not happen, as the story points out - that would equal .003, or 1/3 of 1% of the current US population. Are you seriously suggesting we cannot sustain an increase that is that infinitesimally small?
3
But where are they going? Not evenly dispersed around the US, but concentrated in municipalities already overwhelmed providing services.
3
"The acting secretary.."
(How many are "acting" in this administration?)
Now that we know enough about the Russian assistance on his behalf and the resulting illegitimacy of his election, perhaps we should refer to him as the "acting president."
21
As much as I despise Donald Trump, he is right that the system is being abused on a massive scale. The vast majority of asylum cases are rejected by the courts.
As long as people have an excuse to cross the border without being deported, they will -- and that has created both an immigration crisis and a humanitarian one.
It's time to suspend the asylum program. Sadly, that will hurt those who really do have a valid reason to seek it, but history tells us that the moment there is an opening, economic immigrants will rush in to occupy it, as when President Obama's decision to protect the dreamers led to a flood of youthful migrants.
62
Protecting the dreamers did not lead to a flood of youthful migrants - that’s now how DACA works. And there are much better approaches to solving asylum problems than shutting down the system.
12
@Josh Hill
I am so relieved that amidst the echo chamber here a few brave souls are speaking truth. Keep it up. The rest will turn when they feel it is safe.
9
@Josh Hill You say that the "vast majority of asylum cases are rejected by the courts", however, 20% ARE accepted, which means that one in five people had a credible claim of fear for their lives. To me that is a huge percentage of claims being verified, and quite the opposite of the 'vast majority' being rejected. It would be like closing down a rape crises center because 'only' 20% of women had credible claims of rape or domestic violence. Seriously - you would deny the 20% that are accepted because of the ones who aren't? Where's your sense of compassion?
Leave it to trump to figure out a way to make a few dollars out of desperate people. He has a track record of doing that.
106
@RNS
Let's no forget the cheap and fatty fast food served to our top athletes during a White House visit.
Don the Con saves the WH budget to serve up decent food for dictators and more golf outings to FLA.
5
I am so sick of hearing what that man is doing!
76
Yes, it is disheartening to have to stay up on the latest cruelty and stupidity. However, I think he (really his handlers) are trying to normalize his actions so he can really move this country towards even more cruelty towards the poor and non-whites.
to me articles like this need to keep pointing to the fact that his wife and one of his prior wives are also immigrants. he has a hatred for all black and brown immigrants. well all black and people generally. this is not about immigration but about cruelty towards black and brown people because thats the point.
147
Big point of clarification. While they were immigrants they came to this country LEGALLY and followed a process. The same process that Indians, Chinese, Russians, etc are following by waiting in lines for years. So please give me a break with this kind of half baked arguments.
17
@Al
I don't think it's a half baked argument. It's a valid argument and this president is clearly racist by his repeated racist behavior. I would add to the list of people Trump and his administration hates is over half of the electorate who didn't vote for him, primarily democrats. Another group of people Trump and this administration hate and have no respect for are the middle class and poor people. Trump is the party of the mega rich and he disrespects anyone not in that category.
10
@Al
Please give me a break with this idea that waiting in line for years to get something isn't nearly equivalent to prohibition.
If all people are created equal and endowed with the right of liberty by their creator, then these people have the right to cross the border. A good government can regulate the crossing, if really necessary, to keep it orderly, but to introduce prohibitory delays is a denial of human rights.
Way back when ... the Native Americans first welcomed Europeans to their lands, before discovering that the newcomers wanted everything. In the meantime a few survivors are tolerated, living on "reservations". Now an ignorant and uncivilised President is trying to make the right of asylum into something which can be bought. The fact that he has a lot of supporters does not bode well for a country which the world once looked to for moral, not just economic, leadership.
54
Why wouldn't we welcome people fleeing violence? It has been an American tradition since the "New World" was discovered.
Asylum Pros:
1. It's the humane the thing to do.
2. It's the "Christian" thing to do (are you listening Mike Pence?)
3. We need the workers.
4. Immigrants have a track record of working very hard with a desire to become productive tax paying residents.
5. Immigrants commit less crimes per capita than American citizens.
6. We are all products of immigration.
Asylum Cons:
1. The seekers are different from "us".
2. We were here first. (we weren't)
3. They are "others".
4. They are perfect political tools to distract us from larger problems.
5. Every Trump tweet about immigrants and Muslims is not a tweet about investigations into his corruption.
6. Hating the "others" is easier than helping.
301
@Bob Bruce Anderson
Thank you for this. With every account of the awful and disgusting acts of Donald Trump, I lose hope for our country. I barely recognize these United States of America. It is so scary and sad.
50
@Bob Bruce Anderson
Because we cant take the whole world. It is a different time to the last century. There are billions more people in the world. Technology is replacing labor. There is climate change.
We have to circle the wagons and look after our own better first.
39
@Bob Bruce Anderson . This is mostly true, but in many cases we don't "need" the workers, employers simply don't want to raise wages to find employees who are already in the U.S. For example, look at the agriculture sector, where for years they have quietly added to the number of h2-A"guest workers" who are authorized to work, rather than looking to hire people at market wages.
12
I used to feel anger when I read articles about Trump's immigration policies. These days I feel shame.
87
Even though I do not like 'legislating by memo or executive order' I cannot blame Trump for his actions. I do however blame the Democrats for their overly compassionate and unwillingness style of immigration reform and border security.
48
@The SGM
Right. Let's not be "overly compassionate".
Let's go to church on Sundays & proclaim ourselves righteous & devout Christians, but by all means let's not be "overly compassionate".
100
@downeast60, great comment. Evangelicals have plenty of company in the people slamming asylum seekers. Religion is apparently a one day a week affair for trump supporters. No other explanation why treating people with hate and anger is endorsed.
15
@downeast60
Yes, the judgement gospel (Matthew 25:31-46)
Briefly it states:
" Come you are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, for I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.. Truly I tell you just as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it for me."
And Jesus continues, "You that are accursed depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil, for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did nopt welcome me."
It goes on.
How do conservative right wing people who call themselves Christian, Pence and others,
read this gospel and are able to sleep at night?
Pence and others who call themselves Christian, please reread this gospel and tell me how you answer to Jesus?
But you really don't need to answer as Jesus has already provided the answer.
13
Nearly all members of The Hague Convention on Refugees do not charge fees for asylum applications though the practice is not explicitly barred. An asylum seeker who can afford to pay a smuggler $4,000 for a trip through Mexico to the US border can also afford to pay a few hundred dollars to cover the costs of processing the application.
In the story, refugee advocate Michelle Brané defends giving work permits to asylum seekers by claiming that it helps them stay off benefits. Utterly untrue. Asylum seekers are not eligible for benefits while their cases are being adjudicated, but their US-born children are, and the families I know in my community all comprise at least one working adult who makes low wages doing manual labor and supplements that hard-earned yet low income with public benefits for their US citizen children. Eliminating eligibility for a work permit won’t have any impact on benefits. It is arguable how much it will deter migrants from entering illegally and asking for asylum as a means to avoid immediate deportation since it is very easy to work illegally with so many unscrupulous employers and lax enforcement of employment laws.
I do not understand why the Trump administration does not negotiate with Mexico and other countries in the region to come up with a legal, humane, viable solution to a regional problem, instead of more half-baked ideas that won’t work.
38
@Jan Allen
He doesn't negotiate for one reason: it will not get him votes. His "base" is angry and deranged. They want blood, not reasonable actions.
21
Creating an application fee isn’t only a direct barrier to the asylum seekers, but will also cause a major disruption to the many organizations, individual lawyers and law firms who have been dedicated to representing asylum seekers pro bono. Donating significant amounts of time is difficult enough... adding the hard cost of application fees may cause a financial barrier to being able to aid as many people as they currently do. As a result, even more immigrants fleeing terrible situations will find themselves unrepresented in a complex legal process.
16
Donald Trump does not understand how the United States Government works. He does not understand that the overall system is one of laws. He does not understand that, as President, he cannot dictate new laws or arbitrarily change existing ones. Donald Trump does not understand. Donald Trump does not know many things.
Congress, in consultation with the President, will have to modify the existing laws on immigration. Such changes cannot take place with Donald Trump as President. A clear definition of what circumstances are required for being granted asylum must be fully developed and communicated to the American public. Every US citizen must be aware of the requirements of the asylum system so the system can be fully supported by the public. The resources for handling the growing number of people seeking asylum must be authorized; these resources must include housing for families awaiting the asylum decision, immigration judges to hear the cases, lawyers for the people seeking asylum so no one is deprived of their rights, and support for the countries from which the asylum seekers are arriving in order to stem the flow.
Citizens of the United States cannot give jobs to undocumented workers and then expect to be able to control the number of people who show up at the border. Every business in the United States must be using E-Verify and every business hiring undocumented workers should be heavily fined. Stop the flow by stopping the law breaking occurring here in the US.
26
@Harry -“He does not understand that the overall system is one of laws. He does not understand that, as President, he cannot dictate new laws or arbitrarily change existing ones.”
See DACA.
17
@Harry Asylum is not immigration. Its Asylum, governed by Treaty.
15
@Harry
You do not understand that asylum seekers are legally entitled to work for themselves as day labor, or selling food from a cart, or reselling products on the internet, etc. Currently the rule is asylum seekers can get a work permit after being in the U.S. and having asylum pending 180 days.
Us against them, congratulations Mr. President your policies are working the public are myopic they only see tax dollars, jobseekers but they don't see the corporate lies, the tax act lies, the department of labor stealing the workers rights, the destruction of the safety nets, your economic lies and on and on. Yes, blame the hungry, the fearful, who needs American Values heck the 3 Reich would be proud. This is America now.
26
I’m no fan of Trump but I support closing this “asylum” charade. Peacefully, humanely and with respect...but with a firm “No you can’t come in. Here’s some food, water and medical care. You have to figure something else out on the other side of the border”.
104
@Alex Emerson. Good grief. We’re the richest nation in history. And, much of our foreign policy has fanned the flames of the instability of Southern and Central America.
76
@Alex Emerson
This is what happens when there is no actual knowledge about asylum seekers or the process by the general population. It's not a charade, asylum seekers have very few rights and are fleeing persecution which we, as a nation, are obligated by Human Rights convention to recognize. I'm not going to spend time educating someone who can't google, as I have a final in *immigration policy* to prepare for, but I'll leave this here:
1) asylum seeker does not mean recognition of refugee-hood, most are refused
2) we spend BILLIONS of dollars on 'securing' borders but not systems to streamline asylum requests (which would take a fraction of that cost). Focus on that instead of blaming people fleeing for their lives.
3) the conditions they face as asylum seekers waiting for 'determination' is horrific and barely covers those necessities. That's the point.
4) immigrants (illegal and otherwise) help our labor market and become part of the system. They don't leech. The only reason not to admit them is fabricated fear mongering (we can't handle the numbers!!) and racism.
47
Asylum charade? People are fleeing violence. The conditions they are fleeing are far worse than those that led many of our ancestors to this country.
13
A strong social safety net including income support for those who need it OR mass immigration. You have to choose. You can't have both.
36
This administration wants neither
7
Once again, Democrats are letting Trump dictate the narrative on this. And may lose in 2020 because of it.
The majority of Americans support some sort of humane but firm approach to this endless stream of migrants at the southern border, who need only claim “asylum” and have a child with them to get into the USA. Small wonder thousands arrive daily.
Democrats can bemoan the cruelty of what Trump is doing - but where is their alternative plan? 20 candidates for president and not a single clear and compelling policy proposal for this out of all of them. Criticizing Trump but not coming up with your own ideas and/or ignoring the problem in hopes it will go away is not what presidential leadership looks like.
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@Solaris what’s the Republicans alternative health care plan? 100,000 immigrants coming across our borders in one month is a serious problem and yes we need stricter regulations and border control. Charging a fee for asylum seekers is not the answer. Beefing up the immigration department to finalize the pending cases would be a step in the right direction and I agree with Trump on mandating the backlog be dealt with quickly but that takes manpower. Is he willing to add that manpower?
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@Solaris Spot on.
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@Solaris
Actually, Julián Castro is one of the 20 who actually DOES have a plan. Listen to his recent interview with David Remnick on the New Yorker radio podcast: his plan involves mandatory eVerify, more judges at the border to expedite asylum hearings, and treating people like human beings while NOT letting just anyone come in. Those who profit from cheap undocumented labor, of course, will fight this by calling it 'amnesty' or 'socialism' or whatever other facile pushbutton term they need to motivate low-information voters...
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I thought on this one, seeing headlines, and it touched me how we have changed. While I don't we think we (as a nation) would have gone in this direction without Mr.Trump making this effort, I think it goes against Christian values.
I say this, as America has historically been a refuge, proclaiming 'the Land of the Free, the Home of the Brave', but now there will be an admission price. Those without hope need not apply, if they are without funds enough.
Will we now move to evaluate those worthy based on their financial means. How many great Americans arrived penniless. As we have heard from the WH, there is a personal view of worth in viewing prospect for entry to our club. What a change from time honored Christian values, or any religion promoting help & health to the downtrodden.
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Face it. Life would have to be pretty bad if immigrants would rather choose a country led by Donald Trump.
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@MIMA. They don’t care who is President as long as they get their free stuff.
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@MIMA - i understand your point mima but just how many inner city and rural poor folk would be better off if the resources we applied to bogus asylum seekers was used to help elevate their lives?
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@Mon Ray
Where exactly is there evidence of asylum seekers getting "free stuff"? They are required to work and pay taxes on that income while waiting for a hearing. They are paying more in taxes than dozens of corporations, which now under the Trump Tax Cuts pay exactly 0% in corporate taxes (and get tax benefits as well). The only people I see getting "free stuff" are corporate CEOs.
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Many of these folks pay smugglers upwards of $5K to $10K for a scenic trip to the U.S. border. Why would an asylum fee be a problem? We know these folks are leaving countries that don't have a robust economic system, but please, as you say in this article, "
"More than 103,000 migrants crossed the southwestern border in March without authorization, an increase from the more than 76,000 who crossed in February..." Nobody can feel easy about this. We have laws that are being abused.
My worry is that none of the Democrats are coming up with realistic plans, only attacking Trump. That won't help them as most Americans want secure borders and LEGAL immigration. A million people in a year? Anyone would be disgusted that our laws mean so little. Further, why do you think wages have been depressed over the past two decades? Coinciding with huge illegal migration into the U.S. A multi-pronged approach is needed: asylum law reform, adopt the e-verify law, swifter deportations. a focus on catching and punishing smugglers and a big economic plan that helps Central America.
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@gmt
And a wall.
Methinks you forgot that one.
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@gmt awesome response!
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@gmt That, my friend, is why these illegal immigrants are not legit asylum seekers. They could afford paying thousand of dollars to pay human traffickers. They are opportunistic economic migrants.
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Another reason I loathe Donald Trump and his cabal. He sees desperate people as if they were locusts to be repelled. He makes a mockery of our national identity as a beacon drawing those 'yearning to breathe free.' Immigrants (including asylum seekers and refugees) have always been a significant part of the lifeblood of this nation. They are hard working, inventive, and family oriented. Contrary to right-wing propaganda, they have a lower crime rate than natural born citizens. They also tend to be younger. We need them for the future health of our nation.
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@Anne-Marie Hislop
I have never met an immigrant or undocumented worker that didn't work at least 50 hours per week, many worked more. Most I've met take less pay than they are worth and work jobs that few people would take for the pay being offered.
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@Anne-Marie Hislop
And yet, Trump himself hasn’t balked at hiring undocumented workers at a below-legal pay rate – until his practices were exposed. Hard to believe he would allow “animals” and “rapists” to work at his exclusive properties. By all accounts they were good, hard workers until they were recently fired for being undocumented.
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@Anne-Marie Hislop "We need them for the future health of our nation."
And Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico don't need them for the health of THEIR nations?
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I cannot think of anything more cruel than to kick literally helpless people in their time of need and desperation. If only the Statue of Liberty had been more than a backdrop to one of Trump’s condo marketing pieces, he might know what it meant for his family when they decided to leave their homeland.
There is a humanitarian crisis at the southern border. Donald Trump and we will be judged, by history if nothing else, by our actions now.
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The situation at the border is very complicated, while Trump lacks the intellectual capacity to understand anything but the simplest ideas. He therefore has no choice but to outsource his decision-making to smart people like Miller, whose cruelty and bigotry appeals to Trump’s reptilian mind.
This is our tragedy.
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@Charlie B The summer before the 2016 election I was discussing it with my sister. She liked Trump, when I explained my reasons he would be awful, she couldn't disagree, but then said "well, I think he'll delegate to smart people". My example of his already ousted Chairman Manafort disn't phase her. I'm an analyst and still think back to her agreeing with all my points, but then still felt she had to vote for him...and my thoughts about why she ultimately voted for him are not good, makes me sad. I hate that Trump has proven me right about his delegation. Miller is pure evil.
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@Charlie B
Is the situation really at the border "very complicated"? of course the situation is very severe and grave to the general stability of the american society. but i don't think this is something complicated to the degree that it needs sheer intelligence beyond the level of Trump.
America is already being bombarded by the sheer number of people who want to get their foots on the soil of the States because they know they can use its asylum law to make them disappear anywhere in that country once they step in the land.
So a reasonable third party would think that you should change this virtually open armed policy toward those illegal border trespassers First before your think about how to help those broken countries in the South on this refugee crisis.
Why majority politicians on the side of so called progressive persuasion on Democrats won't admit this simply fact and logic. Why did it take so long for Americans to see this simple fact of the urgency of law and order for social stability, nation-building and self preservation and wait until someone petulant like Trump came and savagely attack them, Democrats and "people with kind hearts" by using this obvious immigration fiasco.
Is it really because Democrats believe illegal aliens from the South will help them get elected?
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@fleetingthought It's International and Federal law to accept asylum seekers, at least give them a hearing and establish their claim for asylum. Calling them illegals and doubting their motives.making such assumptions about everyone is inhumane as well as un-American. We are all immigrants in this country.
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Trump's draconian mind signals to Central American authoritarians that it's OK to be draconian, which creates the conditions for families to need to flee.
Then Trump spins his corruption in terms of funds sent to Central American authoritarians so that the corrupt root of the problem in Central America will be paid for their admiration for Trumpism, which turns the Mexico-U.S. border into, in effect, concentration camps, because the fleeing refugees are literally concentrated in squalor at the border.
And the absurdity of this is amplified by the slow wheels of the justice system which can be weaponized by the imperial Executive to protect its "co-equal" power against a Democratic Congress and the merit of human rights, a stonewalling which the McConnell tribe welcomes, as does the arms industry (so treasured by the NRA) which gets to sell more weapons to Central America bought by funds provided by Trump?
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@George
Again the problem with crackpot ideas is they forget the U.S. is a democracy with the right to freely travel between the states. Asylum seekers are free to move anywhere unless detained. If you detain them you have to house, feed and take care of their medical needs, all at great expense.
Under the Flores case you cannot hold children for more than 20 days in detention. There are no approved spaces for families to be detained so they are being released.
There already is close to a million asylum seekers and out of status aliens in California. They are helping the economy. Go to a car wash, construction site, farm, slaughterhouse, restaurant, massage parlor, hotel and notice the alien work force...
@Gary E Davis, I'm all in favor of admitting them with 1 caveat, they must reside for the first 5 yrs in sunny California.
If you staunchly believe that admitting 1 million asylum seekers per year is a good idea, then let you and your fellow LaLa Land
brethren figure out how to bear the cost and integrate them into society, and by the way, there is a multiplier effect in play as well. You can count on their offspring needing assistance as well for the next 2 decades or more. No one is being heartless just realistic.
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@gary e. davis
This started back in 2014 and 2015, after Obama issued DACA.
Look it up.
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McAleenan would be very well advised to behave in a circumspect manner as acting secretary of DHS, where I also work in law enforcement. Trump will go at some point and then everyone he slimed, including those close to him in his cabinet, will have to answer for the laws they broke under his misrule.
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There are so many American citizens that need help including the homeless, the elderly, and those that cannot afford healthcare. Why are we taking on this problem when we already cannot care for our own? I’m with the President on this one...
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@Frank Nice try but Republicans are the cut taxes for the rich, cut spending on public services party. They don't care about poor Americans, never have.
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We are not taking on a problem. The problem is there already, and it is a crisis borne of instability in the region. These people are not coming here for convenience, they are fleeing violence and social upheaval in their own country. They are refugees, seeking asylum.
The question is, how will we react? Will we take in and give aid and comfort to people desperate for stability, or will we pretend that our own problems (the homeless!) are so large as to preclude a humanitarian response to a real crisis?
Trump found $1.5 Trillion dollars (actual number) of new spending for a corporate tax cut. Explain to me again why we can’t help humans fleeing violence?
History will not judge us kindly.
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@Sports Medicine Just wait until the tax cuts expire for you and me, but the rich and the corporations keep there’s.
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