Pols have to state this firmly: American immigration laws are made by Americans. They are not made by the citizens of other nations. If these people are not content in their own nations, let them demand change there. It is outrageous for pols to pander to these people and expect us to let them jump the immigration lines. Those who don't can expect to see Trump elected again.
34
I find the tone of this article offensive. Why begin by referring to people "caked with dirt"? Why go into detail about the illnesses that effect some of the migrants? The rhetoric of this piece , from the first line "It was never like this before" to the choice of details magnifies the xenophobic and alarmist rhetoric coming from the White House. Did these journalists not read the other recent NYT piece describing how many parts of the country are desperate to increase their labor force? Despite a few mitigating elements, overall this piece only acts as amplification of the hysteria that is already state policy.
The language is also more rhetorically overblown than I want in a daily paper "Gone are the days when young strong men..." (This line is objectionable in multiple ways---the contrast implied is to what, sick, weak women?)
21
No thinking person would suggest that there are simple answers to deal with the onslaught of families at our border with Mexico, and crazy stop-gap measures like Trump's wall will not solve anything.
The politicking and opportunistic pompous talk only delay the hard work of structuring a workable process to avoid what will become a humanitarian disaster if nothing is done.
Is there anyone out there who has the brains, experience and integrity to institute a framework that will secure our borders without punishing the families who need help now?
7
As much as I detest Trump and Miller, a Wall, forced separations, “binary choice” or whatever, something must be done about the current situation. Releasing perhaps 100,000 destitute Central American refugees per month into the countryside for several years while they wait adjudication of their “asylum claims” is unsustainable. I’m afraid that push has come to shove and that Trump will ride this to victory in 2020 unless the Democrats come up with some type of coherent strategy, the liberal wing of their base notwithstanding.
38
Good comprehensive report of the problem. Where are the articles on how to solve the problem. We need a plan!!!
6
What?...A crisis at our southern border....no,no, no. This can't be. The Democrats and the media have been telling us it is all contrived by Donald Trump.
Keep putting off immigration reform because it would give the Republicans a winning talking point, deny border and wall funding because it doesn't work and besides we are a country of immigrants, both legal and illegal ....right?
Thank you NY Times and to your many columnist and contributors.... what a mess.
23
The problem in moving forward id found in the outcry for a comprehensive immigration reform package. It is the elephant in the room that is not going away and is growing. We need to demand our Congressional Representatives break it up into the pieces it can be and knaw on them one at a time until they can be swallowed.
1) Amend our Asylum Laws.
2) Stop illegal entry with a wall or anything that works.
3) End chain migration and birthright citizenship. The 14th Amendment was for the children of the slaves brought here against their will.
4) Flush the DACA program. This is a conversation these kids need to have with their illegal parents.
5) Make Immigration selection based on economic value one will add to the whole.
6) Eliminate all racial profiling by our Executive branch that categorizes by race and ethnicity. End the Green Card Lottery offered to unrepresented countries
Etc, etc.
25
Reading articles like this make me want to cry. These poor people. And Trump is just making their lives worse by his inhumane, cruel, vicious policies. Isn't it interesting though that illegal immigration has increased so much since he took office where it had decreased previously. And his cutting off aid to these countries is unconscionable.....as is most of his policies and decisions. How did the USA wind up with such an evil president?
7
@DC We are not evil to tell them to go and make things better there.
27
It's called a "state of emergency," maybe you've heard of it.
22
Border between the U.S. and Canada is OK. But why is the border between the U.S. and Mexico not OK?
These immigrants come to the U.S. primarily to escape problems in their native countries (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) which includes a stagnant economy, high levels of crime, political corruption and widespread drug use. There is a legal way to request a green card to enter the U.S., however unlawful mobs entry is not allowed. Shame and disgrace of all these central American countries and their governments who fail to feed their people, to give them medical care, good housing, and jobs. These central American countries and their governments are the ones at fault.
Sorry that your country does not love you anymore. To find true love you need to find and walk on God’s Holy road which will one day open the gate to His Kingdom in Heaven. The road you are currently walking is man made and will only bring you tears and despair, darkness and regrets.
8
As a sovereign nation, Mexico has an obligation to protect its southern border from those who cross into their country illegally.
If someone crosses the U.S./Mexico border into Mexico illegally and is caught, the punishment is harsh.
It's a two-way street, not two one-way streets.
11:54A CDT, 4/11/19
15
Actually, I'd say that it has been failing for a long time. We've just been putting band-aids over the wounds and ignoring the pains. Mainly because a lot of people make a lot of money off of the failure.
8
This country has a history of “no more immigration “. The exclusion act of 1982, aimed at China- too many Chinese brought in to build our railroads- and the immigration act of 1924 aimed at Jews and southern Europeans . The current situation is a continuation of those policies.
1
It's ironic that all the white people that "invaded" this country were also seeking better lives. As a country built on the backs of immigrants of ALL ethnicities, it is ridiculous how broken the entire immigration system is. I wish the NYT would write an indepth article about the inner workings of INS. Do they even have a computer system that is of 21st century? Do they already use or plan to use anything other than paper to identify individuals? Unless we have a robust legal system, we can't deal with illegal immigration. Robust legal system must have clear and fair restrictions, such as not sponsoring elderly parents who then go on Medicare. It must be able to process people fairly and prevent gaming of the system.
7
If there was ever a time for both parties to cooperate this is it. Trump can blather on all he wants but it's up to Congress to address the issue. If they cannot there will be a backlash against them and all immigrants because of what Trump is saying about immigrants.
None of the people seeking asylum at the border are illegal immigrants when they make their request. They deserve to be taken seriously, treated like human beings, and to have their claims assessed. Unfortunately for most of them their claims will be denied. But that doesn't warrant treating them worse than cattle. People do not make dangerous treks with infants and young children for no reason.
Perhaps it's time for America to figure out a better way to stop this migration rather than making harsher and harsher policies. The refusal of most countries to take in the Jews before Hitler okayed their murder was because Hitler and the Nazis realized that no one cared.
If we care and we put money in the right places and in the right ways we can do far more to prevent this.
50
Actual honest reporting from the NYT. And yet neither party or their sycophants on Fox and CNN have any interest in fixing it. Building a Wall or saying, "I'm not for open borders but everyone should be granted asylum" are not policies.
7
In the summer of 2017, you printed an op-ed by Bret Stephens in which he argued that the USA needed to replace its population, i.e., HRC's "deplorables" with what Stephens described as "hardworking 3rd world immigrants." I guess all these people flooding into our nation, including not only those from Central and South America, but parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia, heard about Mr. Stephens' s op-ed and the various open borders proponents in the Democrat Party, along with most of the MSM, and decided that they would move to the USA, as Stephens had urged. If you want to blame someone, look in the mirror NY Times - you are more than guilty of causing this crisis.
13
I notice that the most popular comment here claims that the US cannot sustain an influx of 1 million poor Central American's per year. Really? - the US population is currently around 350 million people and seems to be growing about 3 million per year. That 3 million is primarily - perhaps totally - driven by immigration of all sorts. In other words, the asylum seekers are already accounted for.
We need all forms of immigration to replenish our workforce so there is someone to pay your Social Security benefits in the future, to work in long term care facilities, to work in agriculture, etc. etc. The answer is not to close the border but to increase the resources devoted to processing asylum applications.
3
@Fred Harder One hundred million plus people would like to come here. We don't need unskilled laborers who earn little and pay even less in taxes. If they are so valuable, surely their own home nations need them more?
18
Close the border, temporarily, to asylum seekers. System overwhelmed? Say no more. What about the migrants at the border? Mexico, with much fanfare and enthusiasm, signed on to the UN Global Compact on Migration. Time to see it go into action - any input from the key legislators of the GCM? Notably the Trump administration pulled out of the Compact,
Global Compact for Migration. ... The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) is an intergovernmentally negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, that describes itself as covering "all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner".
1
If these hundreds of thousands of people were to work together in their home countries, they would have an excellent chance of solving the problems they claim are driving them to the U.S.
Where would India be if Gandhi and his followers had simply left for some other country instead of fighting for freedom? Where would Ireland be if de Valera had emigrated to the U.S.?
When confronted by a severe problem, one can fight or run. The former may actually fix the problem; the latter will not.
16
Deport all illegal aliens ASAP! President Trump still Winning!
12
Hopefully I'm not misattributing this quote, but I believe Rich Lowry from the faux-conservative and hopefully soon to be defunct National Review stated something along the lines of, "If only fascists will secure the borders, then eventually that's who voters will elect."
Left-wing activists posing as judges have blocked Trump's attempts to shut the border down at every turn.
I would vote for a President willing to ignore the judiciary and congress at this point to get it done, even if his last name was literally Mussolini.
8
Perhaps Representative Omar's constituency would be overjoyed if she proposed an immigration reform instead of declaring war on Zionism.
7
Much of the funding sent south for 'law and order' is used to 'fight drugs'. That increases the profit -- and violence -- of the illegal market. Trying to cut off supply is counterproductive. We learned that in the 1920s when we arrested bootleggers. When we ended Prohibition the violence went almost to zero. Now we are re-learning the lesson.
2
They come because they think there is a good chance they will be able to stay. Democrats are only helping that viewpoint by opposing or challenging just about every get-tough policy there is.
Create 1000 new asylum magistrates, and authorize them to summarily reject claims that clearly have no basis. Since, as this article acknowledges, true asylum is actually quite limited - you need to be a member of a targeted group, not simply poor or a victim of gangs - that would take care of the vast majority. Eventually these countries will be full of enough people who spent their last penny and days or weeks getting to the US, only to be turned around within 48 hours, that they'll stop trying to come.
15
It's incredible to me that we discuss so many solutions to how to handle immigration responsibly, yet the hypocrisy of how the American economy relies on poorly paid immigrants is ignored. People come to the U.S because we are hiring. We hope to hire people who will accept low pay and long hours, who are not protected by labor laws, who cannot unionize, and cannot vote.
Until we get a grip on this, desperate people will continue to come to the U.S. despite all the dangers. If the economic system as it exists now is acceptable to you, stop whining about undocumented immigrants, stop wishing for a wall, pointing fingers every which way, and take a long look in the mirror. It might cause everyone to uncomfortably realize that undocumented immigrants, who sacrifice so much to be here, are the backbone of our economy as it exists today.
6
Dear Readers,
Finally the NYT publishes an article that fully explains the issues. We should look past our disdain for the President and instead consider the content of this article and conclude that:
1) he predicted a crisis and it has arrived, regardless of its form
2) he miss characterizes those who are coming, but it is still too many people all at once
3) those coming are intent on entering the US, legally or illegally, and variety of actions are needed to slow this down
4) being poor is not an acceptable asylum claim
5) the laws need to be changed
Be reasonable dear readers and accept the world is full of poverty and that while we have a large role, we cannot be responsible for the entire world all at once.
31
While I have sympathy for the desperately poor crossing our southern border the United States simply cannot handle the millions of poor who are intent on coming to the US. We are doing a dismal job of taking care of millions of our own desperately poor US citizens. This is a complex issue that once again our politicians have failed to address.
20
“We should help them.” Why? We’re the youngest nation in the hemisphere barring Canada and even Canadians are not lining up at the border. What’s wrong with these people that they can’t help themselves?
The civilizations of Central and South America were once among the greatest on Earth. What happened? What happened was tribalism, superstition, racism and classism. Or what didn’t happen? What didn’t happen was education, research, rule of law, democracy. All of these problems happened and continue to happen in other places too: Africa, India, China, Russia.
These problems are cultural. And because culture is inbred, if we admit too many asylum seekers, we risk changing our hard won culture: our culture of rule of law, education, equal rights, hard work, fairness. We literally fought and died for these things. So did the Europeans. Others need to help themselves.
29
92,000 migrants were admitted in the month of March, including thousands of unaccompanied minors. Another caravan is on its way here.
Someone is advertising throughout Central America that all these people will be accepted if they make it to the border. Is it Russia? Is it China? Who started this story? Photos of cute little children like the one in this article make people ask, "What's the big deal? We have lots of room for more immigrants." This is not the case. 92,000 per month will overwhelm our resources. We have our own populace of hungry families living on the streets, and charity begins at home. We have admitted enough for 2019. Stop admitting people and advertise the truth to would be migrants. Use some of the wall money for anti-migration information.
21
Our society, our nation, particularly with the current POTUS, but has always been the case, bumbles through issues. Issues fester into situations like this with knee jerks, talk/talk/talk, and while being humiliated by our inability to get our act together in a way which makes sense. As is so well said in the article the immigration issue has been decades in the making as has the social crisis in Central America which is at least in part caused by us. Daily slaughters with guns within our borders have become "normal". So many things kicked down the road by we the electorate and our Congressional representatives who look for direction from us while being ostracised for suggesting solutions.
2
But still there's no emergency, right? Congressional leaders should stop playing three blind mice and acknowledge reality.
20
The first safe country the migrants have reached is Mexico.
Therefore, any asylum claim in the US is without basis.
That is exactly how the EU is also handling asylum claims.
94
@Kara Ben Nemsi - If that is the case then the waves of Nigerian nationals travelling to the US on visitor visas and heading up to the Canadian border should be claiming asylum in the US. The US should be safe enough for them.
7
My fellow Democrats need to confront an ugly fact of life: They need to get tougher on immigration or Trump will ride this crisis to another four years. We cannot take in 1 million desperately poor Central Americans a year. It is unsustainable and, if left unchecked, will produce a reactionary backlash dwarfing that of 2016.
985
@Christopher Hoffman
Nice try, but it too late for Democrats. their message is still open borders, high taxes, and free stuff for everyone who doesn't want to work. Should I mention single payer healthcare which is another reason to let the government run our lives. Good luck with that. What smart people will want to be doctors who are told what they can make by Uncle Sam?
115
@Christopher Hoffman
It’ll produce worse than a reactionary backlash.
It will produce vigilantism, and ultimately war.
43
@Duane Mathias
Not only that Duane, but when you cut Doctors salaries as would be required under plans such as Sanders, you pretty much eliminate the chance of EVER paying off the hundreds of thousands of dollars you must shell out to become a Doc in the first place. As it is even now, General Practicioners can barely make it between school debt, limits on income from insurance complanies and mal-practice insurance. "Medicare for All" would absolutely decimate our health care system there is no doubt.
46
The Trump administration wants the border to look as chaotic as possible so that voters get scared and vote for extreme measures.
Why fix a problem that drives the fearful to the polls?
61
@Deirdre Congress should authorize Trump to deploy the military. This is tantamount to an invasion.
10
What do you propose the military do?
2
@Deirdre I see you live far removed from the border and its issues. The NYT and other media is lying to you about a lack of crisis. Yes there is a real problem along the border. We need to secure illegal crossings, and process people through the proper channels. As a country we have a right to restrict the inflow of people. People on the right aren't against immigrants, we are against illegal immigration. The media tries to spin it the other way round.
Illegal immigration costs this country greatly at the local level. Extra resources are spent to house, educate and provide assistance. Plus BILLIONS of dollars are removed from our economy and sent overseas never to be used here. Mexico loves it because it makes up a decent percentage of their GDP. Our system isn't broken, its just slow, and should be that way. A country without borders will not survive.
7
Egged on by the pro-open-borders crowd,
hundreds of thousands of so-called "asylum" seekers are swamping the border by abusing gaping loopholes in the loosey-goosey asylum law.
Congress can -- and ought to --
change the law to close the loopholes
and increase funds for border control,
including increasing funds for detention beds
for the "asylum" seekers and their families
pending resolution of their "claims".
And if Dems in Congress want to obstruct that,
they better get ready to take it into the 2020 elections.
15
Perhaps the Times editors are finally - tentatively, hesitantly - beginning to embrace the view held by a majority of Americans of all races and backgrounds: illegal immigration is intolerable.
Granted, this article includes the perfunctory sneers at Trump, but these are - finally - embedded within the main narrative that we all see clearly:
- foolish court decisions such as Flores and the recent ridiculous Ninth Circuit decision have inhibited any administration from pursuing a rational policy toward illegal immigrant families (and non-families with others' children)
- most of the illegals are economic migrants who are encouraged to come by avaricious, sinister human traffickers
- the system is indeed, as Trump correctly describes it, collapsing under the weight of the above causes.
Now that the Times writers have made the first step - advancing from denial and mindless, reflexive Trump-bashing - can we hope to see them move up to clear analysis of illegal immigration's consequences?
Will the Times editors dispatch writers to cover ...
the school districts in the border states that have seen their achievement levels collapse over the last two decades due to a tidal wave of illegals' children?
the ERs that have closed and the hospitals that are overwhelmed by the illegals?
the thousands of young, unskilled African-American and other native-born workers in cities such as Oakland who cannot find work at a livable wage due to competition with illegals?
One can hope.
21
The Dems have control of the House. Where are the proposals to address the visible immigration crisis at the Southern border? Why isn't Pelosi offering solutions instead of simply offering resistance to any ideas Trump proposes. Trump offered amnesty to 1.8 million Dreamers (double what most Democrats claimed are in the country) in exchange for border wall funding several months ago. They declined and resisted. So, what is their solution? To continue to let our borders be flooded by people who want to enter our country by any means? Do you let anyone and everyone enter your home without verifying who they are, or what their intentions are? It's the perfect analogy. America is our home. If you wish to come in, do so in the proper way. Who are you, why are you here, and what are your intentions. That seems like a common sense question. Trump did not create the so-called humanitarian crisis at our border. He's merely trying to address it while protecting our sovereignty as a nation.
Is there anyone who truly believes we should just open the flood gates and let anyone and everyone in without vetting?
25
@Purity of
Not just the cynical "Emerging Democratic Majority" pseudo-progressives.
Also the Koch Brothers and the GOP's open-borders libertarian nuts.
5
When people are destitute/desperate they become criminals--sometimes petty. They steal bread, go to jail. Jail can be a better life--if they get fed. (See Dickens.)
Trump's clever strategy is to prevent them from going to jail--maybe they will just die. The dead don't protest--unless they die en masse in refugee camps and rot.
But Trump thinks mainly/only about what's good good for Trumps--a lifetime--even a term of office (his problems might escalate after).
A long run--sustainable--solution is to promote civilization in Central America.
The situation seems much like Africa and EU. Some ask if Africa wasn't better off as a series of colonies--the European colonial powers invested in/maintained infrastructure for a largely hunter/gatherer/peasant agricultural economy--with little or no central authority for planning to regulate the macro-economy.
Political independence has pre-reqs--otherwise the mere "freedom from" doesn't enable political thriving; it's just chaos and/or thugocracy.
"Freedom-from a colonial power" was celebrated as "democracy" rule of the indigenous people--but without Rule of law.
The goal of NAFTA--was a (somewhat) capitalist form of foreign aid. With a little law/order/prosperity, Central Americans might actually prefer to stay home.
The US and Canada are not "full"; but the rate of immigration must protect the established order. It's one thing to teach civility to immigrants; quite another for them to teach incivility to us.
6
"The immigration system is broken." Apparently we like it that way & have for a long time. My son didn't ask for asylum to bring his wife and infant daughter with him when he returned from Honduras. He paid fees, filed papers, waited 14 months. He was in the USA and they lived in Honduras, dealing with the unrest after the Honduran election during that time on a daily basis. During that time he also had to deal with "our broken immigration system"-ie the National Visa Processing Center, which gave him erroneous instructions, delaying his petition. He received help from his congressman. Just having someone check into the status seems to jump start the "ok we received your petition now you have to wait about 8 months for us to even look at it" process. It only took 4 months for them to look at it.
Now they are here & everyone says "Great, & THEY CAME THE LEGAL WAY.." but have no interest in how flawed, uneven, & complicated the "legal" way is. When waiting, he grew despondent & attempted to enlist the support of advocates for immigration. Instead, he got a lecture about his "privilege" & was told he did not understand the plight of migrants. His response was that his "privilege" did not protect his wife and daughter (BTW his child is a US citizen) from frequent unrest, & he had lived 3 years among poor families in a violent area.
We are a nation of DESCENDANTS of immigrants, slaves, natives, & colonizers - with an active mythology of a "nation of immigrants." We don't care.
7
@Mac,
your story shows that the Nation of Immigrants does not seem to care about a functional immigration system. If a driver's license took the same effort as a green card, the nation would be up in arms.
3
@Mac We don't care because what? We don't let every single Honduran here? These are men. Let them fight at home and be done with it. You know. Like my grandfather.
2
No matter from what perspective you look, it’s an emergency.
6
The issue I see popping up all the time is companies hiring illegal immigrants. Take away that incentive and instead create a system for them legally hire these migrants would help out a lot. The migrants will be here legally, paying taxes, contributing to our economy and since they are here legally, companies can't threaten them with deportation.
Yes, that would the price of food and such will go up if we are to pay them a living wage.
But the truth is, our economy is dying. Americans aren't having enough children to fill that gap. We need people here to prop our economy back up.
Make an incentive for migrants to move to less populated parts of the US. We still need farmers, we still need mechanics, we still need skilled laborers.
Let's stop demonizing each other and work together instead.
6
The USA can not take anymore. We can't take care of are own.
Much less all the illegals. Ect! Are medical system is over run. Are welfare system is over run and going broke. Are school system is a mess. Tell them to go home. Make there country great. The US can't do it anymore. It's on the way to becoming
a third world country. Time for the US to take care of the US first!
13
So the question, what if there is a major catastrophe, how will Trump handle it? I do not consider the southern border a major catastrophe to the well being of America. Sound thinking and application of resources could help mitigate the system overload. Trump’s methodology unfortunately is to blame immigrants (drug dealers, etc.), blame Democrats, blame the people he hired, and so on. He does not know how to solve problems, only to lash out. It really is scary.
3
@SLF
You live in Mass. Are your borders being flooded by 10s of thousands of unknown persons from foreign countries? Obama has even stated recently that there is a crisis at the border. Why not use your voice to demand your Dems leaders propose a solution to address the situation instead of simply resisting anything and everything Trump proposes?
14
@TheRealJR60 - Poor people in Massachusetts compete with illegal immigrants all the time.
The problem in this state is that the upper middle class white suburbs where illegals work are not the same locations where they live. Illegal immigrants live in cities like the one where I am from which are blue collar and far removed from the bubble in which the employers of illegals live.
I grew up in a sanctuary city and went to public schools and I can attest that having non-English speaking students living in poverty does in fact take away resources from other students.
It's easy to have the "right" kinds of opinions like SLF does when your reality isn't negatively impacted by issues like illegal immigration.
For my part, I was raised as a Democrat but I no longer recognize the party and I am happy to be a registered Independent. I will never trust a Democrat on this issue.
4
Good. Shut it down. We are full. Nothing else will fit in. Close the tank lid and drive on. Simple as that.
13
Mr. Trump, having been surrounded in his business by daddy's money, family members and toadies, has been used to just saying things and they get done. He has never had to develop problem solving or implementation skills. At the border, he is face to face with his own deficiencies; an intolerable situation for an extreme narcissist. Had his behavior been more normal, he might have been able to attract and hire competent problem solvers to tackle this enormous immigration and social challenge. Unfortunately for all involved, his administration carries hundreds of vacancies. Even though he he said this week that he is running immigration now that the DHS secretary was canned, he is finding out that "he alone" cannot do it.
4
Germany welcomed over half a million Syrian migrants escaping a civil war. The U.S. can certainly welcome that many migrants escaping the violence in Central America. The difference is the leadership: Germany is led by a humanist, the U.S. is led by an opportunist. He's whipping up people's worst us versus them nature to get the cheers that make him happy.
2
@salgal,
in the meantime more than 300,000 thousand of these migrants have found employment.
2
@salgal,
in the meantime 300,000 have found jobs.
1
What fixed (or greatly reduced) the humanitarian crisis of people drowning in the Mediterranean while fleeing Syria, Afghanistan, sub-Saharan Africa, etc? Europe closing its borders and placing limits on number of refugees it could absorb, while making provision for excess refugees or later arrivals (and not by releasing them to embed themselves in immigrant ghettos) There was a large last minute surge, of course, but now there are many fewer attempting the crossings. The crisis was managed not by Europe first solving the problems of war, poverty, etc in the originating countries, or paying penance for past colonialism, but by presenting a more or less unified front and response to the issue, in defense of their countries, cultures and economies. Those immigrants refused entry doubtless suffered, but when the "easy solution" of throwing themselves on Europe's charity was gone, the migration crisis abated.
20
We have coddled and encouraged this mass migration for years giving them their own television shows their own language their own drivers license their own social security. WHY would they not show up in the thousands. The failure lies squarely with businesses and politicians. Who have cozied up to each other trying to compete with the Chinese juggernaut. Trump is both wrong and right about his wall. As this world heats up and nations close to the equator become uninhabitable, expect more, not less of the migration northward. Those who think that there is plenty of room for all of South Americans to move here are delusional and dangerous. We the people will struggle with those who are already here.
17
Democrats and NYT/WAPO have spent years trying to convince Americans who want to seem intelligent among their peers that those who want to stop the crisis at the border are racists. They make a trend out of demonizing their fellow Americans, and the ICE border agents who are trying to do their best to manage an unmanageable situation, taking every instance where they fall short as proof that they should be further defunded. Democrats in Congress refuse to to find border security or aid in the processing of illegal immigrants.
“Illegal is dehumanizing, immigrants are people too, opposing illegal immigration means you hate brown people, people can’t be illegal, talking about the numbers of immigrants coming across means you’re a xenophobe”
What’s really immoral is conspiring to stymie funding at all costs for thousands upon thousands of sick people at our border. What’s really immoral is incentivizing further illegal immigration, or preventing real border solutions long enough for new waves to come up feeling like it’s their last chance.
You don’t get any moral brownie points, or woke points for abandoning all responsibility and spending every ounce of you energy demonizing those who work to do something about it. YOU ONLY GET TO CRITICIZE IF YOU'RE WILLING TO HELP.
26
These people are not stupid, they know if they can get released into the interior there are areas of the country that will embrace them and treat them as if they are valued citizens. They do not require a larger welcome mat than that.
9
I met a traveler from what was once the New World
Who said: "A torch and arm of metal protrude from the sea.
Sunk beneath the surface, a gentle visage lies, whose face, and serene lips, welcome all who gaze upon them.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning to breath free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Look upon my works, everyone, and love and honor me for my virtue.
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level seas stretch far away.
4
The New Colossus and Ozymandias - totally brilliant!
1
@jammer It's a poem. It's not an invite for all unskilled people to have seven kids and move here.
2
If the US is able to set up local processing facilities for asylum seekers from Bhutan, Myanmar and Laos, why not in Central America?
10
The anger of average Americans regarding this tsunami of illegal immigrants continues to be stoked every day, and not just, as Madow and Colbert tell us, by Trump. Just one example is the vote by the majority democrats on the NY State Higher Education Committee. They voted to bottle up a bi-partisan bill that would have given free college tuition to children of NY State military members killed in action. The estimated cost of this measure was in the few hundreds of thousands. Yet just a week prior the same democrats passed a budget with $27 million dollars in college tuition aid for illegal immigrants. Talk about throwing gas on a fire.
33
I recently heard two lectures by two different PhDs speaking of migrations/immigrations into Europe that strongly resemble what's happening on the southern border. It doesn't seem to be uniquely a U.S. problem. And Pres. Trump didn't say the U.S. is full --- he said the system for processing immigrants is saturated and needs overhaul. The NYT story today seems to validate that claim.
13
People should not be enabled to do illegally what they cannot do legally. Failed countries can ask for and have received aid from us, but are responsible for their own policies and their effect on their burgeoning populations.
Forget who is at fault. We've been talking about this problem for fifty years. Close the border - temporarily - if that's the only way we can get a handle on the problem. Allow in and out only those who are legally entitled to cross.
What we have done so far has not worked. Don't continue those policies that have only resulted in contempt for our laws and national sovereignty. ANY course of action to stop this insanity is better than the status quo.
90
@Chevy
Presenting yourself at the border and applying for asylum after your husband has been killed and you continue to get death threats is completely legal.
What is illegal is what Trump is doing.
14
@Lynn there is nothing illegal about what the President has done.
"In 1972, in Kleindienst v. Mandel, the Supreme Court held that when the executive branch makes a decision to exclude an alien “on the basis of a facially legitimate and bona fide reason,” courts may “neither look behind the exercise of that discretion, nor test it by balancing its justification against the constitutional interests of citizens the visa denial might implicate.” The court reiterated this conclusion just two years ago in Kerry v. Din."
As evidenced, you are wrong. The President has statutory authority to limit immigration at his or her discretion, regardless of political affiliation. Fact.
18
@Guy Montag
"on the basis of a facially legitimate and bona fide reason,”"
i.e. not to pander to his base for his re-election
As the article makes clear, everything Trump has done has made the situation at the border much worse.
5
Immigration has been a problem for decades, but the people we elect to represent us and our best interests dawdle, argue, disagree, and refuse to enter into a dialogue to fix the problem.
Contrast that with New Zealand. It took a few days over a month - a MONTH - for that government to ban assault rifles after the recent shooting there.
I want my government to be as efficient as New Zealand's. Is that too much to ask for?
7
what can i do to help these brave people? i don't have a much but i will give whatever i have to support their right to live where they wish, to build a better life for their families and for whatever reason they have for coming to the states.
3
Many people commenting here don't seem to grasp that the lack of a wall is not the problem, it is the laws that forbid turning immigrants back. Rather than ask Democrats to cooperate in passing bipartisan solutions Trump just insists on the wall. A few years ago there was bipartisan cooperation, but the 2013 bill was not allowed to come to a vote and Republicans have preferred to use the issuer in a partisan way rather than actually address problems.
4
@skeptonomist
The Dems have done everything they can to prevent any changes to immigration laws.
As long as Trump is president they will not allow any improvements.
"Resist!" - No way to run a government.
8
Loathe Trump. Appalled by family separations, it is impossible not to have empathy for the people crossing the border. But virtually every NYT article makes it clearer that this is about “a better life” - not asylum. A Marshall plan for centra aamerica-sure. A FULL ON CAMPAIGN to stop the traffikers propaganda encouraging migration. But accept everyone who shows up-NO. We democrats must get smarter, as we are perceived as “open borders”;(which no developed nation has) we will lose 2020 and beyond. DEMS: we must support rational immigration laws and stem this nonsense at the border.
12
Cutting off aid to the three countries in question is not just short-sighted, it is a completely stupid thing to do. The "president" is making it up as he goes along, and with each outburst, he makes the relevant situation worse, not better. I cannot wait for January 2021, when someone else will raise his or her hand for the oath of office.
3
Why wouldn't there be a "wall" of people coming north? They have been told that there are people in the US that will give them their food; cloth them; give free medical care; and pay them to do nothing. Who are these people? Why, it's the Democrats of course and all these people have to do is vote for them when they arrive.
People, wake up. These Socialists in the Democratic Party are making this Country a third world country!
15
@BobsOpinion @BobsOpinion Absolutely nobody has promised them those things, except maybe fatuous Republican propagandists. Trump OWNS this failure. He’s been president for 2 years now. The border crossers have utterly ignored his phony tough talk and called his bluff because they know he’s too weak to actually get anything done.
2
Trump has been president for well over 2 years now, and his golf clubs are still employing illegal workers. They are finally getting around to purging them due to the bad optics, nothing else. His policies to address the border crisis have failed utterly, and he has ZERO credibility on this issue as he’s encouraged illegal immigration by employing illegal workers for years.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/us/trump-workers-fired.amp.html
1
Mr. Warren Buffet, how about donating some Clayton Homes to the effort to temporarily house these poor disenfranchised asylum & better-safer-life seekers? Your manufactured housing company has made a lot of false promises to lower income people; here's a way to burn off some bad karma.
3
Now all ears turn to the 20 or so Democratic nominees. Is it me or has it been entirely meely mouthed nonsense coming from all of them? Democrats need to wake up and realize, this issue alone is enough to sink them in 2020.
8
Responsibility for this influx is hugely the fault of Democrat politicians who are actively supporting the concept of open borders. The media do not help matters any with their weekly (sometimes daily) immigration sob stories.
I cannot stand Trump: He is a bully and also somewhat mentally defective. But he will probably win election again in 2020, mainly due to this one issue of immigration.
The news media should stop giving such a huge public platform to extremist views that do not represent the feelings of most voters. These stories give a very warped impression of what most Americans want. This will be proven in 2020 when the Republicans take the Presidency again.
14
A strange paradox about America is that though whole American history and its national identity has been defined and shaped by the successive waves of immigrants yet the major part of its modern day partisan politics has been exhausted by its constant struggle to fix the immigration issue only which represents a great disconnect between its history and politics too.
3
I really doubt that this will ever happen. The GOP at its heart has always favored open borders. Why? Cheap labor. They have acted publicly as if in favor of tighter immigration laws while maneuvering so they can blame reform’s failure on the democrats.
9
@Gordon McBride
"They have acted publicly as if in favor of tighter immigration laws while maneuvering so they can blame reform’s failure on the democrats."
Thank you, Mr. McBride. This is exactly what the Republicans and Trump are doing. They want cheap labor from people too afraid to demand their basic rights.
Trump won the presidency on a single issue – illegal immigration.
And he’s winning on it again. After 18 consecutive months with 100 – 200,000 illegal border crossings per month, Trump won’t only win in 2020, he’ll win with near historic margins. And the funny thing is that he’ll do it with record support from Hispanics.
Climate change. Judicial appointments. Tax policy. Health care.
Democrats are going to throw it all away to protect illegal aliens?
Worse yet, Democrats are throwing it away in support of the Koch Brothers and Chamber of Commerce Republicans who use low wage immigration to break the bargaining power of American workers.
23
@John
In a word, no.
Not even close.
DJT lost the popular vote, won only enough states needed for an electoral college victory and only got that after bipartisan unanimous agreement that putin interfered in our election.
Most know that DJT made illegal immigration a big part of his “campaign” but what the majority of Americans know that did not vote for him is that he is without question, incapable of fixing it.
The only difference is that now the whole world will get to see his incompetence unfold in real time trying.
He is over two years into his term most of which included full control of the WH and both chambers of Congress.
DJT owns this. Period.
And it’s only getting worse and he has no one- no one!- to blame but himself.
(Hey maybe that policy wonk jared can drop what he is doing on Middle East peace and help out. Just a thought.)
1
I am a great admirer of, and work closely with, the Hispanic community in my county. BUT we simply have to get a handle on this issue. Obama had a plan: deport millions of illegals but at the same time strike a deal for the dreamers. Of course we were, and are, incapable of reaching any bi-partisan solution when there is political hay to be made. For those who don't see a problem with streams of aspiring Americans pouring across the border, I ask this question: Do you want to win a national election any time in the next 50 years? Trump is just the beginning. Ethnic turmoil is the raw material from which dictators are made. Wise up.
11
Sure we have a problem, any well informed reader knows that. So what is the point of stating the obvious? And then illustrating how Trump has exacerbated the problem? This article reads like a summary of recent history, that's all. What's missing is the sordid underbelly no one talks about: 1. that Americans and Washington really do not care about the problem, which is why nothing changes and
2. why the business community is simultaneously clamoring for more guest workers. And how that system is rife with corruption and so full of abuses because, with current staff, its impossible to adequately oversee it.
3
Yes, the system is a mess and getting worse. Unfortunately, Trump's approach and policies (if one can call them that) are making things worse. Decreasing aid to those 3 countries was exactly the wrong thing to do. Trump, though, is constitutionally incapable of taking responsibility for anything. So he blames and lashes out. His supporters simply want all those supposedly dangerous dark skinned, non-English speaking people kept out.
Trump's promise of a "big, beautiful wall" sounded great to his base. Keep out the "hordes" of "criminals," keep "our" country what it should be. They were delusional to believe both that he could do that and that it would do what they thought it would do. Instead their buy is creating a bigger and bigger mess. Thousands of desperate people are suffering at the hands of the United States. Trump's base, like Trump, will blame everyone and anyone except their savior.
2
Even the liberal press is now recognizing it's more than a humanitarian issue it appears to be truly a National Emergency. How we then handle this Nation's needs in a humanitarian manner? A worldwide , by nation, commitment, to specific numeric acceptance of qualified immigrants, with priority to children and mother's), would be a good start. Having a "pool" of available immigration sites will prevent any destination to be chosen and not overburden any individual nation. The US may have a higher financial burden in getting refugees to alternate destinations, but it will be less than an ineffective "wall".
1
@Carey None of these people are qualified. They don't have the job skills or education we need. Many of their jobs could be done by automation.
1
The real crisis is that the traffickers are afraid they’re going to go out of business so they are hyping the rhetoric to get as many people to ante-up, as possible. Capitalism at its best.
7
So, there was *no* collusion and there *is* a border crisis. Whodda thunk it?
13
If 12-20 million people weren't already here, illegally, mostly for economic reasons, there wouldn't be nearly so much push-back against this current wave.
The Congress, over time, is mostly to blame for this, because they've done sod all over several decades.
Recently, President Trump has not helped the situation by demonizing mostly desperate people, but the Times reporting, in my opinion, has been equally destructive by characterizing the President's claims as fantasy until this very news story.
Our visa and immigrating laws -- some of which reflect attitudes dating back to at least 1951 -- need to be entirely rewritten, now.
These laws also need to recognize that bringing in millions of people who will need government assistance for at least a generation must be balanced out by bring in many more university educated and English-speaking from places like India and China who can contribute tax revenues shortly after they arrive (and, frankly, raise average academic achievement almost everywhere their kids attend school).
If this is not done, soon, then the left-wing reporters and pundits now ensconced at the Times will find themselves having to explain to those now of college age why, all of the sudden, they will be retiring at age 75 instead of age 70.
14
Whats changed is that some fool made a big show out of immigration.
So they are rushing to get in before his big beautiful wall gets built in thirty of fourty years time.
Obama. Migration down. Deportations up.
trump. Migration up. System in collapse.
trump is the problem.
trump had the power.
trump did nothing but reject deal after deal.
trump is the problem.
5
Donald Trump's recent complaint about the immigration system is that he wants to "get rid" of immigration judges who hear migrants' cases. When the system needs more judges, Trump wants to get rid of existing judges.
Yet another example of Trump creating chaos out of order and then blaming anyone but himself for the problems that arise.
Trump's comment that America "is full" was idiotic. Perhaps he should more fully explain to Americans, assuming America is full to over-flowing with people, that citizens should have fewer children? The question I regularly ponder is if Trump has serious mental disorders (in addition to narcissistic personality disorder) or is he merely highly uneducated? When he seems unable to read words on a teleprompter, failing to grasp their meaning as well as their pronunciation, it points to him being poorly educated.
With either explanation, Trump is a national embarrassment. His removal in the 2020 election cannot come soon enough.
4
Its irresponsible for Americans to continue insisting there is no crisis at the border. How could you read this article and have any doubt? This has been a decades-long failure of Washington politicians from both parties. I can’t believe that the same country that helped save Europe from a ruthless dictator in WW II and then helped rebuild Europe after that war, is unable (or unwilling) to resolve our crisis at the southern border of America. This is a failure of presidents, senators and representatives to work together to find real and lasting solutions. It’s shameful.
22
What came first, the chicken or the egg? We have a broken political system which has led to a broken immigration system.
I am so, so tired of how polarized our country and our congress have become. How easy it is for our current president to lie. It is maddening.
4
Americans confide themselves into a meta langage .
They conduct a self satisfactory narrative logic that is only meant to speak to their own inherent interest.
2
The suggestion that both sides have tried and failed is ridiculous. Republicans blocked all immigration reform attempts during the Obama administration. And since Trump took office, they have actively engaged in making the problem worse.
4
We have allowed millions of economic refugees scamper across our Southern border to live and work in the US. They have virtually prohibited African Americans from entering the building trades. No way can an 18 year-old high school drop our compete with a 35 year old father of 3 who has years of experience in laboring and general construction and who is willing to do back breaking work for $24/hour without benefits, health insurance or protection of US labor laws.
Who has allowed these racist policies to persist? I blame the political leaders of California who not allow the undocumented to work while African Americans languish on welfare and prohibit ICE from interrogating criminals leaving prisons to verify that they actually have a right to be here.
If we were to deport the 12 million undocumented workers in the US, the average pay would sky rocket. Oh our cost of living might go up a bit but the quality of life for people at the lower ranges of our pay scales would sky rocket.
I'm all for immigration but it needs to managed and the true asylum seekers from Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria... need to be given some preferences. the US has destroyed the lives for so many people in the Middle East and we need to be helping them over some economic refugees wanting to flee their miserable circumstances. And by the way we should stop deporting the Chinese and Indian PhD engineers and scientists who could make a real contribution to our society...
21
@Rex
@Rex
A thoughtful perspective.
Yes, the waves of low wage immigration has a negative impact on the current low wage workers who are not only African American, but also Hispanic.
This happened in the Pittsburgh steel industry in the 1800’s. When steelworkers asked for higher wages, they were replaced by a fresh wave of low-wage immigrants. Irish, followed by Italians, followed by Eastern Europeans, etc.
7
Dealing with immigrants is a basic function of government. But government is "bad" and taxes are the worst, aren't they?
So, in a climate of trying to choke off the government of funds required to exist (except for the military), nothing is left to deal with the problem at the border, except to send the military and suggest that the military should be rougher with the immigrants.
Smart, isn't it?
1
The problem would be solved overnight if Democrats and ‘progressives’ signed up in a yet to be created national sponsorship registry for migrants and illegal immigrants.
Each Dem and ‘progressive’ registrant would agree to sponsor a migrant, migrant family, or illegal immigrant for a minimum of five years. Responsibilities would include a basic income, medical care, language lessons if needed, shelter, and education.
11
@EGD That will ONLY happen if every Republican who is "pro-life" would agree to sponsor every baby born as a result of Roe v. Wade being overturned. Each Republican and "pro-lifer" would agree to sponsor one or more of these children for the rest of their lives. Responsibilities would feeding, sheltering, clothing, educating and ensuring that the child has healthcare coverage until they're emancipated.
1
Reality on the ground is, shockingly, moving me to support Trump's case for a wall. These immigrants who are taking advantage of American generosity are hardening hearts. It's all very sad.
12
Build the "wall" -- i.e. increase physical barriers
and add equipment,
and increase CBP staffing.
Make it easier -- not more difficult --
for CBP to control the borders.
Pressure Congress to change the asylum laws,
so that asylum seekers from third countries
trying to cross from Mexico do not have a right to make an asylum claim here, and instead must make the claim in Mexico.
Judges will slap it down?
Nonsense.
Judges are not going to slap down laws made by Congress on immigration --
nor changes made by Congress to those laws.
And if a few obstreperous lower court judges try to do so,
the Supreme Court will slap them down.
It's one thing for judges to find that the President did not follow laws made by Congress.
It's quite another thing for judges to go against the Congress itself -- if and when Congress finally acts.
Congress will not act because Dems will obstruct??
Let Dems take their obstruction into the 2020 elections.
Business and trade??
Business needs to put its support behind border control,
not undermine it.
Mexico?
They can do whatever they want inside Mexico,
including stopping the flows of Central Americans.
The choice is Mexico's.
As are the consequences.
Southward flows??
Mexico is not going to retaliate by impeding southward flows.
The only people wanting to cross southward are American retirees spending pensions in Mexico on the cheap,
and Mexicans themselves living here who want to visit "home".
They will just have to wait in line or wait it out.
9
We helped Turkey and Jordan to set up camps for millions of refugees from Syria. If we wanted to do it, we could set up camps to house these people. We just have no actually made the effort.
4
Wherever you stand politically on the current immigration crisis, our failure to enforce current immigration laws and our political failure to legislate a modern policy yields extreme cynicism. Every law and policy has winner and losers. If the losers are able to successfully veto enforcement of the law by publicly claiming injustice, then why obey any laws especially when one can make a compelling argument on why the law imposes an undue burden on those who choose to ignore it? Instead, hire a social media consultant to make your case. Why not run stop lights? Why obey the speed limit? Why not bribe you child's way into an Ivy? Why not cheat on your income taxes? We have many laws in place to ensure a functioning, civil society. If after the hard work of legislating, one group chooses to ignore some laws for political purposes, another group may choose to ignore others and our Society will decay into lawlessness, or, perhaps worse, the arbitrary enforcement of politically correct laws.
8
Trump 2020.
I won’t vote for him, but everyone better get prepared for another four years. The Democrats will have no one but themselves to blame for their focus on injustice to non-citizens at the expense of the American working class. Illegal immigration is going to be his golden ticket back into office unless the Democrats do a 180. Quickly.
17
C'mon America, we can fix this. We can find ways to regulate immigration that are fair and humane. Maybe it will be hard to do it now, with Trump' in the White House making his counterproductive threats and ranting, but if we put our minds to it we will find ways to make this work. And possibly Congress can manage it even with him there.
This is too important to get mired in politics and opportunism. We will bring shame on our country if we allow this chaos to go on. Look into the eyes of these children. They need our help.
2
Look at all of the lovely faces of the children escaping who knows what horrors. These are children, the little ones the far right love to love while in utero, but not so much once they are born and need what every child needs; love, shelter, food, and more importantly, protection from harm. Why is this not important for conservatives when it comes to "these" innocent children?
1
@bea durand And you fell for the scam - they're counting on you not being able to look beyond the big brown eyes of the children and see the big problems the illegal immigrants cause.
9
@bea durand Look at all the able bodied men who won't defend them. Birth control and abortion are largely illegal in these places. Why on earth is Catholic church that encourages such behavior not being fined?
1
Get used to it. Climate change will displace populations, creating economic migrants within and between countries at an increasing scale.
4
There is no heart in current executive leadership, no wisdom. Totally inept. Inability to step up with basic human, caring values. Lacking authentic WILL to step up. Lacking in vision and genuine empathy. Wrought with hatred and bitterness. Inability to look beyond ones' own nose and personal interest. Inability to see deeply into the our shared common humanity. These photographs of young parents with children, this is so large. The vision needs to be large. And we don't have the needed ability at the top. This heart aches. Time to write congressional representatives and pray there is new leadership in 2020.
1
Both sides of the isle are to be blamed for this disaster. As we all know by now, Trump is the demagogic NY real estate mogul that is incapable of deeper introspection and effective diplomacy. He has used his strong arm ways to try and force Mexico into stemming the tide of humanity which has utterly failed. Why is it that UN refugee camps where these people can be processed and placed can spring up in Africa like flowers after the rain but that solution has not been considered in Mexico? Because diplomacy is dead with this administration, Department of State is gutted. The POTUS cannot think past raw emotion vented through Twitter.
When Obama was in office and the Republicans were trying to destroy Obama Care, he said multiple times during live speeches, that he was open to another framework, but the Repubs had(and still have) nothing but 'NO'. The Dems are in the same boat with immigration. NO TO THE WALL! Ok, well give us a PLAN then. Obstructing the other side means nothing without your own vision.
I fear what is to come as the political polarization continues, and it WILL continue, until a total reckoning is upon us.
3
@CJ Maybe there are no refugee camps in Mexico because Mexico doesn't recognize these people as "refugees". What good does it do anyone to stockpile humanity in a refugee camp with no way out?
3
Build a clear, simple, open, strict, points rules based and non-porous system that allows folks in legally. AKA the 'metaphoric' wall. Problem solved.
4
Twice as many people were apprehended crossing the border each month back in the 1990’s, and the border patrol was much smaller, so why is there “a crisis”?
Apparently, it’s because today’s crossers are more law abiding! They’re coming to legal entry points (San Ysidro, California, Hidalgo, Texas, etc.) for asylum. In the past, they crossed anywhere they could and were stopped only when unsuccessful.
Now, because migrants are coming to legal entry points, there is a backlog. Is this a real crisis when a) every nation has some undocumented immigrants b) the numbers were far higher in the past c) deportation levels are high--around 800 people a day and d) illegal immigration was historically low priority because of mutual benefit (inexpensive labor for the US; money for the non-US)?
Imagine a mayor declaring zero tolerance for jay walking, and police going crazy trying to ensure that no citizen ever dashes across the middle of a street. Is it worth it? Does a nation really need zero illegal crossers? Studies say that the expense is a wash; a nation gains as much economically as it loses—which is why, historically, there was a live and let live attitude.
When the right distracted citizens from the real reasons for U.S. economic woes (outsourcing, urbanization, computerization, etc.) by blaming it on illegal immigration, then people like Trump made it a priority. Frankly, I’d rather we spent money on foreign aid & climate change mitigation so people can choose to stay home.
3
Sorry, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. Global warming will have such a negative impact all over the world that there will be massive, massive movements of people from places that will become no longer inhabitable.
You can see it happening everywhere already. The huge migrations to Europe are just the beginnings of the inevitable chaos and conflict this will cause. Extreme violence will reign as huge numbers of people fight for land that presently strains to support those that are already there.
And it’s probably already too late to effectively do anything about it.
The time to have started with serious actions to reduce carbon would have been when President Carter was laughed at for warning us about it.
Well, the jokes on us. We have a supposed “leader” who cares about nothing but himself and global warming doesn’t play well with his ignorant base.
I’m glad I’m in my 70’s and my daughters are in their 50’s. We will probably miss the worst of it. But I fear greatly for my grandchildren. Humans are on their way out.
4
The system is “broken” because of mismanagement and absurdly complex laws resulting in huge backlogs of people needing “processing”. A million people in a year is a drop in the bucket - would anyone say there was a crisis if a town of 350 had 1 person sneak in per year to become part of the local economy?
People have emotional reactions to these stories and imagine hordes of poor Central American folks coming in to steal a piece of a finite pie in the form of “handouts” while good white Americans are starving or underemployed. In reality, economies are complex systems that grow as you provide more inputs. The pie grows as these people come in and earn and spend money on goods and services, often without being able to access many of the benefits the taxes from those earnings or purchases pay for. We have low birth rates, a tight supply in the labor market, aging populations, etc. and we really shouldn’t be turning our nose up at people willing to come here and work. The “crisis” is the absurd system of detention and endless processing and red tape to just be able to enter the country. Put billions toward streamlining that process and monitoring the status and behavior of those entering until citizenship is granted and your crisis is solved.
Seems clear to me, without even touching on the US’ contributions to the problems in the regions these people are fleeing.
5
By now, nearly everyone has agreed that there IS indeed a problem - one that could genuinely be called a crisis. However, there is MASSIVE disagreement as to the nature of the problem, and whether the response should be compassion-based or fear-based. The Trumpites and other extreme right-wing factions in the country, are reaction with fear, which is in many cases based in racism and xenophobia: fear of people who are not of your own tribe, clan or ethnic background. They are trying to paint a picture of an "invasion" of brown-skinned, Spanish-speaking people whose ranks may include gang members, criminals, drug smugglers, etc. Solution: loudly declare ITS NOT OUR PROBLEM!!, then build a big wall to keep them out. Others, who are more "liberal" (in the TRUE sense of the word, which means "generous"), are taking a more compassionate stance, and accurately noting that a) Those crossing the Mexican border on foot are less likely to be law-breakers than US citizens, b) they are mostly young and desperate to escape TRULY intolerable conditions in their home countries, and c) the crisis is NOT one of "law and order", or an Invasion of Outsiders, but is a humanitarian one. On all counts, i come down firmly on the side of compassion. THAT SAID, the USA (and many other 1st world countries...) desperately needs young people willing and eager to work hard for both themselves and their families: there is a huge "demographic crisis" in our culture, which immigrants could help solve.
This is nothing short of a human tragedy, intentionally created by the Trump Administration, who has done everything possible to make things worse than what they would have been, if normal processing had been continued. Improvements, in speed, would be helpful, but Trump has intentionally slowed the process to a crawl and mismanaged it in many other ways, some leading to inhumane practices. Trump's obsession over a wall has interfered with thinking outside of the cage that might have created real solutions. More judges is just one example.
1
@Reuben Stop blaming Trump and go read the pro-amnesty, pro-open borders agenda in all the Dem Party candidates for POTUS as well as the hands off approach that the Obama Administration had regarding illegal immigration. You are sadly wrong about this and the causes of this crisis.
1
If this is the issue that is so critically important to Republican voters, then why didn't Republican politicians pass comprehensive immigration reform for them when they controlled the White House and both Houses of Congress for two years?
No, seriously, its not a rhetorical question.
What faction (or factions) of the Republican Party were unwilling to do what was necessary to control this situation and respect the wishes of their supporters? They should be the politicians we are criticizing here.
And while Republican politicians are busy trying to duck that question, the Democrats should work out a plan among themselves for a comprehensive immigration reform, because if they ever get control of both branches of the federal government again, then Republicans will be the ones who can rightly ask "why didn't *you* pass comprehensive immigration reform when *you* had the chance?
1
I wish people would take a deep breath and count to ten. This is not an “invasion”. An invasion is the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Or a foreign ship in your harbor with fighting men pouring over the sides holding swords in their hands.
Yes, it is not fair to legal immigrants when people come illegally. But if someone hides here illegally, that has no impact on the status of the person who is waiting to get here legally; they still have the same place in line.
Most people who arrive illegally are going to go to the house of a relative and then get a job in the underground economy. They are not going to hurt you. In fact, they will probably be the one cooking your restaurant meal, picking the vegetables that you buy in the grocery, and cleaning your office at ten p.m. at night.
Yes, illegal immigration is problematic, but why is there so much fear? How have you been hurt by hotel maids, line cooks, exercise riders, farm workers, construction workers, ditch diggers, and so many more? Don’t the Trumps of the world take far more out of your pockets? Every single day, you walk past immigrants who aren’t legal. They may be from Thailand or Scotland or Mexico. They are here because this is a great nation with friendly people.
We can be kind and understanding and work to help other nations become great, too. There is no need for the current level of hysteria and fear.
1
All of these migrants must be allowed unfettered entrance to the USA immediately, and must be given access to all social services possible. The reasons are as follows:
We are a nation of immigrants.
Immigrants only benefit America.
The Statue of Liberty says- "huddled masses yearning to breathe free......send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me....."
US policies and corporate exploitation have ruined their homelands, causing them to flee. We are responsible for their misery.
This land belonged to them originally, before the first colonizers stepped foot here. We stole this land from them.
The US is a land of wealth, they are coming from poverty. This is a way to address worldwide income inequality.
America needs more people, especially the young, and we can easy hold more.
National borders are an abstract Social Construct, with no inherent reality.
Across the course of history, humans have always migrated.
These migrants add diversity to our nation, and diversity is our strength.
2
@Prof If everyone who shows up is welcomed and given all social services, while tens of thousands are homeless, we'll have a revolution.
12
After the Trump Tax Plan, and the cost if the government shutdown, his mismanagement of our foreign and domestic economic policies, there’s no money to do anything.
Look at what is even being done to the “Trump Base”.
He’s declared a “disaster”, of his own making, at the Mexican border to build his fence, while farmers along the Missouri River system have been wiped out by a real anthro-climate change disaster on top of failure to devote cash to build proper flood control systems.
The price of meat is likely to skyrocket again this year due to the loss of many of this year’s early calves and of the early grain crop.
Look at the way Trump treats American Hispanics, specifically residents of our colony of Puerto Rico. Why is a horrible hurricane a national disaster if it hits Florida or Texas but not an island we control for no real reason at all?
Why are we continuing to give the market for consumer goods in Cuba to every other nation in the world except the US?
The answer to all this may be psychological.
This Progressive suggests that we get rid of the rabid Fear of Hispanic-Americans with a Constitutional Amendment that 1) Declares English the official language of the US but 2) Guarantees the right of residents to obtain forms and translators when dealing with the government, funding English classes for all and 3) recognizes and protects from discrimination in commerce the rights of non-English-speakers, avoiding the Canada-Québécois problem.
Virtually every conservative who complains about immigration forgets that their ancestors were immigrants who had little money, couldn’t speak English and was looking for a safe and secure place to raise a family. They like Trump want simple solutions that have proven ineffective. If we had intelligent, caring person as President, we would be solving this problem rather than making it worse.
1
@Joel Stegner and every single liberal ignores the fact that they were vetted, legal, healthy and sent home if they did not meet this criteria. They were also required to learn English and refrain from using welfare programs.
1
I would encourage the New York Times to do a much more thorough series on what's actually going on with immigrants, both legal and unauthorized.
I'm not sure if people's personal views are re-enforced by sources that agree with their views or people's personal views are generated by their selective choice of information.
What is evident from these comments is that much of the hostility concerning immigration is based on misinformation that very well could have an ideological basis.
It's fine that people have their divergent views on immigration, but from the looks of it many of those opinions are of a level of intensity that bears no relation to the actual facts concerning what is actually going on in the US.
The current mess at the border in more attributable to the actions or lack of them rather than some huge surge of immigrants over any sustained length of time.
I attribute the frenzy to ideological misinformation, xenophobia and unfounded fears.
If 3 million people came into the US a year that is a whopping 1% of the US population. That is not a crisis.
@LibertyLover One hundred million want to come here. That is a crisis. Calling any response short of open borders racism will get Trump a second term.
2
Don't worry, America. A solution is in the works. First the media gets on Trump's nerves with another "puppetmaster behind the throne" narrative like the one they used against Bannon, this time directed at Stephen Miller. Then Jared and Ivanka make proposals of their own that don't mesh well with Miller's agenda. Miller eventually slips up and insults Jared and/or Ivanka. Trump flies into a rage at this attack on his family and fires Miller, declaring him a "nutjob" and a "lunatic" who never had any influence over his administration.
Finally, with Miller out of the way, Trump throws enough money at the problem to enable Immigration and Homeland Security to do their jobs for a change. We won't do a thing about the violence and poverty in Central America. Under Trump, the Monroe Doctrine is history. But we can at least get back on track with processing migrants and deporting however many we have to. Trump may be driving a new surge in migration, but what it comes down to right now is a matter of funding. Forget about reform, the laws ain't gonna change anytime soon.
1
Politics, fear, morality aside (sorta) the irony that our unemployment rates are lower than they have been in decades (even given the squishy statistics used), seems striking. And our president is a businessman! Why could this not be an opportunity as much as a problem, with the right management?
Trump is profiting from this situation. Without this manufactured 'crisis' he has lost one of his most powerful issues. So, a month or two ago, no problem; now, suddenly we have an overwhelming problem.
Trump has created this problem to distract from the Mueller report, soon to be released and the possible issue of his taxes being made public.
Trump has now publicly expressed a desire for illegal immigrants to be treated as combatants and the military should respond accordingly.
When the atrocities begin where will you be? What stand will you take?
1
Republican and Democratic representatives and senators have spent the last 18 years spending trillions of dollars in places like Afghanistan and Iraq and Libya and Syria, and across Africa, in a wack-a-mole game of trying to suppress "terrorism" by a combination of military force and nation building. The effect of these wars has been to flood Europe with millions of refugees and thereby destabilize European politics by fomenting the growth of far right-wing political parties across Europe. Italy is now controlled by two of those parties, and they have grown in power in France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and even Sweden. The influx of uneducated, unskilled refugees from Central America is going to further inflame our political situation here, and, I think will definitely benefit Trump as it appears that Democratic Party leadership doesn't care about the uncontrolled immigration which is occurring--and maybe they don't.
6
Generally the asylum system is at a breaking point and not just in the US but in Europe. The Italian PM, Giuseppe Conte, recently told the EU Parliament that its immigration rules were unsustainable. The Refugee Convention needs to be revisited and updated. The Central American migrants do not meet the eligibility criteria, but neither do the majority of African migrants who are rescued in the Mediterranean but everyone who shows up gets to make their case.
As defined by U.S. law as well as the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugees are migrants who are able to demonstrate that they have been persecuted, or have reason to fear persecution, on the basis of one of five “protected grounds”: race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group ...Oct 10, 2018
• the Convention takes no account of the impact (political, financial, social) of large numbers of asylum seekers on receiving countries - Perhaps the time has come for receiving countries to say NO.
10
They BOTH can't be right. Which one is?
Trump claims arrests at the SW border are very high, and cites riding numbers. His opponents claim just the opposite, that the "crisis" Trump claims to exist really doesn't, and they cite numbers too.
Is one side lying? Or are they citing different statistics? If so, is the border situation at a crisis, or not?
A logical solution to reduce the scale of the problem would be to implement a federal-wide ID system that's required for employment. Yes, when I hire a new employee, I fill out an I-9, but the federal bureaucracy does not inspect it. I would be happy if they did, but they don't. Thus the onus is on the employer to determine the veracity of someone's passport. How would I do that exactly? And certain employers *want* to cheat.
If there were an efficient, accurate system federal-wide whereby employers could check IDs, and were forced to do so by the federal government, non-citizen, non-work-visa holders would not be able to work. Put massive penalties on companies and individuals who employ non-citizen, non-work-visa holders. Without work, there would not be the ability to feed families, and the incentive to come to the US would decrease drastically.
Perhaps this concept flies against Republicans' knee-jerk resistance to regulation? I bet such a system would be cheaper, and more effective than a wall. They could even use the same system for checking voter registrations. Democrats might even get behind the plan, especially the IDs were free and easily available (thus not disenfranchising the poor).
I know, too logical, too useful. Not a great sound bite. But still...maybe Mayor Pete types would go for it.
3
Maybe it is time that the US stops destabilizing Latin America. That it stops with lawfare coups that we saw in countries like Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua and now Venezuela.
We know all those human rights and democracy arguments with which the State Department tends to defend its evil proceedings. But that is just pr. The State Department isn't committed to universal welfare. Its mission is to promote what it sees as US interests. And those are often detrimental to the local population.
But in the end we all live in one world. And in the end some of those harmed people end up on the border of the US.
1
Explain to me the issue with opening the borders between Central and North America.
Legal immigration is simply not an issue. Ignoring the benefits of immigration is foolish. For example, Paul Ryan commented a year ago that American women should "have more babies" to help support the faltering labor market and the SSA...
Illegal immigration allows a "free-rider" problem. What would be the problem with an open border?
Unemployment has stayed at ludicrous lows WITH low interest rates. Want to boost LFPR? Hire incoming immigrants who are quickly and efficiently assigned a ITIN without a lengthy process to meet a quota. Want to fight the impending demise of US manufacturing? Open borders allows a flood of low-skill labor perfect for that battle.
Space is not an issue - the US has a massive amount of landmass yet undeveloped. Businesses can benefit in the short-term from cheap labor which, relative to wages in central America, would be lucrative for immigrants too. Thinning populations in central America would improve social conditions in those countries. All ships rise.
The big downside: income inequality. But we know politicians are too scared to address that until they absolutely have to. Increasing the minimum wage won't solve anything, only create inflation; real reform is required.
Opening our borders solves one major US problem, demands action from Congress on another major US problem, and helps improve conditions in Central America. It's a win-win-win.
@Matthew Wiegert It is not a win win to import millions of people who do not speak our language, share our culture and need massive amounts of social support just to feed themselves here. Much of the undeveloped mass here is land no one wants. The notion we have to fill indicates a lack of understanding of the geography of this country.
3
What? Closing the border? What has happened to this country? Trump cuts aid to Central America and surely more people will have to leave those countries. Why aren't we trying to get economic development into those countries to stem this influx of refugees?
Our corporations are allowed HUGE tax breaks. How about making them put some of that saved cash to work inCentral America.
The only solution!
1
This all reminds me of the desperate situation we faced in 2015, except that we had adult leadership who were willing to make unpopular but morally correct decisions and stick to them.
1
This issue will re-elect Trump easily. Why? Because the democrats offer no plan other than the broken status quo. You may not like Trump’s plan, but it’s a plan. The democrats offer no solutions. There is nothing toxic about LEGAL immigration, unless you believe it is the responsibility of the U.S. taxpayer to save every poor person in the world.
8
No prosperous nation can have porous borders. Even Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders have acknowledged as much. We need to change an asylum system that is being exploited. Economic migrants should not presumptively be allowed to claim to be asylum seekers.
10
Apparently 103,000 came last month alone. Don't have any idea how to deal with this, and I think Trump will cause more chaos. One thing is certain..... it is the federal government and Congress that must deal with this not the taxpayers of the individual states such as California of which I am a resident. Our governor has been giving taxpayer money .....25 million for their legal defense, money to San Diego area to help with the influx, money for medical care for certain illegal adults and it goes on.....come on Congress step up and do your job.
5
1. Duh. Immigration was the most important issue in the 2016 election because it's why Trump won. Because it is a really important policy issue and many, many people find the current state of affairs intolerable.
2. We already knew the border doesn't work. People just get on planes and stay. Families are guaranteed the ability to stay. And the only way to send an illegal immigrant back home -- deportation -- is considered cruel and unusual by the left.
3. Liberals are largely responsible for it. Despite the obvious conclusion that immigration laws should be changed to be more effective and should start to work to decrease illegal immigration, "abolish ICE" is the actual immigration policy of AOC. If most GOP voters had their way, immigration "reform" would start to limit the ability and desire of illegal immigrants to get here and stay.
4. Illegal immigration is bad for this country. Economically, it is a huge distortion of the labor market. You have massive underpayment of employment taxes; remittances siphoned to foreign economies; fraud by the worker and employer; depression of wages in the labor markets in which the workers compete; underinvestment in capital; income inequality; the entrenchment of interest groups against reforming the system and increasing wage costs.
5. Illegal immigration is bad for the world. Because an American is the third highest consumer per capita in the world and every single consumer hurts the Earth in real ways.
11
Any notion that a nation can wall off its own prosperity, indifferent to suffering humanity elsewhere, is belied by all of history, not just U.S. history. It is either do something credible, effective and quick to improve conditions in the Northern Triangle or accept that refugees will enter the U.S. by hook or by crook. It's not our immigration system that is broken; it's Central America that is broken, as well as our own reasoning about reality and moral compass.
The makeup of the immigrants at our border are a function of democratic policies. Obama's encouraged 70,000 unaccompanied minors to flood our borders.
There was no problem with "separation" then because it is an issue primarily for Americans, especially with which to take the president to task.
Now it's not just "women and children", but also asylum seekers' right. And here they are.
6
The article blames President Trump for the surge but states that 951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, nations agreed to allow anyone to seek asylum, even if they entered a country illegally. The agreements defined a refugee as someone with a well-founded fear of persecution based on “race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” The whole article supports the idea that the people coming are economic refugees with some possible fear of gang violence. President Trump is right to try and keep people out who do not qualify for asylum and are encouraged by human traffickers to come. This issue alone will boost President Trump’s reelection.
5
For those of us who are, this is not the time to panic or get swept up by inflammatory rhetoric. I am a Democrat and for Immigration Reform. But this border thing is, indeed, out of control. For some ironic reason, it is worse than ever under the Trump administration. Admittedly, though, the conditions in Central America have deteriorated more and more with each passing year. If we want to help, let us start putting pressure on the Senate and House leaderships to come together to figure out something quickly. This is not the time for McConnell and Pelosi to play politics. Trump and his group do not know what they are doing, and obviously sending more troops to the border is not the answer, not to mention we risk violating universal human rights when we consider this "president's" volatility and instability. And.. Mexico has got to do a lot more. After all, the Central Americans' route to our border is through our closet southern neighbor's land. Throwing darts at each other, impugning each other's party and its representatives are a waste of time, energy, and adverse emotions. Let's just use our brains here, set aside the misdirected passion, and work together. That means Congress.
3
Don't know about how to deal with the immediate problem at the border, but I know what should be done to solve the underlying issue: the US must invest massively, billions of dollars, on smart aid to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, so that these people can live safe and dignified lives in their own country. It's the only solution that makes sense on the medium and long term.
2
This is a tragic situation that calls for intelligent thought and serious action. Does anyone know where to find that?
I have been so frustrated watching this President rail against people he puts in charge of achieving impossible tasks. He is furious that no one can stop people from coming to our borders asking for help and entry. In what way does this make sense? As these reporters say, these are people who are scared and desperate. By law we are obligated to help them. So we should. I don't believe it would be so difficult to figure out how to deal with all these people arriving on our Southern border if we were actually trying to help those who needed and deserved help instead of just trying to frighten them into going home. With good intentions, we can solve this problem. I'm hopeful that the congress will eventually take hold of this situation and solve it. It only requires some courage and a conscience.
1
If this was in Europe you would be seeing lots of far right political parties springing up left right and centre threatening the ruling parties, exerting pressure.
1
We need a new version of Ellis Island. If major hubs had processing stations set up to expeditiously identify, process and swear in new immigrants, it would expedite the process.
Republicans should be on board with an idea one of their own came up with. Benjamin Harrison understood the need for a faster immigration process over one hundred years ago. It was only those who sought to control others with fear that lead to its closure which directly lead to our current situation.
If Ellis Island was good enough for all of YOUR relatives, it's good enough for future generations.
What has reached a breaking point is Congress not being able to function, on updating immigration policy, updating the gas tax, or anything else for that matter. The corruption of Citizens United big money and the unwillingness of voters to leave decisions to skilled and informed legislators means that nothing gets updated.
Campaign Finance Reform NOW!
2
It should be clear that the crisis in immigration was deliberately engineered by the GOP to make it look like a Democratic problem that could only be solved with tough right wing solutions. It’s a wedge issue on steroids. But, with big money behind Trump’s efforts he will have a very good chance of winning the issue and, sadly, re-election.
I would just like to remind everyone in the United States that every one of us is an xth generation descendant of an immigrant, except for Native Americans.
Unless we decide to abandon our commitments to Social security and Medicare and reduced federal budgets we have to have more working age people than what our current demographics will provide unless we continue to allow people to immigrate to the US in significant numbers.
1
Excellent journalism. Thank you! It’s worth my entire months subscription cost ;-)
The authors have very clearly laid out the problem at the southern border today, the history behind it, and the humanitarian crisis it has lead to. However, in terms of, solution there is very little suggested, other than of course, pointing out how the present president is to be blamed. I am no fan of Mr Trump, in fact, far from it. But it seems, ironically, we are using the simplistic reasoning and blame game that Mr Trump himself employs.
What would have, perhaps, made this piece even better, is a discussion around what America needs to do as a nation. Should America work with its neighbors? Or the Central American countries and their leaders? Has any other country faced or faces a similar situation before? How have they handled it? What are the other political leaders in the nation doing? I mean the ones who huff and puff in congressional hearings (and chide everyone from bankers to entrepreneurs)? Can they come up with a solution or proposal at least? Or the dozen plus hopefuls who want to lead the free world - what have they to say?
It’s sad to see such an absence of American leadership. With a large scale humanitarian problem at its door, it’s media is content with petty blame game and its political leaders scoring points for benefits in the next elections. It’s sad, indeed.
It is naive and thoughtless to think that the USA isn't full or the Earth isn't full. 8 Billion people. The Earth groans under the feet of so many people, so many people in need, so many people starving, so many people, perhaps beyond the carrying capacity of their own countries or continents. Finite Earth.
People who say the US has plenty of land. Guess what- if people could make a living in many "empty" spaces, they wouldn't be empty. Many parts of the US are loosing population because there is no work, no way more people are needed.
Metro areas are bulging with people, expensive housing, terrible traffic, high taxes, and limited futures for young people. This is the obvious reality. It's the ecology, (and the economy). The USA isn't the country in the 1920s with 120 million people, now approaching triple that number.
We need to help the people in their own country. They need to change their own country, their own cultures, their own govts, their archaic ways of treating women. But the tide is rising and many compassionate people don't understanding that the rising flood is a symptom and not a cause. It will grow until the causes are addressed. Putting a bandaid on a bullet wound does not stop a war. Look to causes and weeping at the symptoms doesn't stop the ecological problem from growing.
Finally, people who are compassionate don't recognize that real compassion is expensive and requires great sacrifice, perhaps even giving up any hope for their childrens future.
6
This last week Trump has shaken up and caused upheaval at the Department of Homeland Security and Republicans are asking him not to do more changes at this time.
His administration has moved border control agents from the ports of entry to other places to deal with what is happening so now the ports are understaffed and traffic with goods and services are being delayed at our southern border by 8 to 10 hours effecting farmers, automakers, and technology companies,
he has used the crisis as a campaign issue for 2020 while speaking today in Texas saying it will help him win,
he has not hired the necessary judges that are needed to process those seeking asylum,
he is proposing withdrawing aid to Central American countries,
and now there is a seemingly real crisis on our border but who will be responsible for dealing with this crisis partly created by Trump to build his wall? It is true that Democrats need to get tougher on immigration but what exactly are the Republicans doing?
1
Really it's time for a rewrite of international asylum rules. It's clear that everyone now just says the same tired script that they found online. Being born poor doesn't entitle you to asylum, same goes for 'threats' that should be handled by the police back in their country.
44
Should be handled by police in their home country? That local police cannot control all the violence us the problem causing thus mess.
1
"The U.S. Immigration System Has Reached a Breaking Point'',
there fixed it for you.
18
Not sure how any "coming together for comprehensive immigration reform" solves this if basically anyone can show up on our border and request asylum. This request allows them to stay for 2 years and in reality probably for many more. We need to change the laws and perhaps withdraw from the UN treaty. Perhaps cap the number of refugees at 50,000 per year. There are 11 million muslims in Western China being persecuted for their faith. Do we allow all of them in?
25
@Aurthur Phleger
An asylum request is a free pass to live here for years until a hearing. Who is fighting to keep this process from changing? Who is defending immigrants who partake in this process?
In their effort to defy Trump, they exacerbate our problems tremendously.
2
For all those who think that massive foreign aid to Central America is the answer -- think again. Those governments are corrupt and broken, which is why they can't protect their citizens from local terror. Giving them money will only be stolen and empower the local thugs. The right answer is regime change, and the U.S., which has spent so much and spilled blood in far away places like Afghanistan and Iraq should refocus its priorities to clean up its own neighborhood. That is the start of the solution.
17
Most of the foreign aid goes directly to relief agencies, not the government. A well informed person knows that, which Trump supporters seldom are.
The only necessary humanitarian relief would be for a border patrol agent to point these migrants back in the direction of Mexico. The failed states in Central America are not our problem.
23
I don't like the wall but I see the problem. The problem must be solved at the source or it won't be solved.
Informative article. I learned much.
17
If we hadn't made the mistake in the first place, of naming every state, city, river, lake and mountain within 2000 miles of here with a Hispanic sounding name, perhaps the immigrants wouldn't be so comfortable heading this way. It's no wonder they want to feel at home here.
In fact it is their home, and we had better get used to that. There's always New Holland to hang around if it makes you more comfortable.
1
The problem is not one of organization and infrastructure, and not one that can be solved with sensible, evidence-based policies. People need to answer a moral question here. What if millions of people showed up at the border and had literally no other place to go? What if climate change rendered large parts of the globe uninhabitable? There are plausible scenarios in which the rich, developed countries release aerosols into the atmosphere to fight climate change which will also cause severe droughts in Africa.
I think this little bump in immigrants from Central America is just a sort of test case. Do you want to be guilty of a massacre by negligence, or do you want pupusas in your town? Personally, I like pupusas.
You know, in addition to messing up the climate, the rich Northern countries have also been very active in preventing countries like El Salvador from developing strong civil institutions. Our corporations, and before them our colonialists, have also been exploiting these same people for hundreds of years.
Let's do the right thing. Let's let them in. If the media didn't stoke your fears night and day, you would hardly notice.
145
@Jamie
Yes, there is the "moral" issue of what to do with the rest of the world's 6 Billion or so people who are starving and being killed, often by weapons sold by the USA.
However, there is the practical issue of maintaining useful infrastructure in the USA in the face of crushing human population increase.
As an example, let us look at the Texas Public School system and its infrastructure. Especially rural schools.
A small number of rural properties support the vast majority of funding for those public schools and public infrastructure. A system that has produced many successful, well educated Texans.
When, over a two year period an extra 5000 people show up, sometimes four families in a one bedroom apartment, AND, Federal law requires the children to be mainstreamed into the schools, it is more than burdensome. It is destruction.
The good folks of Texas have been coming to the rescue of this overcrowding problem by donating their own money and time to buy books, musical instruments and add wings on to schools.
But, is New York willing to help out Texas? Is NY sending any money to the public school system in Texas?
And, what if the rest of the world's 6 Billion people in poverty show up next weekend and claim asylum? Which, is not impossible right?
So, we need to stop spending time trying to make people feel guilty for looking at practical problems.
We need to, all of us, recognize those problems, and, begin to try to solve them together.
44
@Jamie Huge swathes of the entire planet will be experiencing this as climate change renders more and more areas uninhabitable. This is indeed a test case of sorts.
10
@Jamie yes agreed. There are plenty of churches in the south that loudly proclaim their devotion to their god. Time to step up and demonstrate it. Help these folks. They need it and we are all morally obligated, believers and non-believers.
5
We could as a nation do something to fix this but we won’t. We are addicted to a certain lifestyle and that creates a huge demand for these immigrants. We want cheap food, we want to go out to eat, we want nice lawns, we want someone to watch our kids, we want someone to clean our house. But we don’t want to pay someone $16 an hour for any of those things. These all require the cheapest possible labor. Minimum wage in my state is $7.50 an hour. Guess what the employees make in the back of the house at restaurants in my state. Yes, $7.50 . Are you going to wash dishes and take out the garbage for that?
12
@Oliver
Why are Americans not willing to perform certain tasks at certain wages? Because we have rights here as citizens.
YOU think it is okay to import wage slaves into this country to skirt the laws? Most of us don't. Stop making excuses. Border patrols pays well above minimum wage and will save us money in the long run if employers who break the law are punished, not rewarded with "fresh meat".
3
@Midway, Most Americans are not willing to work for 7.00/hr. because we refuse to live in a 2 bedroom apartment with a dozen others.
1
Poor, poor Donald.
Turns out if you scream about building a wall thousands and thousands of times, what Central Americans in tough situations hear is:
'It's time to go, now or never'
Hence, a border swarm.
The work of a stable genius.
15
The answer is not to slam the Donald but to have a reasoned discussion about immigration and push our representatives to deal with the issue. Unfortunately many people are more emotional than reasonable. I recommend David Frum's article in the Atlantic for its reasoned discussion of an immigration policy that would be good for Americans. So many articles in the big newspapers provide information that is false or incomplete.
3
Oh? I thought that wall thing was gonna fix it? Mr. Trump knows how to fix everything, he said. Trump the tax cheat, lied and failed again.
8
The Senate passed an immigration reform bill, which went to the House which, under speaker Paul Ryan, let it die.
Why? Because the GOP wanted the situation to remain a mess so they could blame Obama for not fixing it, even though he specifically asked for the legislation so he COULD fix it.
It would not surprise me if the Republicans in the senate, when voting for the reform bill, had the assurance from their House friends that the bill would not pass. The GOP wanted Obama to fail that much.
They pulled a similar stunt when Obama asked Congress either for authority to do something about the war in Iraq, or to stop the war. The GOP-led Congress, again, sat on its hands so it could blame Obama if things went south.
So: Immigration reform will pass the instant the problem's political costs to Congress are greater than the benefits to one side or the other of letting it fester. Not before.
What, you ask: "What about the suffering and terror and pain? What about the danger to the nation?"
Oh please, as if those matter.
10
The system is indeed broken, and the only way to keep millions of poor immigrants flocking to the US from their own poor and oppressive countries is to provide their home countries with aid, education and job creation. That's the slow, but commonsense solution to the problem. A wall won't fix the problem, and neither will open borders.
9
Large amounts of aid have not been seen to improve the governance and infrastructure of many countries which have received it.
Mexico has never been our friend or ally and never will be.
I lived and worked in Mexico and Central America for 30 years and saw it first hand. These caravans would never get to the U.S. border without the total complicity of the Mexican Government with it's endemic corruption.
With their military, police, and intelligence assets in place, Mexican has the ability to stop all of these caravans before they enter Mexico's southern border. Instead, criminal cartels whisk them by bus to the U.S. border. The pregnant woman you invariably see at one of our POE's with two toddlers didn't walk 2200 miles from Tegucigalpa. She was driven there just in time for the TV cameras. It was all staged for you to see.
Thanks to NAFTA, Mexico has an emerging middle class and 100,000 job openings. They are reluctantly offering the refugees asylum. If these people were truly fleeing terror and crime, don't you think they'd gratefully accept? No, they're gaming our system instead and taking advantage of us and our social welfare benefits.
Trump is making this Mexico's problem and it is decades overdue. Our immigration laws must be strengthened dramatically to end this national emergency.
Every nation has the right to protect and defend it's borders.
It's called sovereignty.
It is what it is.....
22
"Known as Remain in Mexico, it forces asylum seekers to wait indefinitely in Mexico.. an epidemic of debt spreading among families who’ve taken out loans to pay for their trips.. prolonged detention means months of inactivity.. Evictions have grown increasingly common in some areas where debts have become unpayable."
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-epidemic-of-debt-plaguing-central-american-migrants/amp
The people coming here are exceedingly poor, and just as determined. Trump complains exceedingly, and he is just as determined to win re-election à la "Show of Force".
We've wasted resources on military deployment, focused federal funding to private jailors, and ignored the need to hire 300 immigration judges (not the 5000 to 6000 number that Trump mocked and accused of graft). Resolving a real humanitarian crisis with adlib, theatric confrontations IS HOW you reach a breaking point.
Ask his former lenders, that is Trump's M.O. - to drive an untenable situation until he gets his ransom demand for leaving. Except, as President - he doesn't leave, instead everyone sees him paid his tribute.
No, the President has spent 2 years and additional funds building his Rube Goldberg re-election device and its failures are OF HIS INVENTION.
This President has exacerbated the problem and has wasted opportunities. He would make a Wall, a money pit. Bankrupting developers are not solvers. He clears his desk, January 2021.
7
@Able Nommer
I read the New Yorker article you recommended. The migrants it describes are not fleeing persecution so they are not entitled to asylum.
Those who are truly fleeing persecution could find asylum in Mexico.
Those who are seeking economic opportunity, like the people described in the New Yorker article, but are pretending that they require asylum in the U.S., and are being made to wait in Mexico until their cases can be heard, are eligible for permits to work temporarily in Mexico.
Instead of accepting their economic migrants, we could offer Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras temporary food aid as well as Peace Corps volunteers to help their farmers find new crops for their ecosystems, to help their school systems (most C.A. migrants have less than a grade school education), and to teach them about family planning and artificial means of birth control (many Mayans have 8 to 10 children).
American philanthropies could teach them how to operate a business, and provide capital for Grameen-style banks which could offer small loans to those who would want to start a business of their own.
8
What if Trump leaves in 2021 and the problem remains, as it probably will?
1
@Eric
The undocumented also arrive by plane, etc and overstay tourist/student visas. Criminal penalties against employers and enforcement is the only way to stop the attraction, the paycheck. Reagan signed the 1986 Amnesty that also prohibited states from criminalizing employers. That won't change under Trump. Access to low-cost workers is still in the Republican leadership's DNA.
Building a wall-fence and new privatized prisons is the only plan. We can't waste 4 more years. Aid, assistance, and affirmation of progress by the Central American governments to secure opportunity and safety for all of their people NEEDS TO BE the next administration's focus.
Our low unemployment rate means more farm/ranch temp work visas could assist US employers to contend with new laws. Yes, the countries have to have a plan for their poor people's progress BEFORE a set period of expansion of temp visas could begin. (Instead, Trump demands his reform FIRST: end Lottery, immigrants must have a master's degree or better.)
Yes, money is the survival that drives these people here, but as these governments' leaders trend MORE toward oppressive authoritarian - circumstances can get MORE dire. Lucrative investment opportunity is the only focus. Trump won't speak to need for safeguards, let alone push their leaders. He gives payday loan exploiters free reign in USA!
"America First" installs laissez-faire capitalism. More poor is a by-product. They pray for Trump to have a heart.
This says it all: "But the president has not chosen to prioritize a surge of new resources to the border, which could help ease the overcrowding and suffering that have gripped the migrants and the border communities where they arrive."
This "emergency" was created by American policies, and American policies sustain it. We need to end Trump's cruel deflections, and funnel the resources needed to welcome migrants who have already endured too much to be met with nothing.
5
Trump could have gotten money for the wall during the recent shutdown a few months ago - but he would have had to make a deal with Nancy and Chuck, that he didn’t like.
Sometimes you have to give in a little for the greater good. Donnie can just blame himself.
6
The tragic irony is that the crises in Latin America that have precipitated this migration are inextricably tied to American interference in those nations that has gone on for over 100 years. It is a colonial attitude that still exists. It is hardly restricted to the Us and Latin America, either. It is endemic wherever Western colonial culture has meddled with the world. Witness the messes that are prevalent in much of Africa and all of the Middle East.
105
@Doug Thomson Overpopulation is a huge factor. Larger, in my opinion, than any US meddling.
12
@Doug Thomson Yours is a common comment, but the truth is that the US intervened at the request of those countries to fight communist insurgence from Russia. We are not responsible for the fact that these countries can’t form stable governments.
12
@Michele
You forget that the US has been interfering in the Central American countries since at least the turn of the 20th century with the United Fruit Company, well before the advent of the USSR.
A quote from Wikipedia: "United Fruit had a deep and long-lasting impact on the economic and political development of several Latin American countries. Critics often accused it of exploitative neocolonialism, and described it as the archetypal example of the influence of a multinational corporation on the internal politics of the banana republics."
It should be no surprise that some of the inhabitants turned to communism as a result. THe US has continued to meddle in Central American politics ever since.
10
Every country must have the right to allow only those immigrants it want or need. Anyone who is facing problems in their home countries and have a child and just managed to have an "American dream" to come and live in the US does not get the right to enter into USA or any other country. Failing to have a practical and enforceable immigration policy would convert any otherwise law-abiding and prosperous countries like the US and EU to become like those countries from where those desperate immigrants are coming illegally.
15
Actually, here is the plan.
Short Term (Courtesy of Kris Kobach)
1. Publish a final regulation of the Flores settlement, enabling families to be detained together indefinitely.
2. Massive increase in detention facilities at/near the border. This includes deployment of thousands of available FEMA trailers. Then bring the judges to these facilities to immediately adjudicate all appeals. Anyone denied a claim would then be put directly onto plane back to their home country.
3. Prepare a new Treasury Department regulation that would prevent the repatriation of funds from anyone in the U.S. illegally. If Mexico doesn’t sign a Safe Third Country agreement immediately, put the new regulations into place until they do.
Medium Term
1. Pass a new asylum law requiring that all requests be made in a person’s home country of the first safe country that they reach.
Long Term
1. Complete the 240 mile extension of the border fence requested by the Border Patrol. This will prevent 90% of the people from physically crossing into the U.S., where they can make their bogus claims. If they start crossing beyond the new fencing, add more fencing.
2. Continue aid to Central America, with a heavy focus on birth control.
Democrats and their Koch Brother allies have been opposed to all but continued aid to Central America. Now that we can all agree that there is a crisis at the border, perhaps enough fair-minded Democrats will cross the aisle and support these common sense measures.
14
The appropriate and effective way to end this problem is to build shelters, provide rudimentary medical care, sustenance, etc. and help provide security for the threatened population within and with the cooperation of the sending countries -- Honduras, Guatemala, Perhaps even in southern Mexico if appropriate, etc.. -- and to shelter those prospective immigrants that would otherwise rush the U.S. border.
The United States was already spending one half billion dollars so why not spend it wisely and defend this country where it will be effective!
6
Trump can blame Obama and the Democrats all he wants, but the truth and reality is it is happening right now under his watch as President. The Buck stops there, with him, no ands, ifs or buts.
9
We need to start with a redefinition of refugees. They used to be a relatively small number fleeing political persecution. Fine.
But Central America is much safer than Venezuela, Yemen, Afghanistan, much of sub-Saharan Africa, even much of Rio. Are we supposed to admit all people who are poor and in dangerous places? The focus on Central America is an absolute fraud, and honesty about the rest of the world would lead us to reinstitute the old definition.
Indeed, Mexico is the natural destination from Central America. Much of the cost to the smugglers is the bribery of Mexican officials to let those who would be denied visas to Mexico cross Mexico illegally. Trump has to put very high costs on Mexico, and a temporary shutting of the border or high tariffs or prevention of cruise ships to sail there from American ports are places to start. It should not take long to force an introduction of rule of law in Mexico.
8
This article is right to being alarmist about the POTUS and federal policy. But it should not have implied, echoing TRUMP, that there are many more migrants entering illegally: Pew Research Center estimates that 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants, the lowest level in a decade, lived in the U.S. in 2016. The decline has been occurring for a decade and is due almost entirely to a sharp decrease in the number of Mexicans entering the country without authorization. See https://www.pewhispanic.org/2018/11/27/u-s-unauthorized-immigrant-total-dips-to-lowest-level-in-a-decade/. Many of the comments here suggest that they think “hordes” of people are inundating the country’s borders, when there have been significant declines.
7
Do you dream of living in an overpopulated, impoverished, culturally divisive, socially chaotic and violent third world country without having to leave home?
If so, you’re in luck...because that’s precisely where our country is headed. Enjoy!
15
Little England has its brexit, we have immigration system geared toward providing below market labor to wall street. Both are backed by the respective wrong wing, using racist rhetoric.
5
Trump will be Tweeting about this article in the morning. I'm no fan of Trump but this article is very depressing. If anyone thinks we can allow over 1 million people to just enter the country each year and disperse, they are kidding themselves. People are not going to stand by and allow the country to commit suicide.
17
It wasn’t that long ago that asylum was for the truly persecuted, like Christians from China. In 2008, the top countries of origin for people granted asylum were (1) China, (2) Columbia, (3) Haiti, (4) Venezuela, and (5) Iraq.
https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois_rfa_fr_2008.pdf
What changed all this was the decision by the Obama Administration to look at Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras differently. More individuals affirmatively sought asylum in 2014- 2016 from those three countries than in the preceding 17 years combined.
https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Refugees_Asylees_2016.pdf
Today, thanks to court rulings and bad regulations, anyone, from anywhere, can come to the USA, claim asylum, and be released with a court hearing scheduled years away. In the meantime, their children must be fed and housed and educated by US taxpayers. The scale of this problem is breathtaking. Millions want to come. Yet, this appears to be exactly what Democrat politicians want, and you can bet that Mr. Trump will pound this message home.
Is there a solution? A person fearing persecution should be required to apply for asylum in the closest nearby country that won’t jail them. A Venezuelan should go to Columbia, Guyana, or Brazil. A Guatemalan should go to Mexico. The only people who should be allowed to apply for asylum in the USA are Mexicans, and Canadians. And all should go back when the risk of persecution is diminished.
16
This is ridiculous. Trumps could have handled this by staffing up, not down. Process people through current asylum laws, boot out any bad eggs, and move on.
Instead he wailed and flailed and tweeted about a wall and caravans, with absolutely NO PLAN.
But then, that IS the plan, right? Do nothing, don't add asylum judges or administrators as needed, just tweet your rage until finally it really is a crisis. This is what his base loves, and how he keeps them.
10
Why isn’t Congress making immigration an immediate priority? It seems to me we’d be better off if a bipartisan group came up with a starting point which could then be discussed, refined, and then voted on. Instead of these maniacal pronouncements from the White House making policy that upsets everyone.
Oh yeah, this was tried in 2013, the gang of eight: ‘ In June 2013, the immigration bill passed the Senate with a strong majority—68–32, with 14 Republicans joining all Democrats. The United States House of Representatives under Speaker John Boehner did not act on the bill, however, and it expired at the end of the 113th Congress.[3] This bill would have created reform that would have resolved some of
the issues that are currently being debated as a result of the government shutdown.’
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of_Eight_(immigration)
4
I see we've moved from "There is no border crisis" to "The border crisis is all Trump's fault." Baby steps toward the truth.
17
Tougher immigration controls are coming. Earnest commenters are making political calculations for America. The refugees? Lord help us, cry the liberals, what can we do? The refugees of course will be the sacrifice.
We will not confront the system of debt collection, corruption, and militarization that has victimized the residents of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. The system supports dictators who support Wall Street, and any American company that saves money hiring illegals. These big actors must not be hurt. And the suffering of the illegals produces such cognitive dissonance that people who think America is God's country turn on these immigrants and try to project upon them every evil motivation their minds can contrive: they want anchor babies, they want welfare, they deal drugs, etc etc. But at the end, it will be a wall of suffering humanity.
The system will be exposed through these new policies. I predict a debt revolt at some point, and that means we will have to intervene militarily in Central America to keep the money coming.
36
Enough already! We’re a sovereign nation with defined borders and immigration laws. Our government’s obligation is to serve the best interests of the American citizenry. Period!
And that doesn’t include playing host, patron, and nursemaid to millions of foreign citizens who brazenly trespass across our porous borders to exploit our (diminishing) wealth...our schools, hospitals, labor market, welfare system, natural resources, and birthright citizenship laws....at a cost to American taxpayers in the $BILLIONS, year after year.
I’ll vote for ANY candidate of ANY party who will put a stop to this invasion...yes, invasion!
16
@Shenoa
I encourage you to read some of the thoughtful comments posted here to try and understand how complex the situation is, how complex the world is, and our country's role in destabilizing parts of the world. We do not exist in a vacuum.
Remember when Obama was President. Illegal immigration into the U.S. was at a 40 year low and there were no caravans of asylum seekers crossing the length of Mexico. I wonder what has changed. Could it be that when you repeatedly call Mexicans rapists and murders they are no longer interested in helping secure the border by preventing caravans of immigrants from crossing their country?
9
@W.A. Spitzer
Obama inadvertently ignited the sharp increase in migrants when he offered to protect those illegal immigrants who had arrived before turning 16, and their parents. Word spread throughout the undocumented community that those who arrived as minors would be allowed to stay, as would their parents. (The fact that Obama said the minors had to have arrived by a certain date was ignored.) Illegal immigrants who had left their children at home began paying coyotes to bring them here.
Coyotes deliver minors to the border. The Trafficking Victims Act requires that every minor be placed in the asylum process. During the process, minors who have parents here are often placed with them, even if the parents are here illegally.
Since the unaccompanied minors were being allowed to stay, and since the Obama Administration had decided that those fleeing domestic and gang violence would qualify for asylum, some families decided to ask for asylum. Claims of domestic and gang violence are hard to disprove.
Obama tried detaining the families until their cases could be heard by immigration judges, but was told children could not be detained. Obama released the families with instructions to appear for their hearings. Up to 40% did not appear; they disappeared into the general undocumented population. This became known as “catch & release”.
Word spread that to be let into the U.S., all you had to do was take a minor and say you were fleeing gang or domestic violence.
2
Boy this article is a lot of spin to dig through. What is the actual news here? 1) More children than ever are being brought across the border. 2) Immigration trials have been purposely slowed.
What hasn't changed? Immigration levels are at nearly their LOWEST LEVEL in over a decade. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-population/illegal-immigrants-in-u-s-at-lowest-level-since-2004-study-idUSKCN1NX07G
The only thing that HAS changed is the framing of this article from the NYTimes, which seems to have been written as a desperate attempt to lure in Fox viewers. The article begins by presenting numerous anecdotal data about how dire the situation is. Then it, slowly, further down page, concedes that the real issue is the ballooning backlog of cases due to Trump's meddling.
A very misleading article overall. One that has drawn out all the conservative commenters to gloat over having been right all along, when it fact, THIS IS STILL A MANUFACTURED CRISIS.
9
Maybe it would help the panicky people to know that the folks from south of our border are also from a European Culture. And that those countries were populated by people from Europe and all over the world in the same way the US was.
They are not foreign demons. they are just like us and happen to speak Spanish.
5
If Americans were imprisoned for hiring illegal workers, The head honcho at Mar a Lago and Trump Hotel would be behind bars.
9
"Migrants in Matamoros, Mexico, line up for food donations last week as they waited to cross into Brownsville"
Unfortunately, most of them will line up for donations for the rest of their lives at the expense of already strained American taxpayer. 6 out of 10 immigrants in California are on public assistance and stay there for the rest of their lives. The seocnd generation is even worse - 7 out of 10 recive welfare
https://www.ustechworkers.com/study-more-than-7-in-10-california-immigrant-households-are-on-welfare/
19
"And nearly all of them are scared — of being shipped off to Mexico..."
So apparently Mexico is so bad that people literally running for their lives don't want to be there. Sounds to me like there's no choice other than to set limits and carefully monitor who crosses the border into the US. No, that doesn't make me racist.
14
What has failed in U.S. foreign policy not the borders.
Since the 1950's US foreign policy has been to over throw democratically elected heads of governments that don't support Wall Streets ambitions of using Central America as slave states and for natural resource extraction. It has been this vile and bipartisan effort to use of tax payer money to keep these Central America unsafe for it's citizens while profitable for Wall Street.
I find it's disgusting that the New York Times fails to mention this history and call out this well documented and consistent policy.
The other reason may have something to do with the massive amount of small arms dumping that has been going on in these countries by US arms dealers.
The fact that the corporate news fails to talk about the back stories shows that they are also working for the corporate state/Wall Street and have little or no interest real truth and history of the situation.
214
@ma77hew Thank you for this comment. There is no memory of recent history. No mention of U.S. culpability in creating the conditions in Central America that contribute to the violence and poverty there that drive migration. No acknowledgment that climate disruption will bring more refugees globally, more conflict.
When there is no plan, no action but reaction, no problem solving, just a braying to build walls, what do we expect will happen next?
What would happen if our gridlocked Congress actually pass legislation -- immigration policy? What if we had a government that actually governed? Republicans have no interest at all in governing, they only have an interest in "winning," only want to prove that government is the problem. Meanwhile we have a kakistocracy lead by Trump and his clown car of fellow sociopaths. And the poor and powerless suffer.
17
@ma77hew Exactly. And now we reward them with major tax cuts, while Fox News spews inciting, racist-laden pablum at the uneducated masses (Trump's base).
4
@ML Thank you for highlighting these truths even if the “journalist “ won’t or choose not too. And where is the outcry over the complete lack of political accountability and corruption from within these countries?
The humanitarian and christian thing to do is to grant all these asylum seekers instant refugee status. Hopefully once the Democrats regain power in 2020 the US will follow such a course.
4
@Kristiaan
That's beautiful and from Brussels, the EU Capital. I love it.
This will get Trump re-elected for sure, and there's nobody to blame but partisan far left Democrats, and Republicans as well, and the media propoganda outlets that continually swept this phenomenon under the rug.
Over and over, the refrain of "you racists, you bigots!" when US citizens clamored for securing the Mexican border. A straw man tactic devised to invalidate, on a visceral emotional level, the fact based assertion that many of us have been promulgating for years: this country's infrastructure, resources and prosperity *are finite*, and unbounded immigration only exacerbates the limitations.
I've been saying it over and over here; the Democrats need to come to grips with this issue, divorce themselves from the far left identity politics proponents in their ranks who are deliberately resisting immigration restrictions for their own blatant, socially motivated reasons. Only then can Dems come armed to this debate with truth and factual positions, and potentially wrest initiative from Trump on this matter.
We need a center oriented DNC to help solve this, not bleeding hearts and nefarious far left agitators (AOC) who intentionally seek to undermine fair, controlled and reasonable immigration standards, not a "free for all" border bumrush.
23
Americans buy a huge amount of drugs from Latin America and that is playing a key part in what is happening there and why so many are coming here.
5
There is a saying: In youth, a person stands on the pinacle of life. In old age, the pinnacle becomes a cave. And so it is, it seems, with the manner in which we romanticize the ideals of our once young nation.
We tinker with our laws in search of elusive, never before found perfection. When all else fails, we add more laws, and the pinnacle of our national ideals become a cave.
A nation so settled in itself and its ways is soon governed by leaders reflecting a people who are deluded with their fantasies of a nation’s omnipotent greatness.
The only cure for disease caused by success is renewal. It is not, ultimately, about building a wall. It is not, ultimately, about keeping people from pursuing their right to life. It is about the nation and its choices about its place in the world.
Shall America lead the world on this issue, seeking the higher pinnacle of its future or cower in a cave of its own making?
We need to approach our decisions today wisely, deliberately, and with an eye toward the future. We must act for ourselves today and for the position we intend to occupy in the future. If that position is to help shape the world of the future, is a world of walls the best we can imagine?
We must resolve to do better, think decisively, and take action, or we will be defined by the decisions others make for us.
Today, a wall might very well be the humane approach. Tomorrow, or many years forward, we may find we are compelled by others to tear it down.
6
It seems we aren’t looking at the issue clearly. We have new waves of people coming from Central America at the same rates or lower than 15 years ago. From 1990 to 2005 we had high rates of crossing years and people didn’t talk much about this issue (or it wasn’t the number one, two or three issue). But then it was mostly young men from Mexico. This is different, so let’s examine what’s happening in Central America and help stabilize the situation there. Our new governor is in El Salvador now, more politicians and reporters and policy makers should go down there - if it is a crisis shouldn’t we go where the crisis is coming from?
11
The US needs to make better use of it's aid to the Central American countries; similar to a Marshal plan for them. It is for the benefit of both regions that we have a successful Central America.
22
Every time the US has given “aid” to Central America, and, for that matter, Latin America as a whole, it has ended up doing the wrong thing.
The destruction of the Arbenz government in Guatemala, for United Fruit, our fight for possession of Puerto Rico for Absolutely No Reason; backing the mobbed up Batista regime instead of a clean bunch gave us Fidel Castro, with his USSR backers, followed by the Bay of Pigs fiasco; Backing the “wrong” side in Nicaragua; Our attempt to force regime change in Venezuela, rather than simply aiding the side that would remove an autocrat because he’s destroyed his nation’s economy, rather than because he’s an old-line Leninist; Our destruction of Chile’s probably first and last non-military government ...
We have, since Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Rider days, backed the wrong horse, then blamed and punished the people of the region some more.
With employment in the US at effectively 100%, the humanitarian thing to do would be to a) admit people fleeing either the official or paramilitary governments for their lives, (what are a few hundred thousand immigrants, at most, going to mean to a nation of 300 million?), and increase Real Humanitarian Aid - but the Trump base has a problem: Many English speakers ARE getting bugged by the “Spanish option” whenever they call government or business, refusing to accept this will vanish by the 2nd US-born Generation.
And thanks to TrumpTax, there’s no money for aid that would create markets for US products.
America should work with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras by giving massive aid and assistance if those three countries agree to merge into a federation. They are too small and poor to improve their situation. They can be three states in one country with greater resources at the national level, with lots of help from the U.S.
It would take a long time to turn things around, but at least that would make a better future possible. The three countries have common languages, ethnicities, and religions. Three compatible states with three governors, and one federal president. With pooled resources. Worth a try.
14
@JustInsideBeltway
This is the exact kind of a naive solution that someone not familiar with the realities outside of the US would propose. Take it from an immigrant from a corrupt state akin to the ones in SA: all of your aid will very quickly line the pockets of the corrupt politicians and the very same gangs, which (surprise) are all too often one in the same. These are failed states that have proved to be unable to govern themselves. Either we seal off the border and leave them to fight it out (and may be a few generations down the road we have a functioning democracy there), OR we execute a complete takeover of their institutions. The latter is not practical, me thinks.
7
@JustInsideBeltway Birth control pills and a promise not to come here with five kids would be a good first step.
If you think it's bad now, wait until the massive climate driven migrations and the conflicts over land and water get started. It won't be a long wait, about 2 decades.
56
@Dr Dean
Why do you assume climate change will negatively impact various regions?
Must be the anxiety campaign over climate mounted by ‘progressives.’
1
Really odd that the time is NOW, when it seems that the actual number of border crossings are at a lower point than they have been in years.
18
@Dougie, the border crossings in the last few months are now at the highest they have been since before the Great Recession began in 2008. Even Obama's own former Director of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, just said last week: "We are truly in a crisis."
5
We already have tens of millions of economic deplorable citizens, most of whom are a drag on our economy, and vote Republican.
Now we are witnessing millions of Central American citizens with no English language skills, or for that matter any technical skills seeking asylum. We should focus on stabilizing the law and order situation in many of the Central American countries.
The root cause is the prevalence of gang violence, which saps much of productive output by lawful citizens. This vicious circle needs to be broken. This is a matter of our national interest. It may make sense to dispatch UN police force to patrol the dangerous areas; we should provide military assistance to these countries in hunting down the gang members who are the prime cause for the innocent civilians from Central America to flee their countries. If we could bring peace to Kosovo, we can do the same in Central America. That is our imperative.
25
@Zor
But we’d have to admit that we caused it and continue to feed it. “Just say No” is easier, yet no more realistic.
2
So, it does seem there is not just a National Emergency, but a Humanitarian Emergency at the border. There needs to be a disincentive to risk your life to try and cross the border illegally, whatever form that may take (and likely in various forms). Let's fix the immigration laws that provide an incentive to engage in the dangerous journey where, it is clear, that the weakest are preyed upon by gangs that organize and profit from "assisting" those trying to cross the border to the US. Both sides are at fault for this. There needs to potentially be a wall that is legislative in nature rather than a physical wall - or both. But as long as people can easily cross the Rio Grande and ask for asylum and they get to stay, we will have this problem.
24
@Peter
Build a wall on your family’s ancestral land with a significant portion of it being inacessible and minimal recompense for the loss of 200+ years of family land being between the Wall and the real border.
3
Think of people(like me) who came legally, waited for the Green Card for almost 5 years, then another 6 years before the US passport. Thee was some interview where some border patrol officer said he has so far seen people from 50...yes, 50 different countries. They cross the seas, land in Central American country and then walk into this country. I remember India let in millions of Bangladeshi refugees in 1971 and most of them actually went back. I feel border security is a must for our country to exist for a longer time.
57
Oh please. Cut the “Boohoo, I came legally, poor me”. You know if India were just south of the US we’d have the same issue... maybe with you?
My parents (and myself as a minor) underwent the 10 yr process of becoming citizens yet I hold no ill will against people seeking refuge in the States.
What needs to occur is a fast tracking of asylum claims and rejection of staying for those who are not legitimate asylum claims. Next, a wholesome effort needs to be put forth in addressing many of the ills which plague these Central America countries. For what it’s worth, we share a common region with them and have a tumultuous history which could be righted by making sure these countries are safe and secure, and eventually independent of the US, for future generations.
Lastly, our immigration system needs to be overhauled to better serve our high-skilled foreign students and seasonal workers needs. In other words, PhD and other highly educated students should have a fast track to greencards after the completion of their PhDs. Additionally, it should be easier, not harder, for seasonal migrant workers to come and go from the US. This will help control tax revenue, when they go in and out and foster a culture of temporary stays rather than illegal(undocumented?) more permanent ones.
2
The 20% is an old number based on a different demographic (mainly single male ) and country mix and past conditions in home countries. The current child/family based Central American migrant surge won't have hearing for years.
7
The Pentagon is now awarding large contracts to build a border wall.
This includes two awards today totalling $1B.
Also today, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters more wall contracts would be coming soon.
17
Yes, we have reached a crisis as refugees from Honduras, Guatemala, and other places south are coming here. But let's get one thing straight: Mr. Trump, you say they are dangerous. No Mr. Trump, they are desperate. There is a big difference.
14
The US can handle thousands if not millions of immigrants. It has done so in the past and could if we chose to. I just don't understand why not simply set up humanitarian aid stations as we might in any crisis, with tents, food, water, medical care, asylum officers, and judges. It would cost less than a wall and it doesn't sound like anyone is looking to do anything other than turn themselves in. We can send those billions to the Northern triangle to help families stay in their homes. These are people and my heart is breaking. What have we become throwing up our hands in an act of helplessness and treating people like pests?
10
The problem isn't that the United States is "unable" to deal with these issues -- it is that we have a President who is *unwilling* to deal with them, and a GOP that is happy to ride along with him on the know-nothing wave of anti-immigrant sentiment.
18
This is a good photo illustrating the article. It's like an old Dutch classic painting seen in museums.
The small children are front and center in their undeniable cuteness, one staring directly at the viewer in silent accusation. A woman on the left has assumed the perpetual fixed expression of a poor, helpless, unjustly oppressed victim and the man on the right looks to be calculating the gains from a devious scheme. Meanwhile a child in center back of the photo is immensely entertained by the situation.
11
These folks mostly do not qualify for asylum. When they finally get processed they just get sent back. Less than 1/3 actually get granted asylum. The number will get lower with more people trying to get in, it won't get higher. A wall won't stop these people from turning themselves in. Only a change in the laws and / or more courts can stem the tide. A public relations campaign in centeral America wouldn't hurt either and wouldn't cost very much at all.
25
The governments of the Northern Triangle of Central America have failed. The question is whether we want to write a blank check for the housing and processing of everyone there who would like to be here. There are many millions, and the birth rate is, and has long been, unsustainably high. Look at the homeless in our cities, and ask yourself why we are not helping them first. Many Democrats want to see this problem solved without opening the gates so wide that we can’t take care of our own. When our government admits people to the US, it becomes an unfunded mandate to the education and healthcare systems all over our nation. Many Red Staters are not generous to their own children’s school systems, and will vote for Trump again, or worse than Trump, if they have ungovernable influxes of migrants to pay for, as they see it. And that is how they see it, because the economic benefits of immigration arrive later than the expenses do. As David Frum said, if Liberals won’t control our borders, Fascists will.
20
This from the Pew Research Center, April 10, 2019, all data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection: "There were 361,087 apprehensions in the first six months of the 2019 fiscal year (October 2018-March 2019) – more than double the number from the same period the previous year and the highest total through the first half of any fiscal year since 2007. Still, this year’s total remains far below the 856,228 apprehensions recorded in the first half of 2000, the peak year. And while the full year total for fiscal 2019 remains to be seen, apprehensions regularly exceeded 1 million per fiscal year during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s." https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/10/whats-happening-at-the-u-s-mexico-border-in-6-charts/
So what "breaking point" or "crisis" are we talking about? How is it that we were able to cope with the same numbers of immigrants in past decades but can't now?
5
We forget that there is a demographic crisis in our country. As the population ages and birth rates continue to drop, overhauling the immigration system is an imperative.
Right now, farmers and ranchers can’t get enough hands. We need skilled immigrants, but we also need agricultural immigrants other low skilled laborers. Guest worker programs are a start, but more is needed.
The corporations (including the Trump organization) that hold up their hands and say the faux documents are too good and they can’t identify what is genuine and what isn’t is a scam. Try using E-Verify. But, they won’t because they want cheap, illegal labor who are too afraid to go to the authorities when they are mistreated.
We are a smart and creative country...we should be able to figure this out!
6
Why don’t we try to help solve the problems in the countries where the migrants are coming from? No one wants to voluntarily leave their home. But they have no choice.
The number 1 issue jobs. Number 2 is drugs and violence. How can we help our neighbors to the south address these problems?
3
@Hk
Because we’ve been interfering in their governments with limited follow through for 100 years. Kinda like the Kurds. We hold a hand out, and then pull it back. Or hit it with a stick if we don’t like it.
There's a really easy solution to the problem of not being able to process all these needlessly complicated asylum claims.
Just let them stay. It really does not have to be more complicated than that. Give them work authorization. Let them be taxpayers and parents and neighbors. And some tiny minority, historically smaller than the percentage of native residents, will be criminals, and let them sit in one of our many prisons, like 1% of our citizenry. Let many of them be poor, like much of our citizenry, and some of them be unhealthy, like most of our citizenry. And let their kids go to school, most of them under resourced, like most of our school-age citizenry.
And then let the decades pass, and let their children be second generation Americans with a steady foothold within the middle class, with spoiled American kids of their own who barely speak Spanish. Let them be doctors and lawyers with the degrees paid for by their parents, the janitors and maids, so that their own kids can be artists and musicians.
And in 2080, if there is still an America, or a planet Earth fit for human habitation, let their descendants forget where they came from, and debate whether some poor unfortunate outsider ought to have the right to be here, and weigh solutions to the "problem" of parents seeking a future for their children in the supposed land of opportunity, the alleged home of the brave, where the only conversation seems to be about our fear of sharing our limited opportunities.
26
Alex: you sound like that guy on Billions. Easily dismissing what the rest of us see as a problem because you live in a world that will never cross our paths.
2
@Alex We don't need them here. There is no work for low skilled workers with no education. They will not pay taxes. They will be a burden on most Americans. We have the right to enforce our laws in our favor and tell them so.
Where to start?
The anger and tough guy face doesn't work, except for Trump's 'base'. Obama deported many thousands of people but didn't demonize or disrespect them.
Don't use these people as an excuse for what's wrong with the economy in the midwest states.
Hire border personnel to interview and assign people. Build habitable temporary shelter. We can afford it, the question is priorities.
Look at these central American countries; our history with some of them is nothing to be proud of. Pulling aid is not an answer, and much of it comes from non profits.
I see a lot of young women, late teens, with 1 or 2 or 3 children. Similar to recent pix of Syrians trying to get into Europe. The poorest places in the world are creating the most babies.
No matter what we do right now with our border, exploding birth rates is the problem. Anything else is tinkering and merely temporary.
From what I can tell, the religious right seems to be successful with conflating birth control and abortion. I've seen it in rural parts of this country as well as the areas mentioned.
That is the long term solution.
11
The US immigration system reached a breaking point long long ago when both parties failed to see that our borders are porous, our laws are flawed and unenforceable uniformly and the message that spread was chain migration was welcome and just enter the US pregnant and give birth on US soil and voila you have given birth to a perfectly legal US citizen who will then sponsor the parents whose child was born in the USA and so on and on. While illegal entry by millions was taking place over several decades there was no way to deport them in those numbers. In the mean time Canada, Australia, Britain and New Zealand decided they will be selective in who they allow to enter their countries and the majority they allowed brought skills and funds to start their own businesses and contribute to their economies in a big way.
Where do we go from here? No easy solutions to resolve the badly broken system. First and foremost, accept Trump's contention that America is full for now because the USA has a sky high national debt and the capacity to process asylum and immigration applications has reached a point of incompetence and crisis. All illegal entry is blocked henceforth by all means possible for a period of 10 years, all those who entered illegally or over stayed their visa expiration could be deported as soon as is possible especially those who have harmed others and only those sponsored by businesses with scarce skill be allowed to enter on a temporary basis after a heavy fee. Start.
23
Well, Trump and the Republican Congress may not have passed any immigration legislation for two years (or even held a hearing), but at least they doubled the deficit to a trillion a year, and Trump is still profiting from illegally employing slave labor. MAGA!
8
This article is misleading and irresponsible, playing into the kind of narrative that the administration wants you to believe about migration . Not only are there controls on who migrates to the US: there is a vast apparatus policing migration, detaining children and families, and deporting migrants to their country of origin. ICE deported a quarter of a million people in FY 2018. Moreover, only a very small number of people ever win asylum, so there are not problems with the laws themselves. I say this as someone who has worked preparing people for credible fear interviews- there are several elements of an asylum claim and it is very difficult to satisfy all of them.
This crisis is fueled by poverty and violence in Central America, and instead of thinking creatively and collaboratively about how to extend humanitarian protections and address the problem at the rot, the administration has cut support for organizations like CICIG in Guatemala which are working to address systemic corruption that allows organized crime to flourish.
Lastly, the only protection migrants get from the Flores settlement is that they cannot be detained indefinitely with their children. People who think the answer is to end Flores are proposing the indefinite detention of children. End of story.
4
As I read these comments I see that many of my friends from other news outlets have shown up to comment. Welcome.
Perhaps we can learn something from each other?
I actually agree with one main point. It's up to the Democrats to propose legislation for the immigration mess, and I hope they do so shortly. However you'll find that Democrats will not sacrifice principles for polices such as separating children from parents, or calling Mexicans rapists and criminals. That can't become normalized society of the US.
Ignoring that Republicans had total control of government for years and that they did nothing to solve the problem is significant. Ignoring the fact that the problem has grown significantly worse under Trump (yes look at the numbers) is fantasy. If you have different numbers, produce those for everyone to see, otherwise admit there were fewer problems at the border under Obama. If you can't admit anything, how can you compromise?
If you think Democrat's immigration policy failed then what in the world have Republican polices accomplished? And again, when in the past 8 years of Republican control did Democrats have opportunity to direct that policy?
Time for compromise.
4
While it's true that migration is, and will always be, part of the larger human experience, the severity of this situation is nothing but the spoils of Empire. The foreign policy of the United States has produced economic and social instability in the countries these migrants are fleeing. Since the time of the Monroe Doctrine, the U.S. has treated these nations as economic playgrounds. Propping up right-wing dictatorships beneficial to the financial interests of the 1%, both foreign and domestic, has insured that the poor of these nations remain in destitution.
The 'Drug War' compounded the problem, forcing those that manufactured substances consumed in the U.S. to build extensive and militant crime networks that protected their ill begotten profits at all costs, thus leading to the total corruption of governments that could otherwise be of benefit to the communities they serve. Gangs took over whole towns, producing generations of hopeless people living in fear.
We have ignored these people's stories and plight because we do not want to admit that our country is responsible. We do not want to admit how much we have ruined these people's lives because of our insatiable need for profit and our desire to insulate ourselves from really helping those that struggle with addiction. We do not want to admit that we have squandered all attempts at economic development in these nations. The problem is ours.
The chickens, as it were, have come home to roost.
5
Blaming this debacle on Trump is probably not a best strategy. Left is basically making an argument that providing a more welcoming, friendly and “human” reception would discourage not encourage people from streaming in. That is as counterintuitive as it gets.
Dems are opposing the wall, Dem Presidential candidate is on record promising to take the existing wall down,
publications and commentary on the left are celebrating the inherent demographic changes that presumably will provide them with future voters. If the public makes this mess election priority I am at loss to see how it hurts Trump politically.
16
This is a remarkable mea culpa on the part of NYT which just a few months ago would have us believe that the only real immigration issue is the current administration’s bigotry and “inhumane” policies. Yes the immigration system is broken. Yes, our “catch and release” laws are ridiculous and only compound the problem. And yes, the patchwork of policies aimed at deterring would be migrants has not worked and the last thing we need is uncontrolled influx of impoverished, infectious, low skilled South Americans. To address this issue we need to build refugee camps - similar to the ones that exist in other war torn parts of the world - both on the US side and in Mexico (let’s call the UN and have them help. Where are they in this crisis??). Everybody claiming to be a “refugee” gets put up in a camp. And remain there until their case is heard or they decide to return to their country voluntarily. Families too. No exceptions. No other country is letting people in like this. Our southern border has more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese. It’s time to stop this insanity
27
What crisis, man made or natural, does anyone think the Trump administration has handled or could handle adequately, here or abroad?
4
President Obama could not solve immigration either, as a reminder from this PBS online article from 2016:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/immigration-stands-as-obamas-most-glaring-failure
To the many who have submitted blaming Trump for this mess, his predecessor has a lot to answer for.
While I think it simplistic and extremely dangerous to "build a wall," what are the solutions? Does anyone have any realistic proposals?
10
@JDL
Fix the immigration laws. Period. Last tried in 2006, and Bush/McCain couldn’t get it past the hardliners.
1
Its so sad voters who voted the leaders are not serving them but new voters from abroad , Our democrats leaders are not doing the proper job. New immigrants are not qualified not good for our nation .
10
What President Trump is going to do to resolve these illegal immigrants problems he inherited from Obama and George W. Bush? Obama and Bush closed their eyes and allowed them to sneak into our country? I don't remember I have read any news related to this immigration problem from 2001-2016. Now we are blaming Trump as a president who against new immigrants. Looking at these photos with so many lovely and innocent kids and I am wondering what are we going to do? Sad.
4
I feel like I’ve been writing for years that if Democrats don’t address illegal immigration, the country will become more conservative, and not just on immigration. That’s the part of illegal immigration that makes me furious; all the progressive causes I care deeply about (education, environmental protection, women’s rights, healthcare) will be sacrificed due to this one “cause” that I do not believe in.
We definitely have to tighten the definition of qualifying for asylum. Domestic violence? Are you kidding me? Half the population of women in the world would qualify. And as if there’s safety from domestic violence in the U.S. - there is not.
I’m just so angry at the classic liberal bleeding heart that equated any discussion about immigration with racism. To me, that ploy is soft fascism.
I detest Trump, and my life has been tormented since he won. But in truth, I blame knee jerk liberals and their unquestioning defense of illegal immigrants for his election.
43
I am glad that the political correctness that has prevented us from speaking up is finally coming to an end.
You put your finger on the problem.
100%
Trump and his circus are probably inflating the numbers and unsurprisingly not handling this well, but honestly the Dems need to get their act together. Plenty of moderate Dems (myself included) don’t want open boarders, but rather fair and controlled immigration. Being a victim of domestic violence doesn’t cut it. Leave the city, go to another town. The answer is not to walk thousands of miles to plead asylum.
Dems need to stop saying “there’s no problem” and get some real answers and solutions on the table. Stop pretending it isn’t happening, start stiffening that upper lip and show yourself to be the competent adults in the room rather than pandering and hand-wringing.
Of course we don’t support children in cages, but what is our response to the crisis? If we don’t come up with an answer I bet dollars to donuts Trump will sail into another four years and beyond. Get it together Dems.
13
Man- this is complicated. The Right wingers do have a few fair points. Simply put, just because Guatemala is a screwed -up place does not mean that we have to let in everybody. At some point, the Guatemalans have to deal with their situation.
Comin from a dangerous, disorganized place does not make you a refugee in the traditional sense, which happens to be what our Statute codifies. A refugee is somebody at risk of persecution by a majority based on religion, politics, race etc.
From a policy POV, there is also the fact that immigration holds down wages. On the other hand, farmers need labor and Americans do not want those jobs.
having said all that, if the people in the picture were white-skinned instead of brown, does anyone doubt that trump would let them all in in heartbeat?
4
@Lefthalfbach It's more if the people spoke English, had job skills and an education that is the problem not brown skin.
The U.S. is not the only possibility, though it certainly provides the most generous assistance. Migrants can also go to other countries in Latin America, to Mexico and Canada, which actually recruits immigrants.
25
They need to fix the loophole in the law so that hoards of people are not simply presenting themselves at the border requesting for Asylum. No one would want people illegally entering their neighboring country.
As a legal worker waiting for the last 7 years in the approved for green card line, it feels absurd that someone can simply present themselves at the border and cut the line.
71
@Anonymous
As your immigration Atty should have explained to you, asylum seekers are on a significantly different track than you are. I wish you well on your journey, as I have worked with many dealing with the entire process.
We must FIX the immigration process.
3
Trump has built a crisis out of refusing to process applications, threatening to close the border and fear-mongering his base. This is not leadership; this is only politics and lies about what Democrats support ( no one has ever supported open borders.)
8
Of course immigration is presently a problem now beyond control for the US. This has become systematically so in several ways in thebpadtbyear because of Trump as part of well-planned fear strategy that generates and sustains his political base for virtual monarchy. Representstivevdemocracy has its limits relative to its intent. Firing others, as now occurring throughout DHS in order to deflect personal responsibility, is a mere tactic Trump’s well practiced with. It’s amazing how “successful” he is with this. The immigration issue is clearly one he’s focused to gain re-election. And, hard to have to admit, he’s in the process of gaining even more support and having his way through this. Sobering to realize.
2
@wak - The immigration issue is clearly one he's focused on to gain re-election. The problem with that rationale is that there is actually an immigration issue, that is of major concern to a lot of people. It is not a fluffy little matter that Trump has magnified to gain support for votes. It is real. By comparison, illegal immigration to Italy has been recognized as the #1 issue of concern to Italians regarding their well being and the stability of the country. The leader of the anti-immigrant League, Salvini, gained political headway because he detailed plans to curb illegal immigration. Italy has closed its ports to NGO rescue ships bringing in rescued migrants from the Mediterranean, few of which are awarded asylum.
8
Perpetually flooding the low-to-no-skill section of the labor market is putting perpetual downward pressure on the wages of hourly workers. In real/constant dollars, wages have been stuck for a long long time.
And yet the economy has been generating vast amounts of wealth for the past ten years, so what gives?
If you've got the nerve/stomach for it, then try doing a google image-search for:
mean household income by quintile and top 5 percent
Is there a massive, active, and growing problem with wealth distribution in this country? Yes.
Could this trend, if left unchecked, destroy this country? Yes.
There are several fronts in the battle to right the ship before it's too late. Immigration reform is one of them.
30
These Central American countries along with Mexico use migrants as a safety valve so the ruling elite in these countries are safe from a revolution. Countries like Pakistan and India actually ask other countries to take their labor so they can get get dollars from remittances so the elite can steal the money.
Giving more money to these countries only makes matters worse, our aid is stolen. It prevents change as there is no pressure to change
Immigration should be stopped just so these countries are forced to make changes
20
"'refugee advocates shocked and dismayed'over changes in asylum in budget bill", Canadian Press April 9, 2019
This is a good move on the part of the Canadian government and though it should have been implemented sooner, better late than never. Only 40,000 have crossed illegally into Canada since the start of 2017 but it is likely the huddled masses at the US southern border would be eyeing the Canadian southern border in no time, especially if President Trump enacts tougher criteria to meet asylum claims.
The Trudeau government is proposing to prevent asylum seekers from making refugee claims in Canada if they have made similar claims in certain other countries, including the United States.
Border Security Minister Bill Blair says the measure aims to prevent "asylum-shopping."
15
I have yet to understand how some comments below agree with Trump that Mexico is somehow responsible for the flood of immigrants. That the U.S. is ill prepared is clear, and this article helps on clarifying that point.
What is also not clear is how America, i.e. the United States can be "full." It appears that the U.S. needs more immigrants in cities that are basically failing. Why not give, as I have heard others suggest, immigrants and option of peopling those cities who would welcome the influx?
Yes, there needs to be some kind fo vetting process, but does it need to be this intense? And can we not hire more agents to help ameliorate this humanitarian crisis? What happened to give me your hungry, your tired, and your poor?
2
@Manuela - the hungry, the tired, and the poor? If you visit the immigration museum at Ellis Island you will learn that the immigrants, who entered the US legally were vetted. They had to be in good health and not dependent on the public purse. Those who were rejected were sent back on the Red Star line who was responsible for their return passage. Would this group at the Southern US border pass the screening process that was in effect at Ellis Island in the earlier part of the twentieth century?
15
@S Sm
Vetting? Really?
And there was minimal screening into Charleston, New Orleans, Galveston.
Immigration law is a creation of recent history.
@S Sm Actually, I am an immigrant for the U.S. myself. All I remember is that I had to hold up my hand and take an oath in front of a lady whose had was shaking. I did not have a health exam or anything else. Nor did my mother who came before me as she married an American citizen.
Borders are invisible lines drawn by tribal humans. Our country was built on immigration. Immigrants pay taxes, work, buy homes and goods and services. They make our country richer in every way. They work hard to build a better life for their children. Immigration has always happened and will always happen. We have historically been a compassionate country. Lets build opportunities for success for everyone. That starts with immigration policies that make people legal. Hate and fear are destroying our nation.
5
@Tracey Wade Taxes are not tribal lines - I want my taxes to work for me, not for those who have yet or even ever to pay them.
17
@DL
Public schools, roads, fire & police, etc.
Even people who pay rent pay for those things with you and every one else in a civilized community.
1
@Tracey Wade Let them do all of that at home. Contempt for our laws and national right to make our own immigration laws is what is destroying the nation.
To be clear it has been purposely pushed to a breaking point. Trump's bad faith efforts make it massively worse. Trump created 99% of the crisis.
9
The last paragraph, "In fact, the migrants are mostly victims of the broken immigration system. They are not, by and large, killers, rapists or gang members. Most do not carry drugs . . . " incorrectly suggests that: 1) the problems lie in our immigration system and, 2) barring criminals and sociopaths, illegal immigrants are entitled to enter the country, and that the struggling and rapidly shrinking middle class is obligated to support them. The U.S. has admitted far too many - in the tens of millions - who were simply coming for economic reasons. If the government had enforced the law (for illegal immigrants and those who employ them), the problem would not be so huge or impose such harm. American society will be dealing with the unfortunate and costly implications of a vast, illiterate and non-assimilating sub-culture for generations. Millions of American citizens go to bed hungry every night; slightly more than one in four American children lives in poverty; a third of all senior citizens cannot afford their medicine; and, many cannot afford healthcare at all. The country does not have an obligation to admit or support these people and should promptly repatriate all those who are not legally present.
24
@Sharon. A refreshingly cogent and rational comment. I would add this problem has been decades in the making, regardless of whatever Trump is doing today. Years of politicians of both parties (yep, even the Democrats) have brought us to a breaking point at which the American taxpayers are being told to work harder and longer to cover the costs of unchecked immigration. The tipping point has been met.
15
@Nancy
Yet corporate welfare supersedes humanity.
Things need to be fixed (meaning a complete overhaul of our immigration laws), but the lower class taxpayer is set against the next lowest class. Thus the focus stays on the immigrant rather than on the tax system that rewards the oligarchs and promotes division.
There are "They are not, by and large, killers, rapists or gang members" ...so as long as less than 50% are criminals its not a problem? If your getting 100,000 migrants per month, and only 1% are criminals, your getting 1000/month criminals getting in. Doesn't that seem too much? It does to me.
So it takes on the average 700 days to process their asylum app, and NYT makes it out as the US is at fault! Why is it an imperative for the US to provide a system for such large numbers? Their the ones that are requesting access to living in our country, and it seems to me, that a delay is only reasonable and understandable due to the crush of apps that are out of our control. And by getting to live in the US isn't it by implication giving migrants access to our already limited resources. Shouldn't the US give the priority to its own needy first? Why should we spend millions in order to process them in larger volumes, when you know only about 25% will be accepted? Also, the migrants are willing to spend $1000 of dollars to get illegal help, why don't we have them give the US the money for priority processing? It would be a win/win for everyone...wouldn't it?
17
So, which is it?
A: There is no border crisis, and Trump is just making it up?
B: There is a border crisis, but it's Trump's fault?
Media-Dems have suddenly (and in perfect unison) jumped from option A to option B.
25
A still remember vividly a Republican president asking Americans on Memorial Day for support of the "freedom fighters" in Central America in their struggle to defeat the Communist threat and attain democracy and prosperity. What happened?
2
@Peter Melzer
What happened?
Our nation’s apparently insatiable appetite for drugs happened.
The vast amounts of money thatcan be made have destabilized several nations south of the border.
I feel bad for those who have no choice but to flee their home countries due to gangs, murder, violence, etc. I also feel bad for those who leave for economic reasons. The thing is people who are doing well economically don't emigrate, nor do those who are wealthy enough and socially well connected enough to have good lives. The ones who are leaving are doing so because to stay means to be killed, to be raped, to starve.
I also realize that the US can't take everyone. So what do we do? Reagan granted amnesty to all illegal aliens in 1986, which was also the last time Congress enacted any immigration law changes. Neither party wants to do anything about it. I'm NOT for open borders, but I am for legal immigration and have no problem with people seeking asylum. The other problem is employers: they love illegals because they're the cheapest of the cheap labor. So while the GOP howls about "invaders" and "bad, bad people", big business and agriculture has successfully lobbied Congress to keep the borders open for a steady supply of cheap labor. If employers had to pay steep fines for the illegal aliens they hire, this would stop and the economic incentive to come to this country illegally would lessen and (hopefully) go away. This doesn't solve the problem of asylum seekers because the problem lies in their home countries. They can't fix their own countries, and that's why they're coming here. So what do we do?
13
Everyday Americans - including the Trump supporters who hate the illegals - would also have to accept paying a lot more for their food, goods, and services. I’m not holding my breath.
The most unfortunate part of all of this, politically, is that Trump has made it impossible to reach consensus on solving the issue. Some Democrats may agree with him about more aggressively addressing this crisis, but with his bluster and anti-immigrant bigotry, siding with Trump would be political suicide.
Also, as this article notes, those that would take advantage of would-be migrants as “guides” use Trump’s behavior as the perfect ingredient to whip up hysteria.
The Republicans’ extremism is, in the end, making the illegal immigration problem worse.
6
Amazing how Republicans have so many people fooled. "We can't let them in, all those free social programs they'll use will be too much of a burden on the tax payer." If Republicans would quit insisting on corporate welfare and free tax payer money given to the top 1% and shoving money down the Pentagon's throat that it isn't even asking for, there's very little we couldn't afford.
5
@Stephen Collingsworth Whether we can afford it or not, when did American tax money become an entitlement to anybody presenting themselves at our borders? Clearly we cannot afford to tale care of our homeless, our veterans, our elderly, our own poor children. We really need to get our priorities straight.
13
It's past time to admit the obvious about serious border trouble. Global warming is far more questionable. Why is the former brushed off, while the latter cited as a world calamity? Go figure.
5
U.S. (Gas and Oil Party) foreign policy produces Iraq fiasco, the main cause of the European refugee crisis. The U.S. (under GOP rule) refuses to take refugees, calling them terrorists, denying any responsibilities in the process.
The U.S. foreign policy in Central America produced rotten states that are literally unlivable for non-oligarch type citizens. Hence, causing massive migration to El Norte. They can't access the USA because Trump uses those poor souls as pawn for his brainwashing demagoguery.
Do you see a pattern?
2
Curious to know if any of the agents are interviewing these migrants to find out the names of the persons organizing the caravans, who gets paid and how much, and if there might be a connection with gangs in the sending countries.
I doubt that poor people are plunking down the amounts that several commenters have cited. They might give a down payment and are subject to blackmail with family members at home if somebody doesn't come up with the payment.
Chain of evidence, anyone? Could international law enforcement crack this exploitation?
4
And these are the economic refugees. Just wait a few more years when the climate refugees start to arrive. The problem is just beginning and sadly our useless federal government will do nothing.
14
And what should the federal government do about climate change?
1
Maybe the answer is investing in these countries. If they are able to provide jobs for their citizens, they will stay where they are. In the long run, investments may be the better approach to immigration.
In the short run, find a good organized charity and sponsor a family there. I have been doing that for 20 years and I have helped my family build a descent life where they are. The cost: $35 a month. The return on investment: happy faces.
4
Thank you, NYT - for putting this issue front and center where it belongs - on front pages.
Whether one agrees with POTUS and his administration enforcement - thus is a problem for all to see.
Perhaps, with this type of reporting and hopefully more reporting and op-ed pieces - the Democrats may actually seize the opportunity - and not demagogue the issue
Pehpas, work on some common sense changes to our broken system.
22
Even if a filibuster proof majority of Democrats and Republicans in Congress negotiated a series of common sense reforms, I think Trump would pull the rug out at last minute. That’s been his pattern. So unless there’s a veto proof majority in Congress and Republicans willing to override a veto, I doubt anything will pass.
If there are no fixes by 2020, it won’t just hurt Democrats. Republican incumbents will need to explain why they can’t make a deal, or why Trump scuttles every bipartisan compromise they achieve.
3
This is what happens when we have an 'unprecedented' presidency and a weak administration. Burdened with two wars and a global recession inherited, our last president would still have handled this humanitarian emergency crisis better because he is a visionary, a realist, a responsible caring leader, and his mention that 'it's a messy world out there' was enough to draw criticism from the public and the press.
It is not only our U.S. Immigration System that is broken, but our Health Care Program, and what makes America great. A thunderous moral blight in plain sight, a deep fracture of fear in our homeland's heart and spirit, if there is a God, we can hope that these children will be protected.
6
Our own citizens in the inner cities face these very same challenges and several states are already being bankrupted providing the various free social services to immigrants that are already here. Many of the people trying to cross the border are simply gaming the system to take advantage of very generous social welfare benefits. Something must be done to stem the tide of immigration no matter how difficult for the groups trying to come in. We have more than enough issues to handle with these groups now without an additional large influx.
70
@F DiLorenzo
Immigrants are a net positive to the economy. They contribute more than they get.
2
I hope the public school districts in which many of these children will end up are ready to build mobile classrooms and higher A TON of English language learner teachers. Not to mention the free and reduced lunches.
The stress on these systems and their property tax payers must be incredible.
64
@Moe, Spend a week or heck a day in the LA Public School district ad find out what is there. Our future. Not looking too good these days.
20
@Moe. I live in SoCal. It truly is incredible.
14
@Moe Yes, the stress is incredible. My community is one. I hope to be able to sell my house soon and move. The tax burden and the social services burden is huge. When the local Rotary Club's membership is populated by more people who run/work in non-profits & gov't than by business people, you know your community is in a downward economic spiral.
17
Immigrants are not bad people. It's not bad that they want to get into the US. It is not surprising that if they can't get in legally they will try to get in anyway.More immigrants are good.
Congress has refused to deal with the immigration issue for decades. We have an incompetent president and administration that I guarantee you has not had one task force or cabinet level working group to develop a comprehensive and humane way to develop or reform systems to approach the immigrants coming into the US in a rational & systematic way.
In the meantime there have been 12 million people from Europe, Asia, Africa & South America flying into the US, ship lining into the US, and walking into the US.
These people have integrated into our society, bar the usual criminals in any group of people, and taken mostly the traditional jobs that low skill people take as immigrants as they learn the language and absorb the new social atmosphere.
We are not full. We have a generation of Baby Boomers who need help as they move into the twilight of their lives and many , many places where more people are needed to keep the areas from completely dying.
Another 10 million people would do no harm and probably would be a net positive.
Let them come, but pass an immigration bill to track European and Asian visa over stayers, provide the judges to deal with those seeking asylum and spend billions on economic development programs in Central America to lessen the lure of a much better life in the US.
11
The crisis is the criminal inaction of the United States Congress and all its representatives of both parties. Both sides are guilty of making political hay out of humanitarian debacle. Democrats insist that closed borders and enforcement of the rule of law is immoral and "not us". Republicans claim that undesirable criminals, rapists, murderers, and abusers of our system of humanitarian aid and asylum are the culprits. In Central America and in Mexico authorities close their eyes as millions of refugees and others seek a better future in America. In the White House the President asserts that there is an invasion of our country and we must seal the border if necessary. The President imposed his own special brand of cruelty separating children from parents and refusing to make any accommodation for young children who had no choice but to accompany their parents and grew up, basically as American children but with nary a chance for citizenship. Fox News and CNN have their own special brands of political propaganda and besiege America nightly with tales of terror and abuse. The courts, human services, ICE, Homeland Security, border patrol agents and everyone involved in this crisis are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of immigrants.
The source of the problem as pointed out is Central America. But the Trump administration is largely the most culpable for the current crisis. Unless Congress finds the courage to act the migrants will continue to come. There is little hope.
10
It has been obvious for years that we needed more immigration judges, more border guards and more facilities. Failure to hire and to build has caused our problems.
14
I find it hard to believe that anyone supports the incredible cruelty towards desperate people including children. Trump, Sessions, Mulvaney, Kushner and others are causing incredible suffering to the point of kids dying and families being separated with no hope of reuniting.
There are problems at the border but there is no justification for how it's been handled by the Trump mob.
11
We are already bankrupt, trillions of dollars in debt. Why should we be obliged to take care of these people and give them medical care. Many of them seem to be migrating because they are sick.
Our laws and international laws are clearly not suited to this crisis. The laws should be confronted. How can they be used to require us to take on costs we cannot afford?
36
@Audaz
Immigrants have been a net positive to the economy. That is they put more into the economy than they take out.They work, they pay taxes. Look it up.
5
@LibertyLover
You're looking up the wrong sources. Look up Numbers USA.
1
@LibertyLover. Sources?
How many years have politicians of both parties been kicking this can down the road?
33
@Rob Brown. Well to read a lot of these comments, it just happened when Trump took over. Which is news to most of us.
3
Trump didn't cause the problem, but he has offered only one "solution" - keep them out with a physical wall. Worse, in order to get support from his base he continually dehumanizes the migrants.
What many of us react to viscerally is Trump's dehumanizing speech: we KNOW what that leads to. We know it's also a false idol set up to distract from problems which threaten our stability in larger ways. And when the President rants about the dangers of these people, he does what he has done before -winking at open expressions of hatred, supporting false accusations, and implying that violence against the group being dehumanized is justified -- just for self defense.
In real life and in real-politick, yes, the democrats have to come up with a response and a plan that is balanced but isn't controlled by wanting to simply strike back at Trump's overt cruelty.
1
@cheryl...."Trump didn't cause the problem,"...Really? How come when Obama was President illegal immigration into the U.S. was at a 40 year low and there were no caravans of asylum seekers crossing Mexico?
1
The time Trump spends whipping up his base should be spent on learning to understand immigration, finding intelligent, informed ways to address it, and setting up humane procedures to control it.
He skims along on the surface of what he calls the immigration emergency, cherry picking the most violent images he can find to use as back-up for threats that his followers see as the mark of a strong leader.
He is no better than the white supremacists who use aggressive rhetoric to get mobs to support them.
As long as Trump is in the White House we will get nowhere in dealing with any of this.
4
The simple amd uncomfortable truth is, is that all the wall, border agents, promised cruelty upon entry or bellowing from our President in the world will not stop people from trying to enter this country legally or illegally, as long as the situation in their home countries remains untenable.
This crisis needs to be addressed at the other end of the migration, at its source. By the time they reach our border, it’s too late.
If the choices are between possible entry into the US by any means, or certain death at the hands of gangs or starvation in their home countries, this crisis will lot end.
7
this board has been taken over by who knows who.
the donald and sessions went out of their way to break the immigration system and they succeeded. That's a fact.
6
Exactly. Well said.
Build the wall, the migrant flow will fall. It’s not a simplistic solution. It’s a simple one. A barrier makes sense. No need to reinvent a wheel here.
30
@Aweskme
It's not simple and it is not a solution. The wall is a campaign slogan. Building a wall or barrier would be a major 10-15 year infrastructure project. It's not even a realistic engineering project. Think about it. It took 35 years to build the interstate highway system. Let's use some common sense.
7
@Aweskme - Humans can go over, under, or around walls. What the Wall will do is block animal migration (with the exception of birds and burrowing rodents; they'll be OK).
That being said, I do think building the Wall is probably a good idea. John Maynard Keynes once said that you could pay people to dig holes and fill them up again, and it will still have economic benefit. Similarly, Wall-building could be a great public works project (mostly for Trump supporters, lol, but whatever). Then after the Trump family is done with the presidency (sometime around 2036, assuming Ivanka and Jared succeed Papa Don), we can tear it down again, providing additional jobs for demotion crews. It's a win-win situation all around. MAGA!
3
@Aweskme
Asylum seekers present themselves at the border. They walk through legally to have their application for asylum adjudicated. This is a large part of the immigrants seeking to enter the US.
The wall is useless.
1
"The U.S. Immigration System may have reached a breaking point."
Sadly, like health care in this country, the "immigration system" is not a "system"
System: "a regularly interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole"
Nothing "regularly interacting," "interdependent" or "forming a unified whole" in our immigration practices, which are worse than ever under Trump.
9
In my neighborhood, thousands of Guatemalans have arrived in the last year.
Does anyone agree it's time for a complete moratorium on all immigration? 5 or 10 years, perhaps? Enough time for the USA to catch it's breath and take care of the people already living here?
71
In reading a number of comments I really see very little in the way of concrete solutions. Only a reflection of people’s hard line entrenched political views. Not really helpful if we’re going to address a very real problem. One thing I would say is yes the system is being overwhelmed and there is a crisis handling and managing a staggering number of migrants but to those saying the “country is burning,” I can only say that is ridiculous hyperbole. Our economy continues to be strong, unemployment incredibly low, and the jobs these folks are taking, if they can even find work, are not ones I see Americans lining up to do. The total immigration system needs reform and not one thing will solve the problem. More temporary housing, vastly more judges and administrative support to deal with these cases faster, more medical personnel, diplomatic efforts in the country’s where they’re coming from and our neighbor Mexico, and yes effective border security. But unless we can sit down together, find common ground and compromise the situation will only get worse.
7
Simplify:
Farm businesses can sponsor workers and their families and they simply receive a visa which they renew like a drivers license at the DMV. They sponsor they get it until we find issues.
Foreign labor expand and simplify existing visa programs. Renew at DMV visas like license.
Citizenship requires 5 years working before process begins. Citizenship test requires comprehensive English tests etc. Maybe copy Canada’s test system so we are unified.
Threats of violence. Setup appropriate embassies and support in countries where people can apply. Appropriately staff such places and investigate such claims and if valid allow them to immigrate on a lottery system. Not like 2000 per year but more like 100,000 per year. We can handle it with our population no problem.
Citizenship path is 5 years start after living here in appropriate visas that qualify such as work visas. Must pass appropriate back ground checks. Speeding doesn’t count etc and last illegal migration previous to law doesn’t disqualify but will moving forward if you weren’t in the system past passage of bill.
Immigrants on visa will be given the same protection as citizens. They must be able to come forward and talk to us and participate fully without fear of reprisal. Immigrants should be able to report employer abuses with special protections as is reasonable.
4
Maybe it’s time for both Republicans and Democrats to put aside their differences and do what is best for America. All the parties can stop with the tweets, ridiculous statements and posturing. Be adult enough to discuss the issues without personalizing them. This matter has reached the breaking point for our country. Human lives continue to remain at stake. Stop using them as a means to get elected. Politicians are elected to do work for America. Do the work you are getting paid for.
15
The Trump administration's policy is failing at the border, no surprise there. No other president has announced they are closing the border like Trump, now migrants are crashing the gates in a last ditch effort to get in.
No surprise Trump created the crisis, but what is scary is how he plans to address the crisis. Installing Stephen Miller as the border Czar, a professed racist since his high school days, is no way to run a country.
5
Got to go to the source. got to make their countries livable and safe. Got to spend money and effort in getting rid of the gangs
,corrupt politicians.Got to promote economics and jobs. This is what we have got to do.
Stop The arguing, name calling, blame and lets get a solution. Democrats, Repubs, Independents we all want to solve this problem in a humane way.Building walls, imprisoning people will not be the answer.
3
Trump is the face of this disaster but the Democrats share the blame for their promotion of amnesties (regardless of what they call them) over recent years. A pox on all their houses.
16
@farhorizons...So why weren't there problems at the border during the Obama Administration?
1
@W.A. Spitzer
If you're unaware of the role of Democrats in immigration failure, please read the many comments to this article (and replies).
Is this a surprise when the ball has been kicked down the road for years and building a wall is mocked.
21
The hypocrisy of this paper and most of the commentators is breathtaking, they derided every attempt by Trump to protect the border, at least some of which were sensible and without offering a solution of their own, then ran to the 9th circyt court to sue to stop any policy from implementing, and now that the crisis reached epic proportions, they are blaming Trump. I am beyond outraged, they are true anti-Americans, no country can survive this
50
It’s the way Trump says it. Maybe if he didn’t hold tantrums we would take his policy seriously. The way it comes out of his mouth is the reason I don’t listen to his policies. Sure you have to come in legally, unlike the first white settlers. My mother came from Italy through the proper channels and I agree with that.
6
@Anthony
Focus on the message not on the messenger. I do not like Trump as person at all but his policies are crucial for America's survival right now
12
@Jon
Democrats have made immigration their "signature" anti-Trump cause. That is the reason for our border mess.
8
It is sad beyond measure that it took this obvious crisis (when the Gray Lady notes it is a "meltdown", take notice) and humanitarian disaster to get everyone's attention. No, columnist Manjoo, and guest op-ed writers who have done so, you need not provocatively call for open borders. They are here de facto if not de jure, as explained excellently by Times reporters.
This overview demonstrates that the backlog in judicial review of asylum claims is so large in number and so delayed in resolution that migrants simply stop cooperating and meld into American society illegally. Who can blame them under the circumstances?
Where do we go from here? Doing nothing may be tempting but puts families at risk and in the hands of smugglers. The triangle of troubled countries to our south may one day improve their societies. But that day seems far off. As repulsive as this President and his "base" are in their xenophobia, bigotry, and law breaking , at least they propose something.
The White House plan is awful and illegal, but Americans may come to think, "so what?". Are there statesmen from both parties willing to come up with a temporary fix pending a comprehensive reform of our relevant laws?
6
The idea that anyone can say one word- asylum- and get in is ridiculous. Asylum may be legit in the first country you reach, ie your neighboring country. Mexicans are not fleeing Mexico. People come here because we give better services.
Beggars cannot be choosers. If there is a humanitarian crisis in central America, the UN needs to step in and help, and distribute refugees around.
And our laws need to be changed- no more chain migration. If you work here and become a citizen or have a green card, why should your elderly parents come here and get medicaid, meaning everyone pays for them, and doctors pay twice working for free. I agree with amnesty for dreamers, but not citizenship. Perhaps a 'yellow card'..... stay, live, work, come, go, but never a vote, and never 'sponsor' family. One misdemeanor conviction and you are deported. But then END the illegal migration and solve this once and for all.
35
@NY Surgeon, All excellent recommendations, thank you.
4
@NY Surgeon. You’re right. Let’s end chain migration. We can start by sending Melania’s family back to Slovenia.
1
@sterling in Brooklyn
Disagree. This is an economic and national stability issue -- not race. We already have too many poor, desperate, uneducated, unskilled people here. We are not even helping or taking care of our own citizens.
You don't get to label everyone a racist or xenophobic just because they disagree with your opinion on the issue. Instead of calling people racist try thinking objectively about the issues.
29
Based on some of the comments I'm seeing, some folks are getting very choosy about their fake news.
Suddenly, this article is very real to the Trumpers.
6
The thought that I continually think about is that these people are escaping horrible and brutal situations. Can many of you actually imagine what it would be like to live in a town or city where you have almost no safety. You are at the mercy of gangs and sex and drug traffickers. I think that it is time that we work together to come up with ways to help these people rather than continuing to demonize them.
8
As climate change progresses and makes the Southern Hemisphere uninhabitable, where do you think all the people who are still alive will go....? NORTH. So it’s Trump’s folly in ignoring science and climate change and going with his (substantial) gut’s feeling that will cause the greatest migration calamity ever.
2
@RC
If the climate change is the cause, then the best climate in the world seems to be in Western civilization countries that, oh what a coincidence, also just happened to be the richest. Mind you, these countries include Canada, Australia and Nordic countries that have almost perpetual winter
4
That the President who seems semi-demented can be the President of the United States and we cannot figure out a system ahead of time to deal with poverty and Gang Warfare in the Central American Northern Triangle is outrageous. The USA is capable of absorbing the entire population of these countries (22 million) without that much difficulty, not to say it would be a good idea. The U.S. is trying hard to be a backward poor country like Bangladesh or the Sudan. We might succeed with the current quality of leadership
2
"These days, thousands of people a day simply walk up to the border and surrender. Most of them ..... seeking to escape from gang violence, sexual abuse, death threats.... The smugglers have told them they will be quickly released, as long as they bring a child, and that they will be allowed to remain in the United States for years while they pursue their asylum cases."
First they are coming under their own initiative then suddenly there are smugglers involved whom have apparently induced them to come here. I'm thinking at a bare minimum you have the cart before the horse.
It is as if the authors were republicans working for the president.
How about you first define what the "problem" actually is. AFAIK immigrants however they get here have always made us a better nation. The papers keep telling us the economy is booming. Exactly how is more people going to be a bad thing? I think we need to confront the truth that Trump et al are liars. They have had several reasons for why "these people" should not be given any aid. When does the old adage "You know a person is lying when there is more than one reason to explain a thing. The fake asylum claim is something like the ninth reason why they oppose helping these people.
5
When do we say enough is enough? We are not the nations innkeeper.
28
Refugees are not the same as immigrants.
5
There will be rise in mumps, scabies, TB, and viral infections in the very near future. Will the US medical community be able to cope with the enormous increase? Will there be enough beds to treat US citizens too?
32
Probably not because Trump cut funding to National Institutes of Health, questions safety of vaccines, and generally wages war on science.
4
@Jimmy, Nope and nope. They're already dealing with the enormous, illegal immigrant hospital overflow. Particularly in Cali and Florida and the SW.
Schools in the LA public school district are modern day petri dishes full of communicable diseases that we thought we'd eradicated or held at bay for decades. No mo'
15
I think what we are seeing are the long term effects of sowing instability in Latin America and the political chess games of the cold war. It is no different than bringing instability to the mid east which culminated with the rise of isis and the mass migration into Europe.
This won’t get easier as long as corruption, crime, and poverty are the first things that come to mind when thinking of these countries. Whether that means taking a more involved approach with how aid is used or encouraging transparent democracy/law & order ideals is hard to say.
12
The mixed signals from media sources are not helping. 2 weeks ago, it was "Immigration at southern border at lowest since 2000" but now we read about a "breaking point". If today's reporting is correct, then yes, there is a crisis.
That said, dealing with the problem by heavy hand as Trump is proposing is precisely the wrong direction. It will diminish what's left our worldwide reputation for being fair and humane.
And it is just wrong.
It is too late to effectively deal with this wave of migrants. It will cost us dearly in both dollars and benevolence. We will muddle through.
If Trump wan't to be the immigration "hero" he will sign a well debated, thoughtful immigration bill that lessens the likelihood of this occurring in the future.
Donald: Please prove me wrong that "thoughtful" and your name cannot appear in the same sentence.
5
Commenters have written so many thoughtful recomemndations and suggestions for addressing this issue.
Why do we not hear discussion of even 1/4 of these ideas in the media?
Answer:
Powerful interests like things as they are. Industry (tech, hospitality, agriculture, prisons) want cheap labor and bigger profits, and religious, political, and ethnic groups want to increase their numbers and their power. As long as these powerful interests benefit from things pretty much as they are, even with the current chaotic situation, nothing will change.
24
The immigration system might be the first casualty of many other American institutions that will succumb to the rapacious abuse of the so called "refugees." The masses of desperate people are driven by the complacency of self described liberals who feel compelled to "help" these unmanageable waves of economic migrants who see the loopholes, created by decades of manipulation by bipartisan political chicanery, as a major opportunity to claim refugee status. The immigration system was never intend to deal with such conditions. US immigration law must change to prevent the eventual demise of the American institutions designed to provide for the common good. This is the message that apparently the democrats refuse to listen, but that resonates with most Americans, who are tired of paying for all the social services given to people who come to the US hoping for a better life, but unprepared to assume a self supporting role in society. Whether manufactured or not, this crisis is working to ease the advent of Trump's second term.
40
Thank you for this balanced reporting. Immigration is a complex and obviously, thorny issue. Being humane should not be.
9
A number of comments try to deny that a crisis exists because 1.2 million crossings per year is still below the peak of 1.6 million around Y2K. The 1.6 million actually included far more double counting because many were single men from Mexico who did not make asylum claims and often voluntarily departed to avoid a formal deportation and then attempted to cross again soon thereafter which meant many crossed and were caught more than once per year. Even when they did go through deportation, it was usually quick and they only had to be bused to the border, not flown to Central America.
Though most researchers agree that a most illegal border crossing is driven by poverty rather than violence victimization, women and children often have more credible asylum claims that necessitate full hearings so they stay rather than cross multiple times.
Thus the current 1.2 million annual illegal border crossings likely represent more unique persons crossing than ever before. Plus, most are remaining in the country seeking asylum rather than temporary work so more are staying. Further, the immigration courts have more pending cases than ever before and detention centers are holding more people than ever before.
With 1.2 million unauthorized annual arrivals, 250K deportations and few voluntary departures, there are likely, more illegal immigrants in the US than ever before.
The Times is right when they call it a crisis. We do not have the capacity to sustain the status quo.
25
My Scandinavian great grandparents had ten children. Many emigrated to the U.S. In countries without women’s health and family planning, offspring have to seek sustenance away from home. Central America has been sorely lacking in family planning. The elites like to keep people struggling so they can get cheep labor. Not humane.
14
The drug gang wars are not helping people stay at home either.
2
"The country is now unable to provide either the necessary humanitarian relief for desperate migrants or even basic controls on the number and nature of who is entering the United States."
Enough said! This needs to stop. We've done more than we can afford already.
41
Nonsense. We are the richest country in the world. The money to pay for facilities to relieve these conditions and to hire more immigration judges would be an infinitesimal fraction of our national budget. Every one who has been paying attention has known for years that we needed more judges to clear the backlog. The Trump administration has deliberately allowed this problem to balloon so they could use it for political purposes.
We need to develop a new set of policies vis-a-vis the governments of Central America - extending a substantial carrot to those governments who work with us to solve the problems that are driving their citizens to our borders and a stick to those who do not.
We cannot take all of the people who would want to come here - but we can try to leverage our economic and military might to improve the humanitarian and political situation in these troubled nations.
Also, we need to exercise a zero tolerance policy towards the gangs that are at the center of this crisis. President Obama made the mistake of deporting thousand of these gang members back to the region, and they have in turn made the situation i n their countries that much worse. While I support exploring alternatives to incarceration with non-violent populations, these violent gang members may need to be warehoused for the rest of their natural lives.
In conclusion, our best bet to address the humanitarian crisis that is impelling these migrations is to address that crisis where it begins, and to put electoral politics far behind us when doing so - on both sides.
4
@Matthew Carnicelli
The reality is that democrats and liberal judges will fight every measure that doesn't keep the door open.
6
Even when Mr. Trump is telling the truth on the immigrant problems on the southern border, it is hard to believe him; he has screamed "wolf" too many times when not warranted. When Trump descended from the stairs to announce his candidacy in 2015, he began with a diatribe against immigrants using some choice words. Since then even when he narrates reality, people think it is a political drama.
3
@PK2NYT
Why should our nation's immigration policy be constrained by any individual's negative feelings toward President Trump? Why should our border remain open because people don't like how he sounds?
This isn't about whether or not you *like* the president.
Wake up, people
Let’s dig the root of the problem. The United States international intervention policy in the affairs of the Latin American countries, for many years, its showing the results. The ugly truth no one in any of the US administrations, past or present, want to admit. United States has been a champion in destabilizing people’s lives for decades.
13
The truth not being talked about...
1
We need a guest worker program that allows for transition to citizenship, coupled with mandated e-verify program to stop employers from exploiting illegal immigrants. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and GOP are strongly opposed to both options. They only pretend to be anti immigrant. The cheap labor provided by the least among us has always served big business interests.
12
Everyone needs to call their representatives and senators every single day until they do something to comprehensively reform immigration in this country.
8
"In fact, the migrants are mostly victims of the broken immigration system. They are not, by and large, killers, rapists or gang members. Most do not carry drugs. They have learned how to make asylum claims, just as the law allows them to do. And nearly all of them are scared — of being shipped off to Mexico, separated from their children, sent to prison. Scared, especially, of going home."
How does the Times possibly know this fact with such certainty? It is just vouching for almost all of these immigrants as a group? All of the people that the reporters have anecdotally talked to have had sympathetic stories, so they must all be scared, innocent people.
According to the article, most of the recent surge in asylum seekers is comprised of people running from gang violence in their home countries. Are we just going to ignore the obvious inference that the violent, dangerous people know just as well as their victims that they can cross the US border and tell a sad story to the border patrol in order to get in the system and be released into the US in the meantime? Why wouldn't a dangerous criminal be able to fabricate testimony and circumstantial evidence of persecution. They can just tell a detailed story from the perspective of their own victims.
The only reasonable conclusion based on the actual facts is that there is increasingly a crisis at the border and no one has a solution that both sides can get behind. That is the story. It is not a creation of Trump.
23
We must do something about the extreme poverty and suffering in Central America. What Trump is doing by canceling aid is a travesty.
3
@Mary Do you know how many BILLIONS of dollars are sent ot each and every south and central Americna country? Where is that money going? Likely into the pockets of the corrupt government.
19
Looking at the most popular comments, I notice that many come from a place far removed from the southern border with Mexico.
Looking at the most popular comments, I sense an adoption of trump's unsubstantiated claim that America has run out of room. It appears that nativism remains firmly entrenched in the American experience.
As the author's note ""Most of them are from Central America, seeking to escape from gang violence, sexual abuse, death threats and persistent poverty."
I was taught in school that America is a place of refuge for persons fleeing such conditions. A large number of these popular comments to this article appear to have abandoned that belief.
In such an environment, the Irish who fled starvation would have had to look elsewhere for relief.
9
@Phil Hurwitz
You wrote: "Looking at the most popular comments, I sense an adoption of trump's unsubstantiated claim that America has run out of room."
This is not about room, but about our resources. There are states that are not very densely populated, but by directing those people to live there would not automatically result in jobs and their self-sufficiency. The US taxpayers would have to be sustaining them. A state like Maine, for example, has low population density because there are no jobs, and no capital to create them.
Also, just because we still have some wild, unoccupied areas does not mean we need to destroy them with more human settlement.
People don't realize how much "empty room" all over the country is needed to produce food and other goods that are consumed in all the dense cities that we already have.
He has turned loose the rhetoric that has freed the underbelly of the world freedom to act. Those running to the US are victims of that freedom.
Spot on. The problem isn't so much that people are coming. People have ALWAYS come to America. The first wave of immigrants killed most of the resident population by virtue of disease, so the current situation is mild by comparison. Human migration has always been a "thing" and will continue to be. The real problem now is that the US has no sound, organized, evidence-based way of dealing with the influx. I'm basically liberal, but am open to a variety of ways to deal with it, as long as they aren't knee-jerk, simplistic reactions, like building a wall or (on the other side) completely open borders.
270
@Syliva
“The real problem now is that the US has no sound, organized, evidence-based way of dealing with the influx.”
Um, detaining them and sending them back over the border works?
This is where democrats spend a lot of time talking and arrive back at the fact that they support open borders. Real left wingers claim that something needs to be done but actually doing anything such as detaining those who illegally enter the country is deemed unacceptable.
43
@Syliva
Somewhere between "knee-jerk" and "completely open borders" is where we are--i.e., nowhere, but certainly, if things continue, headed to cultural and fiscal suicide. Why pay taxes anymore when they no longer serve the citizens and their families but rather the political ambitions on both sides of the deep-swamp that seek to use identity politics to their own end--illegal immigrants being just one?
35
@Alice's Restaurant
Alice - good point. Both sides are and have been doing political grandstanding on the issue of immigration. -...as to "paying taxes anymore", our "safety net" is so tattered - what with over $700 billion to the military and so much to Corporate healthcare - while we have the largest income inequality of any "rich" nation in the world, that it's pretty discouraging to be an "ordinary" citizen these days.
22
Economic migrants should not qualify for asylum and should be admitted only if they have education and skills that would make them valuable members of our society. PaulN, immigrated to the US of A over 40 years ago.
32
Arguing that only migrants with strong skills that will help the work force makes sense, but looking into the future it creates many problems. Not to be stereotypical, but many lower class jobs are filled by migrants, legal or not, and without this population others must to fill their place. Even when migrants have special skills, a total shift of attitude would need to be made to actually integrate them into high class jobs right away. Most immigrants start out poor, but aspire to become a working family of America and not an immigrant working day to day to escape their old county. And many do, even if it takes generations after the initial move. In conclusion, all migrants should have an equal chance of entering the US, at least not based on their skill set.
1
@Eddie Sulborski No one is entitled to move here, let alone unskilled people The solution to Latino poverty and massive overpopulation is not breaking into our nation.
Do you think it would be a “crisis” if the migrants were white? The problem is that so much of the debate is wrapped up in the racial anxieties of the all white Republican Party.
10
Place asylum seeker processing agencies into the middle american countries the refugees are coming from, and completely stop processing refugees near the Mexican border. Then fly successful refugees directly to the USA.
10
@sissifus
Don't know if it will work, what the attendant problems might be, but at least it's a new approach.
@sissifus former President Obama floated this idea years ago. Fortunately this foolish solution from a brilliant man did not happen. Do you really want to create a bureaucracy to handle 30 million claims for asylum?
1
@sissifus About a year ago, I read an interview with Joe Biden where he claimed that was one of the solutions the Obama administration used when they had that surge of unaccompanied minors ~2014. Because so many of them were being abused by the smugglers on their way to the border, they felt it would be safer for them to have their asylum claims assessed in their home countries. I really wonder why no one else has pointed this out or suggested it.
If one were not a member of the "wise one's" of the NY Times one might think that the chaos you now admit to is a National Emergency.
It's getting hard to keep track of how many times the Times has been dead wrong as Trump has been [proven right. Hope you all noticed that Barr confirmed the Trump campaign was spied upon by US intelligence agencies.
I'd say he ought to know, wouldn't you? Remember how much scorn the NY Times and others heaped upon Trump when he said his campaign was spied upon?
Like I say, it's getting hard to keep track!
26
America is having its Angela Merkel moment, and despite having four years to witness what her foolish reaction has done to Europe, the Democrats are still screaming, "We can do this!"
And Trump laughing all the way to the bank, and the 2020 election.
48
I'm a Democrat for open borders. There's only a crisis if you stop them and detain them. Then yes - things get crowded. Open the borders. Let them in. They will find places to go. It's only because we detain them that they are all jammed together in cages.
2
I guess the question is where do they go and who pays their first and last months rent? In theory a world without boarders sounds great but good luck in practice.
25
Dangerous people are leading the United States and being appointed to DHS. This is an absolute disgrace. These administrative criminals need to go to trial.
Vote in 2020. Indict in 2021.
4
This can't be because the democrats and their media cheerleaders just spent weeks telling us that there is no emergency or crisis...
35
This article appears to address two issues: an in-depth look at the immigration system and an extended slam at Trump. The first is extremely useful; we seldom get the detailed explanation of a complicated subject that we need. The second may be true but it is stale and banal. We have heard it all many times before, but continuous repetition it appears to be compulsory in the Newspaper Of Record. Please save the space and devote it to more novel material.
12
Just last week, I commented on another article, that millions were on their way, with families, and someone replied mockingly, so is the sky is falling, too?
35
Democrats, CNN, MSNBC, and other media outlets spent months telling us there was no crisis on the boarder. Their obsession hating all things Trump is doing harm to the country. The lie has been revealed and it was not Trump lying to the country.
30
It is unusual for me to read an article in the NYT and read many of the comments and end up without a good sense of what the facts are and how they can be pieced together to tell a story or even alternate narratives. Perhaps I should read Crossing the Border (although this article does little to commend it to me. Rarely do I see reader comments which primarily express opinions rather than illuminating with facts. (The readers are correct in that this article skips any explanation of how we went from "no crisis" to "the border is broken".) We need both more facts, better reporting, and an opportunity for readers to build a better understanding of this complex topic.
5
Lurking in this humanitarian crisis is a motivated terrorist who is trying to cross the border and inflict great harm. We now also have a security crisis on top of everything else.
16
Trump and Pence need to be ousted from the White House in order to begin a humanitarian approach to immigration.
Second, we need to understand the role the United States has played in Mexico and Central America's governments.
Third, we need to invest in the economies of these countries before the Chinese get a foothold.
4
If "the US immigration system is broken" is really true, then it is testimony to the fact that active vigorous efforts to break a system, ignore problems, exacerbate problems, and invent problems is a success. Republicans have demonized and weaponized the whole "immigration" issue since Trump glided down his gilded escalator from his imperial apartments to grace American with his own special brand of divisive, hateful, incendiary and xenophobic speech. After years of trying, Republicans have found success in destroying so much of the nation's administrative structure for processing immigration that the rest is sorely overstressed. Of course, this being Trump, instead of working to improve the system, or solve the problems, Trump wants to "build a Wall"... and ignore the whole thing. Then ramp up intrusive, repressive, and authoritarian internal efforts to root out and deport anyone not having the 'right background'. Except for the phrase "Aryan purity" it is all familiar... and Trump might yet go there. His fellow travelers sure seem to think he's sympathetic to their 'cause'. If Trump and Republicans thought "the US immigration system is broken" was really a problem, there was a comphrensive, bipartisan immigration reform bill passed in the Senate in 2013 by a veto-proof majority, that the Republican House didn't bring up because they preferred to use "immigration" as a political weapon. They could bring that bill up again, fund the system properly and solve the problems.
3
I have been to Central America and the people are the most genuine people I have ever meet. The horror that they face from the gangs is very real. When you meet a women who had he tongue cut out because she talked to much. Then you can tell me that there lying to get into this country. I have room in my home right now, tonight for a family. I am sure I am not alone. What’s broken is the hearts of our politicians.
5
@Ken Wieland, what always puzzles me is how such decent people produce or turn into such vicious gang members. One can only conclude that these are imported gangs then doing the terrorizing down in Central America. Your offer for the night is generous but have you considered tomorrow and the day after? If it was that simple AirB&B could fix the problem for us. These people need a whole new life. When I’m stuck in traffic every morning the way of life of a remote jungle village seems kind of like a luxury to me. It’s a pity those places they’re fleeing had to get so wasted.
4
The system is broken because the political system is broken and can't come up with a fix. So, illegal immigrants are streaming through the holes we are not able to mend. It doesn't have to be that way. Maybe politicos could come together around a concept of second class citizenship, not slavery, but something akin to indentured servitude. There is tremendous human potential going to waste while these people could be harnessed for agricultural work, infrastructure projects (remember the Chinese who built the railroads), sweatshop piece work, even medical trials. There has always been work that Americans won't do so maybe we need to expand our notions of what constitutes human dignity and what types of exploitation are allowable as an alternative to getting raped or shot in your home country. Surely, this is more attractive than admitting our role in creating the horrible conditions in countries where drug trafficers fight turf wars over access to American users.
@phil morse
Your modest proprogal will probably get no traction, only criticism, but something akin to it might be needed.
The US citizens who are going to be most injured by this migration are poor US citizens. Already major cities cannot house their current homeless populations. To compound the problem, in most locations, preference for the limited housing available goes families even if they are all illegal immigrants. A poor US homeless citizen, a single person, a crazy or disabled person, is at the bottom of the list for help.
The article states: ‘“They said they would take us by bus. We would be safe,” said Jeremias Pascoal, 16, who crossed into Texas earlier this month after paying $3,200 for a “guide” who showed his group to a road where he said they could surrender to the Border Patrol.’. A 16-year-old kid with $3200 is far wealthier than 90 Million US citizens who have a net-worth of $2,000 or less. What kind cruelty justifies letting a 40-year-old alcoholic or schizophrenic US citizen without a cent in his or her pocket die sleeping outdoors in a public park?
“These days, thousands of people a day simply walk up to the border and surrender. Most of them are from Central America, seeking to escape from gang violence, sexual abuse, death threats and persistent poverty.” Just where can US citizens go to “escape from gang violence, sexual abuse, death threats and persistent poverty.”?
27
“The resulting crisis has overwhelmed a system unable to detain, care for and quickly decide the fate of tens of thousands of people who claim to be fleeing for their lives. For years, both political parties have tried — and failed — to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws, mindful that someday the government would reach a breaking point.”
At best disingenuous, at worst populist rhetoric, in either case unworthy of the New York Times.
A nation as large as ours, with a population of 350 million, can hardly claim to be “overwhelmed” even by tens of thousands of immigrants, who will be doing the work that none of us is willing, or perhaps capable, of doing, not the least of which is to care for our elderly.
There is no “breaking point“, just the unwillingness of it, the shamefulness of it, the sorrowful, pitiful spectacle of Donald Trump.
7
@citizennotconsumer There will be a hundred million more right after. No thanks.
Why...
- isn’t there a coordinated effort between US/Canada and the migrants coming from South American countries.
- are the republicans and democrats not coming together to resolve this issue, boot the president to the back row and tale action via Senate/Congress, and if he interferes, take to SC.
- is there a lack of will amongst all lawmakers to make some groundbreaking rules/guidelines to address the border issue?
- are we floundering in a mess when we’re amongst the top ten economies and so-called nation with high ratio of intelligent-free thinking individuals?
- just plain, why has this been allowed to happen?
2
@Ash.
With Trump's unfair treatment of Canada (tariffs and more) , disparagement of our Prime Minister, proven lies, backtracking, and scandal, Canada cannot trust in a sensible and consistent mutual approach to the problem.
In business terms, the ROI (return on Canada's investment of time. goodwill and energy) is negligible, as long as Trump is POTUS.
There are an infinite number of solutions, none of them available to us because our country is run by an ignoramus.
What would happen if migrants were organized to build their own housing? To set up farms? To provide factory labor? To set up retail? To set up security.
Participation could be voluntary. It could be done on either side of any border.
Creating a desirable place to be would negate the need for a fence.
Our national thoughtlessness exacerbates the problem.
4
@Mike LaFleur why can't they organize to that in their own countries?
@Jon That is an excellent question. - Because drug lords and organized crime make it impossible. The migrants need the support of stable organization to create a stable, fair space for them. In that stable and fair space they will thrive. - Contrary to popular belief, there are no God given rights and not everybody can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps if the are born into a crime ridden world. - We can create a stable space for them.
I have run out of patience and tolerance for the endless flow of illegal immigrants, medical immigrants, pregnant immigrants, economic migrants and many forms of legal immigration. My tax dollars are not helping my fellow citizens. But they are helping billionaires and illegals.
But I still have compassion for them, and would like us to help in other ways as part of a global community.... But I want this madness to end. I won't vote for a Democrat who refuses to stop the illegal immigration at our borders (or by plane or boat) and enact same immigration reforms, like ending chain migration, going after employers and landlords that employ and house these people, and going after those who overstay visas.
There is a reason that populism has exploded in Western nations. The reason Trump has 40% apprival. The few Republicans I know hate Trump as a person but love his stance on immigration. Get it?
It's untenable and unsustainable to continue the insanity of letting millions of unskilled, uneducated immigrants invade, especially since they no longer seem interested in adopting the culture, customs, language of their host nations, not to mention the Muslim and Catholic communities, whose treatment of women is a human rights violation. The world is overpopulated.
26
Here are a couple of fixes:
1. Mandatory e-verify with large penalties for employers that don’t comply
2. Tax immigrants at higher rates
3. Enable entrepreneurship based visas that promote economic growth
None of these need $25B.. not even $0.25B. They generate revenue, net positive.
Yet Trump doesn’t take these actions. Why? Because lobbies control politics. Other presidents before him couldn’t tell outright outsize lies. They stayed out of immigration discussions because they knew they can’t act. Trump has no ability except lying - so he happily discusses action but doesn’t act at all. Nobody acts on this issue.
2
Greed is the motivator for all this movement of humanity from points south to north. Greed on the part of the wannabe immigrants who think they'll strike it rich delivering appliances in Chicago. Greed on the part of the businessmen and their corporation who rely on the new arrivals to undercut wages and suppress any workplace dissent by the mere threat of replacing longtime employees with illegals. If the system is "broke" now, just wait till we look around and see that we suddenly have a billion people among us, none of whom were born here and who want our houses, jobs, money and way of life. Just wait.
9
NYTimes you are at least now acknowledging the (possible) breaking of the immigration system. Europe experienced this with the influx of a million or more refugees from the Syrian war. Low lying countries like Bangladesh will probably provide a 10 fold greater number of refugees. Next we can expect at least another 100 fold increase in perhaps the next 20-30 years. I don't suspect we will take the necessary steps to keep the effects of climate change to the 2 degree change. We may go as high as 6 degrees and essentially make the earth inhabitable. We need to start today on a crash response. We will need draconian actions to secure anything approaching a normal world in 2050-2100. NYTimes there is no more important issue than global warming and associated changes. Give this topic top coverage and do it frequently.
4
Trump’s fallback strategy is 1) get his base afraid of a crisis that does not really exist, 2) create the crisis himself, 3) pretend he is billiant for predicting the crisis he himself created, and finally (4) impose an imbecilic remedy to appease his base while both claiming to be an eternal victim and also blaming others for any shortcomings.
This is a real milestone for American leadership.
4
How can a free resource of potentially profitable workers/taxpayers/customers be a "problem"?
Media must stop treating these human beings, immigrants/refugees, as "problems", because they are profitable resources that will help strengthen the then larger US economy, and the initial "costs" are actually an "investment" in their education... to make them profitable taxpayers...!
The money wasted on Trump's wall should be invested in welcoming these profitable future taxpayers... into USA!
1
The border is not broken, our lack of a foreign policy under this [trump] administration is broken. Our State Department and Homeland Security has been dismantled. We only have acting heads of departments because we are circumventing Congressional or Senate approval for these jobs.The republicans in the senate refuse to criticize this [p]resident and are complicit in this failure.
Immigration needs to be addressed on many fronts, first we need to have a Marshall type plan for Central American countries to support their Democracies. We need to alos have a better plan for those seeking asylum here as well as those that are seeking citizenship.
4
If the system, has reached a breaking point, it is Trump who broke it. And he must be held to account for it.
But he did. Now, how is he going to fix it by humane means? (And no, separating families is not the answer, now or ever.) And if he can't, get rid of him and bring in someone who can.
3
Kudos to the NYT. Rare that anyone or thing acknowledges these issues without being labeled racist. Yet the Times got it right: stating that there is a genuine tipping point question about immigration on our southern border is not discriminatory. Nor is questioning whether immigration policy must accept if not invite major changes in the longstanding cultural composition of this Country. Consider asking the same of other countries. We wouldn't dare. Africa? Asia? The Middle East? Even Mexico. Our Democratic conversation has become so reflexive and shallow, we are sending would-be Democratic voters away. There are other facts never discussed, too. Consider the longterm impact on education when the percentage of a population shoots from say 8% to 33%, as the Latino population has in Texas, and continues to rise. The UT system matches enrollment with respective percentages of various racial groups in the population--whether through consideration of race, or without race as a factor, by taking the top 10% from each school district. The changing demographics foment real change, and a very significant redirection of resources (including away from Blacks, who suffered from government-sponsored discrimination, unlike those coming here for economic betterment). The silence here is deafening. So please keep publishing data - fair data that transcends a few recent years. We need to discuss the realities rationally, working from the facts, in order to make good decisions.
2
What else is supposed to happen when there's all empty talk, no substantive discussions between countries, and no good plan under development?
3
..“There’s always scabies in there. Usually we have chickenpox. We have tuberculosis in there. You name it, it’s probably been through that building. So it’s dangerous. It’s dangerous for our agents. It’s dangerous for the detainees that don’t have anything.”...
According to this article, once released at bus stations the migrants spread across the US. Those infectious diseases will travel with them, including tuberculosis which is now drug resistant.
From a 2014 CDC publication: "Direct costs, mostly covered by the public sector, averaged $134,000 per MDR TB and $430,000 per XDR TB patient; in comparison, estimated cost per non-MDR TB patient is $17,000. Drug resistance was extensive, care was complex, treatment completion rates were high, and treatment was expensive." (for clarification: MDR=multi-drug resistant, XDR=extensively drug resistant).
And we're worried about less than 500 cases of measles nationwide this year? I think there's a much larger problem coming.
13
The US/Mexican border is our Ellis Island, North. Perhaps what is required is border and immigration agents along the area to settle more immediately with immigrants. And perhaps the statement on the Statue of Liberty may have done too good a job. We would also need doctors and nurses to check those people allowed to enter, also a requirement on Ellis Island. The US does not need to answer an epidemic or have people with health issues moving among our citizens.
This is all practical and the most basic of border issues.
2
I am furious, I imagine most people are. Whichever party will actually deal with this crisis will win the next elections.
We shouldn't have to spend the money, but we do need to allocate probably billions to detain these people humanely and process their claims quickly. The laws are not addressing this crisis and need to be changed. This all has to happen NOW. I am disgusted with politicians huffing and puffing and dragging their feet.
7
Family separation needs to be tried again. It's the only thing that will be a deterrent to this armada of families seeking to get in, whether they qualify or not.
We can't make them stay in Mexico. We can't stop them from coming. We can't stop them from getting in. We can't stop them from staying in once they get here. What can we do? We can threaten and carry out family separation.
11
Migrants storming the US borders is one of the consequences of too much population growth.
This problem was raised by Paul Ehrlich in his 1968 boo, the Population Bomb. An alternate presentation of the problem was given in the 1972 book, Limits to Growth.
The latter book described possible consequences if the world did not limit population growth.
Although starvation was one possibility, people usually choose to go to war before they starve to death. The overpopulated regions of the globe are therefore subject to repeated bouts of political instability. Limits to Growth also raised the specter of environmental degradation because of too many people. That consequence is now known as global warming.
After the Great Famine in China took perhaps 40 million lives, the Chinese leaders instituted a one-child policy. That has helped China provide higher living standards for a more slowly growing population.
Any long term solution to poverty in Guatemala and other Latin American countries must include family planning.
It is innumerate to suggest that the US can somehow absorb a continually growing number of Latin American poor. Population growth within Latin America can overwhelm any immigration policy over the long run.
Our morality has become twisted. We think of motherhood as always good.
But having more than two children in an overpopulated world causes violence a generation later as too many children fight over limited resources.
We need to limit birth rates.
13
We're where we are because of the failures of Washington, in it's entirety, to address this problem of illegal immigration. If we had tightened things up 30-40 years ago and implemented a meaningful way of addressing illegal immigrants the message would have already spread that being here illegally is not a solution.
But in some ways it's always inevitable. People, when they are desperate, will do what is necessary to survive. Walls, laws and borders are meaningless in this context. But there is only one real solution. These citizens need to do something in their own country. Running away just leaves the criminals with less of a threat to their enterprises.
1
The crisis at the border is the United States government taking children hostage in violation of international law, and purposely understaffing checkpoints and courts in an attempt to increase destruction and distraction. We will never forget that this is a manufactured crisis that wastes time and money to feed trump’s base. And the asylum seekers are legally fleeing the result of American neoliberal policies.
2
This article states that the U.S. "is now unable to provide either the necessary humanitarian relief for desperate migrants or even basic controls on the number and nature of who is entering the United States." The wealthiest country in the world, according to this piece of reportage, is unable to provide basic humanitarian relief. Oh, but we can spend trillions on the military industrial complex. Forgive me if I do not buy into the unsubstantiated claim here, any more than I believe that ostensibly the most sophisticated, technologically advanced country in the world cannot provide basic controls on the number and nature of who is entering (would love to know more about what is mean by the 'nature' of those entering). Where, oh where, did we lose our humanitarian ethos to address a crisis largely of our own making in our inane war against drugs in these countries (where we spend untold tens of billions each year), all the while contributing next to nothing to their sustained economic development. The immigration system is at a breaking point (if indeed it is, and I suspect it is a fabrication) only because the the kinds of mindless policies and prescriptions we've foisted on the countries from which people flee was at a breaking point decades ago, yet our politicians refuse to acknowledge this.
3
As the article points out, the "breaking point" is based on the increase in asylum seekers primarily from Central America and including entire families. The international principle of asylum is old and is based on fear of persecution by the state based on factors such as religion, race, and political views. As the article correctly notes, fear of generalized violence, e.g., gangs, or poverty are not grounds for asylum under applicable international accords or U.S. law. This is true for Central Americans trying to enter the U.S. or Africans trying to reach Europe for similar reasons. Part of any immigration reform must therefore acknowledge the factors driving migrants to leave their homes and help improve those undesirable conditions at the source. Otherwise, barriers will simply be a finger in the dike.
3
What can we do? If we actually went after the American citizens who knowingly hire undocumented workers, with fines and jail time, that would put a huge dent in the supply of workers. But when our president himself has utilized undocumented labor (extensively, apparently), we won’t see that happen soon.
We could take a greater interest in our geographic neighborhood, and address the violence that forces people in nearby countries to flee.
We could also take a greater interest in our geographic neighborhood with economic development and other things that will better their lives back home.
Or we could sit around and gripe endlessly about the issue.
2
In most respects, illicit immigration from Latin American has not changed.
What has changed in the immigrant profile.
"The smugglers have told them they will be quickly released, as long as they bring a child, and that they will be allowed to remain in the United States for years while they pursue their asylum cases."
Not only is this passage unattributed, in violation of basic journalistic reporting, it is nothing new. Smugglers and word of mouth have long been information sources.
The key change is that push out from Central American nations is exceptionally intense.
Never in its history has the U.S. been able to do more than restrict, but not shut off, south to north migration.
That's a hard fact.
The Trump regime and acolytes like Stephen Miller would have an easier time in preventing the sun from rising and setting than they will trying to shut down illegal immigration.
The only intelligent and surefire solution is to create jobs and public safety in sending nations so that few if any will feel compelled to come here.
But we lack the vision and political will to do that.
So, this is a phenomenon with no end in sight, no matter what laws are enacted or policies pursued.
3
This could work. Once Guatemala empties out and becomes reasonably safe we could move in.
“Known globally for its touristic appeal (think rain forests, deep see diving and Mayan ruins) and its banking and tax shelters, Guatemala has also become a second citizenship powerhouse, with arguably the best value CBI program on the market today.”
7
OK, we all agree, our immigration laws are broken and need to be fixed; the situation at our Southern border is at a crisis level. So what do we do about it? Who is up to "fixing" the broken immigration system? The "gang of Eight" failed several years ago so who will take it on? The Trump Doctrine, whatever that is, won't work and has just make matters worse according to many. I have yet to see, hear or read of a workable proposal for immigration law overhaul.
I do know that my forefathers came from Lebanon just over a hundred years ago in search of a better life. The same reason that immigrants come today. It wasn't illegal in 1895 but it's illegal today. We need a system to weed out the criminals and let the hard workers in.
3
Yes, there is a humanitarian crisis at our southern border but not yet an existential national security crisis like WW II. There are also humanitarian crises all over the world including right here in the U.S. of A., and it probably is only going to get worse. People will continue to flee wars, gangs, famine, extreme poverty, and natural disasters. Over-population, corruption, greed, fear, mistrust, ignorance and superstition have prevented net progress in improving the global situation. Instead of panicking though, we should seek thoughtful, fact based, rational solutions. Now, more than ever, we need knowledgeable, inspirational and visionary world leaders, but mostly all we're getting are incompetent demagogues. America used to be a leader in helping to make a better world. We need to do that again.
1
Republican and Democratic members of Congress have been at war with each other for the past 10 years, while our infrastructure has crumbled, the immigration football has been punted, and endless investigations (which have for the most part proved fruitless) have ensued. Each Party is eager to point fingers at each other for the transgression of the moment, while our real problems go unaddressed. Will the surge of immigrants level off, or is this the beginning of an unending flood? Does anyone even have an educated guess? Logic tells us this cannot go on unabated. What are we going to do? Where do we start?
Fewer taxes taken in, has left us with dwindling resources. That is not a political statement, it is a fact. We are going to need more revenue to handle the thousands of immigrants already here. Food, shelter, clothing, medical needs all have to be met for these refugees. All the while being told, ironically, that we cannot afford universal healthcare for our own citizens.
I really don't understand how this happened suddenly. The truth is it didn't. It has just now reached critical mass because of sticking our heads in the sand and refusing to listen to both sides of the issue of immigration. I was wrong. There is a problem. I am wrestling with how this can be addressed humanely. Turning desperate people away seems wrong. I think that has been at the crux of the problem for years not just in our country, but other countries as well. Anyone have a solution? Anyone?
2
Recently the Times had an article that demonstrated how much more moderate - even conservative- many rank and file Democrat voters are compared with the commentariat and twitter users. The majority of comments on this issue seem to support that. Our country needs comprehensive immigration reform but our political leadership - in both parties - is craven and has lost its collective mind.
8
Reached the breaking point? We are currently far beyond the breaking point and drastic measures are called for.
8
Resources are Finite. And there are limits past which it becomes unsustainable, be it World Population, Pollution and Carbon Emissions, to how many people can be helped by Social Programs to how many people can be helped by Hospital Staff: After which such begin to be overwhelmed. Even a country can only absorb so many people before causing serious social instability.
11
Amazing how the USA can spend trillions to bomb a country of no threat to smithereens by fabricating some WMD and bogus yellow cake uranium documents -- and yet can't spend a couple billion to help stabilize countries in its own region. Oh yeah, I forgot. It's all about the oil. Guess it's time to buy a new Escalade or Hummer. I heard you can get one for low money down.
13
LOL. What? The NYT says the immigration system is breaking down and has reached a breaking point and is going to fail like that is news and is a surprise? Did you forget that Trump has been saying this for 3 years at least, even calling it a National Emergency and that the NYT and every Democrat politician and every media outlet that supports the Democrats, which is 95% of media outlets, have been saying Trump is lying or worse? Well Trump is correct and has been correct for 3 years. Now the NYT wants to be credited with bringing it to everyone's attention. LOL. A day late and a dollar short is an understatement. Maybe if the NYT, the WP and the rest of the media and the Democrats were not spending so much time over the past two years trying to remove Trump from office with their Collusion hoax you all could have supported Trump and his plan to stop illegal immigration along our southern border and to over hall our "broken" immigration laws to increase legal immigration and also stop people and track people who overstay their VISAs. Trump is actually trying to help Americans and America, but you lefties won't let him.
47
Let’s be clear. Trump never offered a plan for fixing anything besides ranting dumbly about a wall.
6
@NYChap
Did you read the article? It's Trump's lack of real policy or workable solutions that's helping create the problem.
Surprise, surprise. Shooting from the hip while being guided by uninformed rage produces unintended consequences.
5
During the amnesty of the Reagan Administration, a law was passed which requires companies to use the eVerify system to ensure that people they employ to work in this country are legally allowed to work here.
Of course, employers love to hire people living in the US illegally because they can give these people low wages and poor working conditions since the workers aren't able to complain.
To those that claim that they cannot find workers, the reality is that *they can find workers* but they:
1. Must pay market wages. Employers that complain that they can't find workers generally are simply not offering high enough wages.
2. They should relocate from desolate areas to areas that have a large available labor pool.
We should be enforcing existing laws on the books before considering changing laws.
In addition, additional funds need to be allocated for housing for those who have illegally crossed the border so that they are not simply let go into the country.
9
>>> "2. They should relocate from desolate areas to areas that have a large available labor pool."
The last thing America needs is more concentration of job opportunities in a few dense urban areas.
And it's not really very practical to move a construction, agricultural, service or other business to a new location, especially one with higher costs.
1
Trump did not cause the illegal immigration crisis he called it to everyone's attention during his 2015-16 campaign and was specifically elected above all other candidates to address it so that illegal immigration along our southern border would stop and a permanent fair immigration system would be implemented for legal immigrants. We also need to implement a VISA tracking system to insure foreigners do not overstay their legal VISAs and exasperate the situation adding to the illegal alien population we have now with over 25 million illegal aliens and an equal number or more of "anchor" babies, who become automatic US citizens, the illegal aliens have already generated.
Has Trump been able to stop illegal immigration & do what he promised? No. Has Trump tried to build the Wall he promised? You bet he has. Has Trump demanded then begged Congress to change our immigration laws so they will not attract illegal immigration: eg: by not allowing "birthright citizenship" to apply to people who enter our country illegally where both the babies parents are illegal aliens? You bet he has tried. The reason Trump can't stop illegal immigration? The Democrats, for purely political purposes, will not allow him to do it. The GOP aren't helping much either and can't do it without the Democrats. Basically Trump has his hands tied. Even his executive orders are being stopped by left wing judges from the 9th District prevent him form helping stop illegal immigration. Stacked deck.
21
Everything Trumpo is “trying” is an assault upon basic humanity. He has escalated a problem into a “crisis” but it is not working because crime rates among illegals are significantly lower than overall crime rates, so the racist fear-mongering he began as a candidate is not registering with anyone aside from his base. This article is a bit all over the map, but it makes clear how Trumpo is shamelessly continuing his efforts to make political hay out of a problem he refuses to address except in uber-simplistic, Draconian terms.
The Dems should pass a bill funding expanded DHS services that address human needs and date Trumpo to veto it because it doesn’t “close the border.” That should make it clear just who the “bad hombre” is—the man with the fake orange hair.
3
@NYChap
Was the deck stacked against Trump when both the senate and house were republican? When money was available for the wall? When it’s been pointed out that this administration loses court cases because they are so poorly argued? The deck is not stacked against this guy, he’s jacked it up.
1
@Gwen Read what I said more closely. Trump could not get it done because-"The Democrats, for purely political purposes, will not allow him to do it. The GOP aren't helping much either and can't do it without the Democrats. Basically Trump has his hands tied." The Democrats were 100% together trying to stop Trump on anything he tried to do to stop illegal immigration on our southern border. The GOP is the "stupid party" who that had a very slim 2 vote majority during that period. There were always a couple or a few of GOP Senators who went out of their way to stop Trump's agenda that made the GOP slim majority worthless. There was always Collins, a real RINO, and sometimes McCain, and a couple of other Trump haters who stopped Trump along with the Democrats. McCain, the hero, was the last vote to stop the complete repeal of Obama Care Trump promised because he hated Trump.
You may not recall that Obama and the Democrats had a large majority during Obama's first two years as President and they could pretty much do anything they wanted. Apparently they could only do one thing at a time. They kept on saying the immigration system was "Broken" but did not do anything to fix it when they had the chance. Instead they focused on passing Obama Care all by themselves that royally screwed up heath insurance for the majority of people who were happy with their current health care and got public support by lying to the people. "You can keep your Doctor and Heath plan" was truly a lie.
If there is really a crisis at the border, or it has been fabricated by Trump, his administration is least equipped to handle it. This is the most inept and corrupt administration in a lifetime.
11
There’s no evidence at all that undocumented immigrants have a criminal past.
Wait, can I rephrase that . . . ?
11
This is how casinos go bankrupt!
3
The breath taking hypocrisy of this publication: for decades giving succor to those who downplayed the migration crisis, much like climate change deniers. Calling critics ‘racists’ or ‘cruel’. Extolling the virtues of immigrants, citing endless statistics that purported to show those concerned were exaggerating the problem. Now performing a remarkable volte face to raise the alarm. Despicable.
36
The NYT narrative here is about as painfully contorted as it possibly could be. Enough already. The NYT is now without a doubt part of the problem. Listen to your readers. Face the facts. Do not contort reality just to make Trump look bad. He is bad enough as it is, but the border crisis is real and he is not entirely to blame and some of what he is trying to do would actually be effective. To continue pushing your narrative invites 4 more years. Is that really what you want?
42
The identity of anyone visiting the EU is checked at the border twice: once on entry and once on exit. The US checks papers only on entry. It is estimated that up to half of illegal aliens are in the country because they overstayed their visas. Simply put DHS does not know who is here. The administration's wall is not going to help.
10
These people need handouts to survive. Yet it seems they all have numerous children.
So they have no sense at all?
Go away.
28
Breaking point? You can’t believe anything that anyone in the Trump administration says. They’ve lied on security clearance forms, to congress under oath numerous times, and to ethics committees many times, even when evidence at the times proves them liars.
If you wanna call something fake news, it’s whatever comes from the mouth of someone in the Trump administration.
2
I'm flummoxed to read NTTimes echoing Pres Trumps talking points while many other observers and experts say the crisis, including NY Times of just a few weeks ago, say it is manufactured. The little research I have done shows immigration is down significantly since highs during the start of the 2008 financial crisis. This administration is clearly using the "scare" of national emergency, first to affect the 2018 election, second to get funds for the wall, and third to distract his base from the coming Mueller report.
This is downright Orwellian and too much like fake news.
‘Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.’
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/politics/fact-check-trump-border-crossings-declining-.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/06/opinion/letters/border-immigration.html
4
It makes me sick to believe that someone who comes here illegally has just the same rights as a taxpaying contributing citizen of this country. You've got to prove yourself before joining the club. Stop committing crimes.
All these statistics on "ohh immigrants commit less violent crimes than native born citizens da da da..." That may be true, HOWEVER, Immigrants commit more regular crimes than native born citizens... MISSING AN IMMIGRATION COURT HEARING IS A SERIOUS CRIME. Dems are really cherrypicking facts here when they specify violent crimes, but lets talk apples to apples here, how about all crimes? What is the democrat idea here? Missing immigration hearings are not real crimes, they're just sort of petty crimes?
Confusion over the process is not an excuse.... For example, "Ohh officer, I was confused on the speed limit because Im not familiar with the area" you still get a ticket...
26
We have enough problems of our own and now we have to deal with the insurmountable amount of demand that you place on your job and drug market. Like it or not, this is a U.S. demand problem, your corporations demand cheap labor and your population demands cheap drugs.
It is like Porfirio Díaz once said: "Poor México, so far away from God and so close to the United States"
I apologize for the harsh words but it is the truth, I am sick and tired of hearing about the 'poor USA' being so close to such an unruly neighbor, when it is in fact your own policies and inability to reform your immigration system that is the cause of your undoing.
Maybe if you get back the ability to properly communicate with each other—Republican and Democrat—and do what is right by your Country, then and only then will you be able to fix your own problems and stop blaming the 'others' for things that you have clearly brought upon yourselves.
Trump is not the cause of your problems, he is the consequence of your failures.
19
@JJ
Thank you for providing a perspective from Mexico, infrequent in these posts.
The Ongoing GOP-Dem wars of at least the past eight years, plus the dumbing down of education and growing civil polarization and distress, are bearing bitter fruit.
2
Trump was crying "crisis at border" , when monthly apprehensions were 20K/month , which was about 80 percent less than what it was in 1990-ties.
So when you have a con-man and liar who has no intent to tell the truth and only use the issue to feed political trash and garbage to his base, he cannot solve any issue or provide leadership because no one outside Trump's base, trusts this most profane and pervasive liar and con.
4
"20 percent of asylum seekers ultimately win the right to live and work in the United States by proving that they would face persecution in their home countries."
If that is true, then the fault falls squarely on the US and now specifically on Trump for not doing anything to fix those abominal conditions in our own backyard, i.e. Central America.
It is so convenient and so obviously cowardly to ignore the fact that these are corrupt kleptocratic banana "republics" where the "leaders" couldn't care less about law enforcement and protecting their citizens, and all about enriching themselves.
But then again, that is Trump's own agenda and secretly he admires his counterparts there and tries to learn from their playbook.
And the refugees are collateral damage.
3
@Kara Ben Nemsi,
why not sanction these "leaders"? So many own property in Miami.
6
Why don't we take the money that trump wants for a wall and expand our immigration system. At the same time why don't we help these south of the boarder countries get rid of there gangs and crime. Perhaps someone is making money by allowing this to go on. The issues seem to be smoothing the U.N. should be involved with. Putting up a wall will do nothing but maybe trumps next step will be to shoot people like the Russians did before the Berlin wall fell.
6
In 1986, Congress passed the Immigration Control and Reform Act after President Reagan had granted amnesty to 4 million illegal immigrants. It had two components, border security, and fines for businesses that hired illegal immigrants. The policy failed miserably, their words, not mine, because the fines for businesses were miniscule. Since then, the policy has been arrest, deport, arrest, deport, arrest, deport, arrest, deport. So, basically around 2 million each year have come here illegally, 1 million who apply for legal Visas for an extended period of time, and never go home. In fact, over a 10 year period of time, he government recently admitted only 2-3 thousand were ever sent home. This year, 2019, 1.5 million will come over the southern border by the end of the year. Most are declaring asylum, as they are coming as families. There is a crisis around the world, with dictators, mobs, cartels, murderers, poverty. The Catholic religion is against birth control for its members, so those who can least afford to have children, are having them in Central and South America, and Mexico, boosting their populations exponentially. The problem in America, even in California, for the last decade, is the Democratic controlled Governor has failed to build housing for the 25,000 homeless population in Los Angeles, that presents a health risk to the greater population there, yet they are the ones who want all those crossing the southern border to be let in to the country!
10
The people who are trying to come here aren’t the problem. It’s immoral and un-American to criminalize them. There are huge problems in the countries they are fleeing, largely because of our demand for illegal drugs and the way we have manipulated their governments in the past.
Just because we live in a safe, wealthy country doesn’t make us better. We are a country of immigrants. Immigrants, both legal and illegal built, and continue to build, this country. We should help them and their countries’ governments.
Putting your hand in front of a flowing hose doesn’t stop the water. You have to go to the faucet.
5
The difference between legal and illegal is a piece of paper. Let’s not forget people’s humanity here.
11
@Mickey
The difference between stop and go is just red and green. They're just colors!
What Americans of all stripes have come to accept though is that the Rule of Law matters. If you don't buy into that coming in, you don't have anything, much less safe roads.
Stop making excuses and dismissing the American fabric of life before you get T-boned and learn the hard way: "Darn, those "little" rules of socity we are all conditioned to play by really matter in making a safe and equitable society for the rest of us."
You still believe in teaching people the rules of the road before you let them out there with or without a drivers' license, right? Ditto an understanding of the importance of making a mandated court appearance.
"Don't take the law into your own hands... you take it to court!" Liberals should not want Americans taking laws into their own hands, even if the richest of the rich here get away with it. Law protect us and keep us safe. Without them, well look south to the countries that these people are fleeing...
Gang violence, sexual abuse, poverty.
Where should our own people go? Finland? Sweden?
I see gangs here in Flatbush. Friends work as lawyers for battered women here in New York City. We have hundreds of thousands -- or more -- on welfare, subsidized housing, and food stamps right here.
Not good enough that these are the conditions that lead people to come into the United States illegally.
As the grandchild of immigrants, I understand the draw. Boy, do I understand. And I know how hard they worked, and without the benefits available nowadays.
Do the paperwork. Line up the people who will be responsible for you. Do not overtax the system you want to enter.
13
The 1956 Hungarian Revolution led to hundreds of thousands of immigrants seeking admittance to the US. This ws during the height of the be Cold War and these people were staged at camps so their identies and backgrounds could verified. Camp Kilmer in New Brunswick was used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Kilmer
I realize that our current immigration problems are of a much larger scale.
We need both paries to work of new legislation that would:
1. Build secure border camps to house, feed and educate the people while asylum claims are adjudicated. We cannot let hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrated to "disappear" into our population.
2. Take finger prints and a saliva sample that can be used to ID asylum seekers if they again try to enter the US.
3. Hire more judges and have the asylum courts at the camps to expedite the asylum claims.
4. People whose asylum claims are denied should be immediately transported back to their country of origin.
Expensive?
Yes, but better than letting illegal immigrants into our country, and encouraging more people to claim amnesty.
A country that does not control its borders is not a country.
5
@tom toth
Yes, even the Mariel boatlifts were finite. There was end in sight, and family members and sponsors in Miami worked hard to educate and assimilate newcomers.
Here, the more you let in, the more will bring their children in under DACA. There is an unending supply of poor people who suffer domestic and gang violence. No true crisis has triggered this latest asylum emergency. Just the Dems hating on President Trump trying to blame him, his voters and our policies for this latest manufactured crisis.
Right now, they are coming fro the Southern hemisphere and crossing in. When the world learns our borders have been overwhelmed, you will likely see planeloads of people from across the globe heading to Mexico and following in their footsteps. The smugglers / coyotes are dictating the price of entry to our country now. Reality.
4
@Midway So why don't Trump and the republicans put together reasonable legislation to change our current immigration legislation/process, and then Trump can use his Bully Pulpit to sell a reasonable plan to the American people and paint the Dems in a corner.
Formulate the legislation, introduce it in the Senate, pass it in the
senate and fight it out in the House. Repubs could sweeten the deal by throwing the Dems a dreamer bone.
Why not?
Because far right Repubs will not vote for a reasonable solution.
The Democratic Party’s dishonesty and politically-motivated obstructionism vis a vis illegal immigration and border security is absolutely appalling. They’ll lose my vote over this issue if they don’t come to their senses....and soon.
21
Really, this is a refugee issue, not an immigration issue. Perhaps the US should be setting up refugee camps.
1
Please everyone look at the data. Please everyone look at the diagrams. What they show is that the type of immigrants has changed. We used to have economic migrants (single men and women looking for a job) from Mexico. Their numbers have dropped significantly over the years, most likely thanks to NAFTA that brought jobs to their country. The recent uptick in border apprehensions is due to refugees fleeing violence (families asking for asylum to save their lives), likely a consequence of the war on drugs which has enriched organized crime and fostered corruption in Central American governments.
What we need is to be clear-eyed and look at the facts. We won't find the solution by being all emotional about "invaders". We need to keep these asylum-seekers in their home countries, yes, but the way to achieve this is to help improve living conditions in Central America. Closing the border will do nothing but cause more suffering and won't fix the source of the problem.
4
Absolutely correct -- just as the EU and other countries should have worked to provide safe zones in Muslim countries for Muslim refugees rather than allowing them to migrate by the millions to Greece and Italy, where they are still living in refugee camps; and where, if they managed to have escaped the refugee camps, they have turned whole sections of cities into slums because they have neither the language skills nor the work skills -- nor the will to limit their families, if they are married -- to thrive in their new countries.
3
A significant part of the problem is the failure to provide the resources for the immigration courts and for monitoring the persons who are awaiting there final hearing. The asylum officers are finding that most of the people they interview have shown a "credible threat" to proceed before an immigration judge. Instead, the administration simply wants to make the standard for showing a credible threat more stringent. A crisis can come about in a myriad of ways and can likewise be solved by identifying the basis of the problem. Instead, we wring our hands and find a way to blame someone: the immigrant, the democrats, the media. No solutions just bellyaching.
2
How is it that the massive, out of control population growth in central America, or families that regularly have between 7 to 10 children each, is not mentioned once in this article as a primary cause of the problem we are now facing? And as a primary cause, what on earth can be done to control these never ending, increasing numbers of people who want to leave countries with no opportunities for even a small percentage of them or their children? If you want to speak about root causes of the immigration problem, population growth is about as route as you can get.
14
I have always thought that one nonnegotiable point in any application for welfare benefits should be the immediate insertion of an IUD. If a woman gets pregnant while on assistance, the next child is on her.
Same applies to young inner-city women and country girls. As per my cousin who teaches such young women in the Bronx, "They have babies because they want them and they want the subsidies that go with having them."
Not that I do not believe rich people shouldn't pay higher taxes. At a 70.% bracket, they'd still have enough to support their lifestyle.
And the extra tax revenue could support a lot of good initiatives. But having babies at 15 and 16 years old is not one of them. And having 6-7 children and wanting health benefits as an illegal immigrant is not one either.
5
It is a very sad situation, but the real culprits are the corrupt inefficient Central American governments.
A possible side effect to shutting the door on illegal immigration, is that since fleeing their countries is not an option, the Central Americans will rebel against their government and demand an efficient and honest government
2
We have become a de facto relief valve for these source countries and their corrupt governments.
2
The danger and evil is planted here already. The seeds have been watered with DT rhetoric. Everyone knows it. There is a system for immigration. It may not be perfect but it is designed to evaluate those who seek to enter the country and is nothing like the “open border” scare mongering that is promoted as the alternative to draconian, I humane treatment of immigrants. Our country is it full. There is plenty of room, but not for hate.
2
There is excellent reporting here. But it is misleading to imply that this crisis would have been averted by the comprehensive immigration reform bills that have been proposed. CIR would not have corrected the flaws in our asylum process. Furthermore, if we continue to make asylum available to victims of spousal abuse and gang criminality, we should not be surprised by what will surely come our way. Our current system not only invites abuse, it incentivizes it. It also enriches the smugglers who spread the word that the U.S. is open to anyone who brings a child.
5
@Jake
DACA needs to go, fast.
2
Smart immigration policy—that reflects our society’s values, security needs, and economic interests—just isn’t rocket science. Competent leadership, in the White House on Capitol Hill, could fix this fast. Hope we have that combo someday.
Bush and Obama both strongly backed comprehensive immigration reform. They both put forward plans that would have added tough new enforcement, pathways to eventual legalization for those here, and an overhaul of outdated U.S. immigration laws. A majority of Americans then, as now, supported that approach.
Republican ideologues and nativists in Congress made sure the plans didn’t advance. They are architects of the soul-wrenching spectacles on our southern border. The pageant of border crisis they helped ensure pays off with their base. And it’s useful diversion for the moment as the administration fights to keep details of the Mueller report out of Americans’ hands. But it sure trashes America’s interests and image.
For the most cynical possible reasons this administration is moving in an extreme direction that betrays our country’s origins and values and seeks to turn our border personnel into jackbooted lawbreakers.
People need to connect the dots on this.
6
How about we enforce the provisions of the 1986 law that granted amnesty to 4 million? We were promised border controls and workplace enforcement in exchange for a one time amnesty. Yet only one of those three were ever fully implemented.
6
@From Where I Sit
You’re completely right, and Bush and Obama’s proposals sought to do all of that. Security, enforcement, and updated laws.
There are times in history when an orderly migration of peoples becomes a landslide. This landslide is happening right now and we will not be able to divert it, stop it, or slow it down. The democratic nations had chances during the past two decades to at least attempt to aid the source countries solve the problems which have now forced the first of millions to our border. We failed to understand how important the issues were; we perhaps didn't care.
What will we do now? These are poor, jobless, frightened families, not criminals. We have the capacity in this great nation to absorb them and more, but we have not built the processes that will allow this in a way that will protect public health and safety. It is not too late to try. These people will continue to come. We can't just tell them, "no room, sorry." Eventually, they will simple take what they need, and there will be too many to stop.
3
@Gerry
We failed to understand how important the issues were; we perhaps didn't care.
------
Speak for yourself. Trump voters have watched this illegal immigration happen under Bush and Obama, and watched Washington do nothing about it.
Can I help you look ahead? Where is the money going to come from for the public schools across the nation to absorb these children come fall? That is just months away -- you will have an ESL crisis overwhelming the public school resources. Do we just cut art, music, sports and all the good things from working-class American kids to pack more into their 25 children per classroom schools?
Get busy leaders and school board members: once they are here and not being tracked, who knows where they will end up and who will be asked to sacrifice for this manufactured crisis nobody allegedly saw coming... (I suspect women have always been losing men to gang violence; it's just an emergency now because you can get in easy with a child and a claim of victimization. If your male partner was killed and you were having trouble providing a safe place for your/his child, does it make sense that a woman, without the benefit or protection of marriage, would become pregnant so soon with another?)
Also, why is the kid in that picture holding a jumbo bottle of Sprite? Why not water? An immigrant knows, if you drink pop, it's a treat and you buy generic.
5
@Midway
I can see you have put some serious thought into this, but you are still missing a bigger point, one that will become more obvious as time passes. This is just the beginning of a world-changing migration that will be unstoppable. There are many reasons: climate change; inequality; failing states; and even the exceptional success of the United States economy. But come they will (and not just to our country) and no one is prepared.
Talk to farmers all over this country and they will tell us that they could employ millions more workers if they were available. Most of the rural counties in the U.S. have lost population and shuttered schools are everywhere. Our core population is shrinking and we need immigrants to share in and help us maintain our American dream. Finally, workers of every nationality pay taxes and this is how schools and public services will be maintained. I won't say that it will not be a daunting task; it will be. But the migration has already begun and we need to prepare ourselves. It will get worse.
It might be cheaper and more effective to think about declaring these countries failed states and putting them under some form of international governance, which the people would probably welcome. Even it that's not the right solution, the key word here is "think", something Trump and Company has shown they are incapable of doing.
2
The ideological divide in the US and essentially around the planet has made issues such as this insoluble. And continued increases in population along with limited resources will certainly not help. Trump reducing aid to central America adds more stress...yay.
1
We can take in all of these people. We just need more border patrol agents and immigration judges. Trump will not allow this and therefore is responsible for the crisis. Our population is not growing fast enough to sustain economic growth so we need immigrants.
1
Trump seems to understand the concept of triage; he is employing the opposite in order to make a bad situation much worse than necessary.Trump's logic is refusal of appropriate attention to everyone, leaving the BP officers to deal with the resulting chaos--his go-to method of gaining attention and punishing as many vulnerable adults and children as possible.
His cult followers can't get enough.
2
Didn't something similar happen in ancient Rome?
We all know what the result was--the end of the empire.
5
we all know the presidents plan. he is exacerbating the situation, is polarizing his base and the GOP so that no one can ever come up with a legislative solution. he will use some border incident to justify military intervention, and he will begin to slaughter innocent people. it always ends in blood. and it will take bloodletting to even have a chance to wake america up from its nightmare retreat into a fantasy world of denial.
1
Reading most of these comments is like an exercise in futility.
The cap on granted asylum applications each year has averaged about 70,000 over the last decade. Trump has lowered it to 30,000. Please remember this is “legal” immigration and something the US has allowed by laws with bi-partisan support and being a signatory to the UN treaty on refugees. We learned something since closing our borders and the fiasco of sending Jewish refugees back to their death in WWII.
This very recent spike (as the article states - did anyone read it?) is likely exacerbated by Trump, his rhetoric and poorly devised and illegal policies.
The historical trend over 40-50 years has been significantly, dramatically lower rates of immigration across the southern border. Accept the data Republicans, it won’t kill you.
The problem we are facing right now is a humanitarian crisis in the Central American countries mentioned coupled with the FACT that so many people actually have cause and the right given our laws to apply for asylum. 4 in 5 will not be granted asylum.
If we want to develop a reasonable, comprehensive plan going forward this will require Republicans to actually work with Democrats. All I see are cynical efforts by Republicans to exploit a real problem for political gain. And they can’t even agree among themselves what to do.
1
Quoting from David Frum's piece in the Atlantic on 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."
11
My wife has been on-the-level waiting for her permanent residency for over two years. Met every requirement, went to every interview, working here in the states and pays taxes - yet still waiting. So be it. Last week, Border Patrol Agents in San Diego arrested one of the recent "caravan" arrivals, a young Guatemalan man, for smuggling (a felony) aliens into the United States. Get this - he already had his Permanent Residency, which is a step below citizenship. He was not prosecuted, either. The laxness of U.S. immigration enforcement is why this problem exists.
17
As a liberal it is clear liberal politicians have a choice to make:
1. Push for more socialized benefits like universal helathcare. OR
2. Push for more asylum spots and easier immigration.
You cannot have BOTH. We cannot allow hundreds of thousands of no to low wage low skilled earners into the U.S. while giving more benefits to everyone. The math doesn’t work.
Until very recently the northern European “socialist” countries have had very strict immigration and asylum laws and were geographically protected from mass migration. Moving towards more open immigration has been a disaster for these countries, which is provoking a backlash supported by more than the far right. Same thing here
The comments on most immigration articles on the NYT are far more conservative than the articles and opinion pieces themselves. Which tells us quite a bit.
16
This is a very troubling article. Although Michael D. Shear, Miriam Jordan and Manny Fernandez do make some reference to how the rhetoric of Donald Trump has exacerbated the problematic northward migration of Central American families seeking U.S. asylum, they suggest that it is just a matter of being bad without Trump and a little worse because of Trump.
There is absolutely no mention of the lack of effort by the Trump DHS and other federal agencies to stop the profitable human trafficking in the countries of origin. With Donald Trump it is always the stick, and never the carrot. There’s no sincere problem solving when ICE dump a family at a Texas bus station to be shipped home.
Without even getting into the lost children torn from their mothers’ arms and kept in cages, Shear, Jordan and Fernandez seem satisfied simply to conclude that illegal immigration is complicated.
Donald Trump and Stephen Miller can live very nicely with articles like this.
2
So, we do have a crisis at the border, but the crisis is due to bad policy on the part of the United States. The total Homeland Security budget for 2018 was $44.1 billion. ICE is part of Homeland Security, and assigns judges to hear asylum pleas; yet fewer than 400 judges currently have this task (contrary to Trump’s statement of “thousands of judges!”. Homeland Security needs to hire many more judges, and we need to enlist the help of the United Nations (specifically UNHCR) to build refugee camps both in Mexico and in the U.S. Cutting aid to Central American countries is foolish and shortsighted, as was stated in this article; increasing aid and making sure it is effective would be smart.
Unfortunately, our president has no desire to solve this problem but only to exacerbate it; it plays well on Fox and fires up his base. Congress and the Senate need to act to solve this humanitarian crisis.
2
How come this person in the White House never mentions citizens killing citizens are a problem?
5
@Anthony
You want him to fix Mexico now too?
7
Reality itself is going to deliver a landslide for Trump in 2020. The hysterics of the idiotic "Resist" movement, the hysterics of the new crop of 2018 Democrats (Omar, Tlaib, AOC), delivered unto us by the hysterics of the MSM in their hysterical rage against Trump and their trumped up Mueller investigation are going to widen his lead.
This article should be followed by the abdication of the entirety of the Democratic leadership. The publisher and editor of this paper, and the Washington Post should abdicate as well. The leadership of CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS should all be fired. As each and everyone of them have been so invested in toppling the duly elected President of the United States that they have utterly abandoned their duty to tell us the truth and to protect this nation.
This article is the utter capitulation of all Trump's hysterical foes and the revelation of just what fools they are. Build the wall. Protect the nation. Disagree when necessary. Agree when correct. Help out and quit obstructing. Admit reality and start working together. Then and only then, can we begin to solve the monumental problems that face our country
34
@Arthur Taylor as long as we agree that Trump is the biggest of the "monumental problems that face our country".
3
@Arthur Taylor
It looks like the American women in the pink hats can keep on resisting... Their replacements have arrived, ready and able to submit it seems. No mail order brides needed.
2
Thank you for an immensely reasonable, utterly non-hysterical take.
6
Funny how Germany was able to take in well over a million people in less than two years without society falling apart.
10
@Louis
Falling apart is a pretty low bar.
5
@Louis
It's been a catastrophe. And will likely break up the E.U.
13
@Louis
Lol, the Germans had a great purge of their unwanteds less than a century ago. They have room. How quickly we forget our history, when looking to the German solutions.
6
Donald Trump thanks you for the headline.
18
President Obama and Speaker Boehner negotiated an immigration bill; however, Mr. Boehner could not sell it to his people. Without the democrats having a super majority in the Senate, the Presidency, and control of the house, there will never be a significant change of immigration law.
As far as the current problem with immigrants from the south, for two years this paper has been writing about how this current President and his people handle a crisis. Well, the crisis is here and they can't handle it. Intelligence should have been available to prepare for this influx. No excuses, the crisis is here and this administration deserves an "F".
5
Democrats have dug their heels in and refused to appropriate money for this issue, insisting there is no crisis.
They have boxed in critics, saying anyone who is against open borders is a racist and a white supremacist.
They own this problem.
As the only pol who will address it and call it what it is, Trump will win again, unfortunately.
36
Start fining any and all businesses $100,000 per day, per illegal from the day they were hired. If the business can't pay up, auction it off to pay the fine and leave the owner with nothing. Make E-Verify federal law and enforce it. No welfare for illegals. Problem solved.
18
The NYT claims the immigration system is in meltdown. A few weeks ago when Donald Trump was saying there is a crisis at the border the NYT was running editorials saying there isn’t a crisis. So what are we supposed to believe?
72
It's time to rename the State of New Mexico to just Mexico. Arizona too. And why stop there ..... Texas as well and Southern California.
11
@skanda
Put a wall, and border checkpoints, there. Before entering into the prosperous free-labor states, make them all wait in line and show their papers to get out of those states. Bushes too.
It works well in Israel.
5
I am tired of economic migrants taking advantage of this country. I am tired of hearing about day laborers bringing sick kids up here to get 'free' healthcare.
I am tired of the fake asylum claims. I am tired of the emotional blackmail.
I am tired of the Democrats who have prioritized foreign law-breakers over citizens.
58
@Willt26
You kinda hope the poor kids get free healthcare before the school year begins, if those kids are going to be enrolled in American public schools this fall, as these women seem to have been promised.
Packing kids together increases disease transmission, and sometone said they are being caught-and-released with TB too. Doesn't anybody on the left understand science and numbers??
6
The problem of illegal immigration has gotten worse and become a crisis under the Trump administration. Yet instead of demanding Trump take responsibility for his abject failures on this issue, many readers weirdly see this as an opportunity to upbraid the NYT and Democrats. The typical rank miasma of Republican hypocrisy lies thick upon the landscape.
6
@Melmoth
Trump and his voters have seen this day coming for years. It's the Dems, and the NYT, that has been preaching for open borders, no wall, no compromise, resist!
This is what you worked so hard to achieve, a border crisis. The lower courts have crippled Trump's actions, so now the women and children will pay the price.
Who has the poor short-term eyesight again? Now, the Dems will look like worse hypocrites than the Obama administration, if they dare "party on!" while there is so much in-your-face suffering in this country, not poor whites, but poor minorities trapped at the border, and caught in the catch-and-release game.
And the Dreamers, already here who were hoping for amnesty? Who is going to agree to make them citizens now -- what message will that send to those children being smuggled across the border today?
The goose is cooked.
8
@Chriva Not good enough. He's President of the United States. True leaders take responsibility and are judged by results. Right now he's a complete failure on this issue. The situation has deteriorated massively on his watch.
3
@Chriva All he has done and stomp his feet and yell "Build the Wall" which would do absolutely nothing to change anything described in this article.
1
So do we now all agree that there is a crisis on the border? That our immigration system is swamped and unable to function? That if we call ourselves a country we have to abide by a system of laws?
What a bizarre article to headline the Times after all the denials that proceeded it.
51
How can you resolve any issue , when the head of the executive is a most profane and vituperative liar and con-man ? That's why character counts and vile charlatans and liars should not be voted for even if they promise the moon.
12
@IdoltrousInfidel
ESPECIALLY when they promise the moon!
That is the MOA of all snake oil salesmen.
1
Here's a thought: give all the illegals entering the county and claiming asylum a free bus ticket to any destination in the United States -- but only to destinations that are sanctuary cities or states. You don't want to enforce immigration laws? Fine; bear the consequences.
26
'The very nature of immigration to America changed after 2014, when families first began showing up in large numbers.'
President Obama announced his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals in the summer of 2012 and expanded the program in 2014. Coincidence?
25
Trump said we were full! We are not. We can take in a lot more people.
We are a nation of immigrants. Building a wall is immoral. If they were white, blond, and blue eyed, there would be no problem at the boarder.
The US caused all the problems down there with our capitalist profit seeking corporations and insatiable demands for drugs.
These people are not coming here illegally. They are turning themselves in seeking asylum, which is legal. (This was a offered as a way to suggest that since it is legal to seek asylum, then there is no problem.)
Check out the most highly rated comments on NYT immigration stories over the last two months. Comments like the ones above tended to get lots of up votes. Which others did I miss?
7
@A Faerber
Yes, we are "full." Water shortages are a way of life out here in the West. Large cities expand until they run into other large cities and there's nothing but an urban landscape for miles. Municipalities spend endless amounts trying to accommodate the burgeoning number of cars clogging our roads, while their pollution chokes the air.
Every person needs food, water, shelter, transportation, and a job to pay for it all. These things aren't limitless.
25
@Amanda
Yes, how quickly the young people forget the poor economy in the Obama / Bush "bail out" years. They were probably safely covered on their parents' insurance plans until age 26 back then though, so they don't know hardship. Yet.
3
@A Faerber
That is reverse discrimination, blaming the beautiful for being white, blonde, and blue eyed. You empower us, as immigrants ourselves, to vault over the darker newcomers, by telling us how empowered we are in your land. Of course, we came in through the front door.
If it's not offensive to call out others for their personal characteristics, it is a very small step to ask if you believe, "If it's brown, flush it down. If it's yellow, let it mellow, But if it's white -- it's just right!"
Sure that is the message you're intending to send? I smell bleach and hair coloring products being sold, and new contacts for their eyes too. Tell them they must change their appearance to be accepted here, that's your bigotry / preferences showing...
Medicare will be strained to the breaking point when illegal aliens who have lived here for decades (and who have not paid into the system) grow older and sicker. All that cheap labor won't seem so cheap once that happens. The present "policy" is a complete failure--Democrats and Republicans share the blame.
25
@CD
"If you can't feed your baby, *yeah yeah* then don't have a baby... and don't have a baby, if you can't feed your baby!"
"Someone's always lying, got my baby crying, taking / stealing / denying, now you just want to be starting something..."
Michael, the smooth criminal, was teaching us something with his words afterall.
Just look at those children's beautiful faces. This is such a travesty and the only solution lies with Congress. The LA Times has a front page article about asylum seekers now taking the jobs held by migrant farm workers. This is causing a dire situation with those workers. And why haven't we heard a word about "The Dreamers"? All of a sudden, that topic disappeared. Congress, and only Congress, can fix this. Perhaps we should seriously consider firing all the ones up for re-election in 2020?
5
@J. G. Smith
The Dreamers program is dead.
We can't set a precedent now that if your parents paid money and you were unknowingly smuggled across the border, you get to stay.
The numbers today will not permit such an amnesty program. It would be like allowing the admitted students whose parents paid money to get them in, illegally, to the "elite" schools. What message do you send if you let them stay?
You benefit because your parent paid money and lied to help you cut the line? And, what of the actual asylum seekers who bring their battered and bruised bodies here from Mexico directly seeking shelter (not skipping over several countries for the economic benefits offered by the US?) Touch luck to them, is the message we are sending, I guess. Get in line, because the political pawns are overwhelming the asylum system now.
(How do the Sulzberger's, and their ilk, sleep at night?)
4
I am not a Trump fan, but he is right to say that illegal immigration is out of control.
He should cut the aid to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras because those millions of dollars have never been used to "help" stop civilians from going to the US.
They have been going straight to the corrupted people's pockets governing these three countries.
Why don't the people of the USA STOP hiring illegal immigrants? Because they like "cheap labor"
So then Trump should focus on:
Punish people with BIG FINES or JAIL TIME for hiring illegal immigrants
Fix the system that checks for SS cards, ID cards, and Driver Licenses.
No one likes Big Fines. They educate us... No one likes to pay big fines or go to jail either. Specially for hiring an illegal immigrant right?
If we do that, there's no reason why illegal immigrants would want to come to the USA anymore.... Nobody would hire them....
So, who is part to blame here.....?
If the USA do that, there's no need for a wall, there's no need to spend billions and billions to build it the billions and billions later in maintenance, and there's no reason why illegal immigrants should come to the USA anymore....
16
The NYT has denied there is any issue at the border at all since Trump was elected. Immigrants, Migrants, Refugees and for the last 18 months Asylum seekers. Well today they have been reinvented again - Victims of our broken immigration system.
Can we just be honest; at the end of the Obama Administration a judge ruled that children could not be separated from the adult they are caught with - as they previously always had been when the adult was arrested. This was no fault of President Obama - it is just how the facts played out. Add to the no separation rule an asylum claim and bang you have a golden ticket, your in. People are literally being sold this formula and it is working. They call home with the good news from their cell phones while waiting for the bus on this side of the border.
20
Do the kids in this photo look like they are looking for jobs? Stop the everify nonsense. The women with multiple kids are trekking thousands of miles here because of the social benefits, not jobs.
24
@Julie Melik
The nation's school districts will be in crisis mode when the summer ends, and the asylum hearings are still half a year or so off...
I would put an enterprising reporter tagging along with these poor victims, to cover where they go inland when they are initially caught and released. The kids need education, and ESL help too, right? Will the Times readers hold a GoFund me for the public school districts where these kids will be matriculating in August and September? They should. Compassion does not end when they cross and are "in".
4
If you keep repeating there is a crises it will appear. If you threaten, the threat increases. If you cut aid to countries south of Mexico and if you cut judges, facilities, and personnel to handle immigration, voila.... you have what you engineered. If you fail to follow through on employers who hire illegal immigrants then you have a crises. I think Trump is quietly discharging his illegal workers .... but everyone else.... oops.
4
Even the awfulness of Trump can't scare people who are fleeing for their lives.
2
@Paul Why not flee to Costa Rica or Panama? They're not fleeing, they're shopping.
13
And what exactly is New Zealand’s immigration policy? Certainly not open borders.
4
Rescind the republicans' corporate/wealthy-people tax cut. Use the money to boost aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to provide humanitarian and civil relief to the people there. Helping people in their own countries and assuaging their suffering is the only way to keep them there. In the mean time, the US government must consult its better angels for an immediate and humane plan to address this crisis at the border -- and fix the system, with help from proceeds from rescinding the corporate/wealthy-people tax cut. Trump's policy of gassing, abducting, abusing and caging children is cruel and obviously ineffective. Republicans and trump are toast in 2020 because of this.
1
@Angela Zimm
@Paul
You think they know who our president is? Not likely.
Congress can’t get together on anything, but even if they do, the process will be long and difficult and in the end maybe not successful. In the meantime the illegals keep coming. Washington used to be dysfunctional. Now its partisanship is becoming a menace. If they can’t get their act together, we’ll have to throw them all out before they can do more damage.
4
The left is generally benignly motivated. But the left absolutely refuses to acknowledge certain realities. They refuse to acknowledge that it is now so much easier for so many of the world population to get to America. And since the US is wealthy compared to most of the rest of the world, the US is a very attractive destination for at least half the world population. The left refuses to acknowledge that we simply cannot accept all or even most of the people who could come here, they are simply too many even if we limited immigration to only those with a humanitarian justification.
There is simply no good answer to the immigration problem. We cannot accept even all with humanitarian claim, yet rejecting any of them is an assault on our humanitarian values. Not every problem has a good solution. This is one problem that has no good solution regardless what we do.
8
@Errol
The word is out to the world: bring your children, America's borders are open...
"Who's got the pain? Who's got the pain?"
4
Wait, What? Now it is a crisis? Oh for shame. President Trump has been correct all along. The people in charge of writing laws, congress, both republican and democrat, are severely lacking in good judgement and backbone.
11
@C C Daniels
The people in charge of writing laws, congress, both republican and democrat, are severely lacking in good judgement and backbone.
--------------
... and foresight, it seems. You incentivize them bringing children for easier admission, people will bring children.
Is this the message the 9th circuit intended to send? Where is SCOTUS to make the law clear on what asylum is, and what it is not?
2
And in other news, the U.S. Healthcare system is broken, and there is no plan to fix it.
Well, no GOP plan anyway.
8
Donald Trump: "I fix things. It's what I do. Who is better at fixing things than me?"
Had Trump been honest (laughable, I know) he would have said:
"I break things. I have broken casinos for example. It is what I do. Who is better at breaking things than me?"
ANSWER:
Nobody is better at breaking things than Donald Trump. Trump has broken the U.S. Government, immigration, America's reputation in the world...
He trying to break the FED by nominating two unqualified hacks. He has broken the reputation of the FBI. He would love to break healthcare.
He has broken an already weak GOP.
The man can break stuff.
3
These so called "migrants" look pretty well-dressed, well-fed and pretty prosperous to me. Under international law, if they seek asylum and are from Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua or Costa Rica, they must apply for asylum in the nearest country, which in their case would be Mexico. Look at the lady with the blond highlights in her hair. That looks like a $75 hairstyle to me.
These people are in fact economic migrants, and because they gather outside our southern border intending to cross, they are illegal immigrants. There are plenty of legal immigrants in the US immigration system waiting patiently for their turn. These people are jumping the queue. They have no passports, no visas, no work permits and no green cards. They are illegal immigrants and should be returned to their countries of origin.
25
I suspect Mr. Trump is not too unhappy about the situation.
2
Sorry, as much as Trump blames the totally open border [outright lie] immediate amnesty [same] Democrats, in 2013 there was an in depth bipartisan immigration reform plan in the Senate.
Which was never even brought to the floor since Obama was President.
Rather than dealing with this, and a whole lot of other problems, when the GOP controlled all of Congress, they are Trump's lap dogs who just follow his lead about doing only the macho easy things ... well, it turns out that a lot of his grand plans and executive orders are neither easy nor legal.
7
Right wing pundits glibly raged against President Obama for years about the border crisis, absurdly claiming that somehow he was in favor of illegal immigration. In fact, the Obama administration deported far, far more people than George W. Bush's administration. Now that Trump's abject failure to fix the border is obvious, these people should finally be forced to uptake and comprehend that illegal immigration is an incredibly difficult and intractable problem. To paraphrase the clueless Trump on healthcare: "Who knew fixing illegal immigration could be so complicated !?!"
3
Mandatory e-verify. Accountants to audit businesses payroll records. Big fines to those who illegally employ anyone. Dry up the cash jobs and illegal immigration stops. Pretty easy really.
12
For the good of our nation and people the two parties must come together and just say no.
9
Just some thoughts and looking at the numbers with a different perspective..
- First off, we've been accelerating the rate of deportation of gang members many of whom never really lived in their country of birth so they get back home and wreak havoc, pushing people to flee. We are 100% responsible for that.
- As the article mentions, by having a tough stance on immigration, the smugglers are pushing more people to go before "it's too late". Our government's fault again.
- When we pay taxes, a single person or a family of 4 is considered 1 household right? When immigrants were mostly solo males (leaving their family behind) we count them as 1, but when a mom with two kids comes we count as 3. But if you counted the numbers as households it's actually a constant for the last 15-20 years - and one could even argue that with households coming across the border, the money being shipped back home goes down, stays in the US economy, and we, as a society, are better off.
- Finally. aid to Central American countries was reduced by 20% in the last few years and only represents 0.00035% of the federal budget. We provide $800 million a year in aid roughly to Central American countries, while ICE and Border Patrol have a yearly budget of roughly $20billion, yes $20billion (the whole GDP of Honduras). With half of what we spend on ICE and Border patrol we could double every education budget in Central America for example.
1
The United States can't be expected to support asylum seekers from abroad. The country is far too small, and far too poor. Why can't the larger, richer nations do their part instead of leaving it up to the tiny, impoverished United States?
5
Both parties of the US Congress owe the American people an explanation as to WHY they do not focus on passing new immigration laws that are sensible and responsible. Just like the easily passed bipartisan "defense budget" that was raised by $100 BILLION from $600 billion to $700 billion with a promise of $715 billion in 2019 -- When the Senate and US House want to pass something that benefits THEM, no problem. I do not blame President Trump for this. It's the fault of a do-nothing Congress that is happy to do nothing because cheap undocumented workers benefit BigAg and so many other corporations!
7
It's natural to say, "This is so awful—we must fix this!" Yet this situation has been awful for decades, and it's hard to see how we will get a consensus for improving things now. So prepare for the likely scenario that we lack the political ability to do anything, and we will simply have to stumble along with the status quo.
Except we have the wild card that President Trump will attempt to take unilateral actions to "fix" things, which will either be shot down by the courts or will make things worse. Of course, it would be nice if we could engage the Mexicans in working on a solution, but President Trump has burned our bridges with them.
But let's not embrace the solution of, "If we can survive 21 months we'll have a new President." As bad as President Trump is, our inability to address immigration problems predates him. President George W. Bush proposed a program including a guest worker status. It was hardly a perfect solution, but rather than fine-tuning his proposal both sides slam-dunked it.
So sadly that's the future I see, but I'd be delighted to be proved wrong. It would be great if a visionary leader could generate interest in a compassionate compromise solution. And I think that would work best if this person were a Republican. So the lead-in would be, "President Trump is the leader of our party, but he's not getting it done—here's the direction we need to go in.
2
Most immigration in the world is "push" immigration. That is conditions are so perilous that people take great risks to move. e.g Syrians, Jews in WW2 Europe, and Vietnamese after the fall of Saigon. The current crisis is the result of "push" conditions in Central America. El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala were/are economic colonies of the US and we have been engaged there for a long time. To what extent are the current conditions there a consequence of US policy and what can be done, substantively, to mitigate the "push" factors. This problem will not be solved with more border controls, more judges and more racist language.
It is incredible to me that the United States, both as a people and a government, takes so little responsibility for its own actions. How many Americans are even aware of the devastation that US policies and corporations have inflicted on Central America? Is it any wonder that people want to flee such hellish situations? And when confronted by an acute crisis, we want to do things that will inevitably make the situation worse, like threatening to cut off Central American aid based on a tweet? Or likewise threatening to eliminate immigration judges, when we actually need many more, to clear the backlog of asylum cases?
Like many of our domestic problems, this one appears self-made. We went out of our way to insult and degrade Mexico by electing a man who hurled insults and threats. Mexico previously acted as a substantial brake on migrant movements. But our president didn't even have the knowledge or interest to be aware that most migrants weren't from Mexico! Is it any wonder that Mexico isn't cooperating as much as it used to?
Also, once people reach here, we can darn well afford to house, treat and care for them as human beings until they're processed, and either admitted or denied. The president's bone-headed cruelties haven't helped matters at all.
2
Politicians, especially Democrats, sitting in their offices in DC don't understand the realities of uncontrolled immigration. In Freehold, NJ, such a huge amount of immigration from Mexico and Central America has absolutely destroyed opportunities and the city for those who were there legally before. The entire town has changed to a Spanish-speaking enclave where illegal immigrants don't even try to integrate. There are so many children that the school library had to shut down because there weren't enough classrooms. The value of homes has gone way down. Politicians are failing us if they don't stop this.
It makes no sense that a migrant who can make a trek to the USA couldn't make the trek to a different, safer part of their own country. These people aren't refugees in mortal danger looking for temporary respite, they're economic migrants wanting more work and less crime.
I agree that the US shouldn't be pitting their own poor, who are not today adequately cared for on any dimension, against the world's poor. Hundreds of millions of people would want to be in the USA if our borders were open. Why send smuggled-in Central Americans who know how to game the system to the front of the line just because they showed up in a caravan? It's unfair to legal immigrants from all over the world who could actually contribute to the country, and it's unfair to those living in the US.
I wish Democrats and Republicans would stop bickering for once and get together to solve this.
19
It's very much an example of the broken window effect in law enforcement: if we give some people asylum, then many more will come.
The obvious immediate step is to halt the asylum program. It was intended for refugees from wars, genocide, and political oppression, and it's turned into a program for people who are poor or live in violent areas. Their plight is lamentable, but we simply cannot take them all, or handle the many who come only to be sent back. If these problems are to be solved, they are going to have to be solved in the countries from which they come.
And then we must get tougher on other aspects of illegal immigration.
Build Trump's wall -- it would cost nothing on the scale of federal expenditures and despite all the grousing, it would discourage cross-border immigration -- remember the grousing about Israel's wall, and how effective it turned out to be at reducing terrorist attacks?
Stop talking about amnesty and send anyone who's here back (but protect the dreamers, who came through no fault of their own). End birthright citizenship. And establish and enforce real penalties for those who employ illegals.
I have to agree with those who say that if the Democrats fail to get tough on immigration, they're going to hand the 2020 election to Donald Trump, a scary prospect indeed.
13
Effective managers focus on root problems and act to prevent crisis before it occurs. Then there are those less able that simply conduct crisis management when a crisis occurs that should have been prevented. Then there is Trump and his crew who can't even manage a crisis.
2
@WITNESS OF OUR TIMES\
Trump's cruel and inept handling of the situation built a problem into a crisis. This serves his political aims.
I am curious that after all the vehement criticism of Trump over his policies to stop illegal immigration, all the denials about the severity of illegal immigration, how this reverse somersaulting of opinion is happening. Maybe some Democratic candidate is preparing to take a tough approach on illegal immigration during her/his campaign and admitting the problem now may make a future endorsement easier. But at least now we know all of those were false claims and Trump was always right that Democratic opposition to tough measures against illegal immigration was encouraging illegal immigration.
7
"Slowing the exodus of migrants from Central America would need to start in those countries first. Central America’s economies are still weak, and residents face drug and gang violence at levels largely unseen in other countries. Many are subject to deep poverty, a situation that recently reached a crisis with the collapse of coffee, corn and maize crops."
The same countries had active civil wars going on from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_American_crisis ). It also seems that the "deep poverty" was far worse back then. For example, the CIA Factbook says that real GDP in Honduras has been growing at 3.8-4.8 percent per year over the past three years while population is growing at only 1.5 percent per year (i.e., people are getting wealthier on a per-capita basis).
If GDP growth per capita of about 3 percent is "a crisis" then what would you call per capita GDP growth of about 1 percent (the U.S. rate, after subtracting population growth from the meaningless aggregate GDP growth number that is always presented in headlines)?
2
Good analysis. Significant immigration issues that need to be solved and solved quickly. May be hard to do with a president who wants to maintain the crisis and does not want to solve the crisis because the crisis makes for a winning re-election strategy. I fear his inaction will only exacerbate the immigration crisis and get him re-elected.
Democrats need to show they are trying to solve the problem. Trump will keep turning their solutions down and hopefully America will see through his obstruction. He doesn’t care about solutions. He just wants to make the situation worse for his own self interest.
The main problem with asylum is that most asylum seekers who fail to win their cases do not return home. They stay anyway and continue to work here illegally, mostly for pittance wages and no health insurance. Africans and Asians tend to arrive here as single adults on tourist or student visas and often marry US citizens and have US-born children. Central Americans are bringing at least one child in order to be released after entering without inspection. Most adults will have at least one US citizen child while here. These folks are not going back home unless we drag them kicking and screaming onto a charter flight, leaving their US citizen family members behind. If these families were economically self-sufficient, this wouldn’t be a problem, but few adults from Central America, China, and some other countries whose citizens try their luck at US residency through asylum attain language and job skills enabling them to earn enough to support a family without government aid.
The only way to reduce the number of failed asylum seekers who remain illegally is to reduce the number of asylum seekers, and the only way to do that humanely is to sign a bilateral agreement with Mexico recognizing each other as a safe country and cooperating with the UN, Mexico, Canada, and other countries in the region to set up refugee camps in southern Mexico to shelter migrants while experienced UN staff evaluate claims and resettle successful applicants.
8
We live in a world that is changing so fast that we don’t really understand what is happening. We think we do; we don’t. To deploy draconian measures to keep people out will not work. That approach runs counter to what this country has stood for historically. We have fought wars to enshrine freedom since 1941. Serious consideration needs to be given to abolishing borders all across the world. People have the right to move to places they feel can support better lives for them. Capital works without borders. Why not people? Areas that people flee must change to support life. I think we really need to do the hard work to change outdated concepts. We can’t afford to be Americans, or Mexicans, or Canadians, or English, or Russian, or whatever anymore. We will die for our countries. Perhaps we can live for the whole earth and all that is in it. Maybe we can all live in world wide peace and prosperity.
Someone needs to explain why physically preventing people from seeking a better life is better than offering them the opportunity. America is a nation of immigrants. Irish immigrants were a problem, until they weren't. same with the German, the Polish, the Chinese, etc. We have an extraordinarily tight labor market. Rather than build a wall, process their asylum claims and give them the opportunity that refugees deserve.
2
"The smugglers have told them that they will be quickly released, as long as they bring a child." Exactly. This plus the local interpretation of DACA in the rumor mills of Central America is why we are seeing the system overwhelmed with children. It's why many (who are being brought as tools to seek quick release into the U.S. by people who are not necessarily their legal guardians) wind up in foster care under the auspices of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (this is where unaccompanied children or those whose accompanying adults are remanded to criminal prosecution actually go, not into cages). I'm not sure what the solution to this is, but it's neither a wall nor yelling that enforcement of the laws on the books is evil mandating the abolishment of the enforcement agency.
5
The best way to keep Central Americans from coming here in desperation is to aid the governments of the source countries in stabilizing their economies and improving public safety to the point that their citizens can lead their lives free from hunger and danger in their own countries. It's the smart thing to do, and it's also morally incumbent upon us, since the US has a long history of destabilizing policies in that region.
We'll never do it, though.
Here's the irony in all of this:
The US already has millions of poor, desperate, low-skill people struggling to raise their families in unstable communities with limited opportunities and a constant threat of violence. Except these are actual citizens, born right here in America.
If a caravan of, say, inner city Detroit residents decided to crash the borders of the nearest affluent community and demand "asylum," I suspect they would be shut down and arrested in short order. Because unlike the migrants, who will do jobs that most Americans wouldn't dare consider, they are not vital to big business interests.
I don't know what the answer is to this very complex immigration issue but something tells me corporate America needs to be held more accountable for its role in the problem. THAT is why neither party, beholden to its corporate donors, has been unable or unwilling to address this.
3
So Trump was right? I’ll be voting for him and the GOP based on this issue alone. The fact that Democrats have no problem that our country can’t even control who is coming here anymore is deeply troubling to me, a forty something black male.
The issue to me is no longer a question of differences in economic or domestic social policy but whether the parties even agree if we have a right to sovereignty. It appears the Democrats no longer believe that we do and thus I’ll be voting Republican.
7
Trump has done nothing but exacerbate the problem with his rhetoric and his actions. A more effective solution would be treat the source of the problem in Central America (through diplomacy, aid, military action, if necessary). Too bad that treating symptoms (walls, shut down the border, cage children, etc.) is more appealing to Trump and his base. Trump is treating the whole immigration issue as a means to re-election, not as a means to solve a problem.
1
I disagree with those who say bringing their children on such a long and dangerous trek is child abuse. Yes, it's an arduous journey, but children have been taken on arduous journeys since time immemorial. Many of our own ancestors took children on wagon trains into primarily uncharted territory. The parents in the caravan are doing this for their children. The trek may be dangerous, but what they are running from is a constant and immediate danger. Getting a better job is down on the list at the moment.
1
@Carole A. Dunn
Just don't blame Americans or Trump supporters when the children get sick, turned away at the border, or make it barely over into the Promised Land and die.
If they can't feed and care for their children in places where they have family and speak the language, what makes them think they will have it any easier here? It is child abuse when you willingly endanger your children, instead of just removing them immediately from a violent situation and take refuge at the first safe place you find.
They want to "raise their children in safety in American, where the children can go to schools." It's not just asylum claims, they are drawn to the stable economics and safety support programs that Americans in the USA have built here. They are telling you that, once you get over the $85,000 extortion letter demand stories the smugglers told them to tell.
6
Let's not forget the actual physical wall (or lack thereof) actually has little to do with this issue.
5
Largely, these comments are ludicrous. “Illegals” is a disgusting term. Please ask yourselves, “am I indigenous to North America?” We are all human brothers and sisters, and need to realize FAST we are all connected and have to share this rare biome.
9
@Jessica:"Please ask yourselves, 'am I indigenous to North America?' "
North America is not a country.
Perhaps you can convince folks in Scarsdale to share their digs with the illegals.
Do tell how all that worked out.
9
@Jessica
You live in a fairtale land.
Are you willing to pay $7,000 every year from now on to pay for educating the illegal immigrant children & to provide healthcare to all the illegal immigrants???
9
@Jessica
When you break the law, the short term word is illegal.
When you come to this story telling tales of danger, and are put up for a year but can't make it to your courtdate and give up on the courts, you are acting illegally.
Is America a county that believes in rule of law, or are the newcomers importing the value systems here of the countries they fled? Who will teach them civics, along with English and assimilation? From driving to purchasing property to working, Americans are trained to follow the rules and not break the laws.
Is something getting lost in translation?
4
Hey! What happened with the "Trump manufactured crisis"? Wasn't his insistence that the illegal immigration has reached the breaking point just a ploy to stoke resentment against the "other"? How about reminding us about the denials offered by the Democrat leaders? Do you, really, think that after beating the drum that everything is fine, you can switch your position without providing any mea culpa for having been wrong in your coverage for so long?
53
@Sasha: I think the idea was that yes, in sofar as there is a crisis, it’s manufactured by Trump, and this article confirms it.
2
@Sasha
This is not the Times switching positions. Trump paints a picture of gang members, rapists, and drug dealers sneaking across the border. This is why he says the border needs a wall. This article paints a different picture, that of migrants, particularly families, fleeing poverty, lawlessness, and persecution in their home countries. These people are surrendering themselves at the border and seeking out border agents to turn themselves in to so they can get a hearing. The crisis this article discusses is the one of strained time and budgets to process all of the refugee cases. This editorial points out how Trump's decision to withhold money from countries that migrants are moving from are going to increase the crisis. There is different than Trump's fear-mongering crisis of "very bad people" trying to sneak into the country.
2
No one has said there isn’t an issue. We’ve been saying that Trump’s framing of all migrants as subhuman criminals is wrong.
2
Wake up, Democrats.
You can oppose throwing children in cages all you want, but where is your plan for how to solve this? Stay silent and let Trump dictate the narrative on immigration and be prepared for a 2016 repeat in two years.
88
@Solaris The Dems should hold up a sign that says "Free Healthcare! Come and get it!" Come one , come all. It's ALL FREE!
7
@Solaris
No cages. A bottle of water, not brand-name Sprite, and send them back on the return journey. IN the end, it is the least cruel thing we could do: don't give them any hope to continue to use their children like this.
8
@Solaris
The Democrats must formulate and articulate their overall immigration plan sooner rather than later. Criticizing the Trump administration without an immigration reform strategy of their own is just as bad as the Republicans trying to repeat the ACA without a replacement. This plan should become part of their platform and embraced by all the candidates.
1
A Central American migrant can credibly claim refugee/asylum status as he approaches Mexico's southern border.
If he then chooses to then travel an additional 1000 miles through Mexico (now free from his own government's ineptitude and corruption) to reach our southern border, he has become an economic migrant.
We have no duty to take in economic migrants.
78
@GBR How so?
1
@GBR
You just wrote the decision for John Roberts' Court.
When will SCOTUS take the case?
6
What the what? Did I just read this headline in the NYT correctly?
What took you all so long that was so blatantly obvious to most readers. Yes, we are being overly infiltrated, overwhelmed and invaded by millions, yes 10's of millions, of illegal migrants.
And this is just the beginning. Stay tuned for the next 5-10 years. Anarchy and chaos will predictably ensue. What a complete total nightmare. Thanks a lot to all of you who have created this never ending quagmire of catch and release, sanctuary this and that, et al. Let them all sleep, eat and stay at your house.
87
@cf: There was a bipartisan comprehensive immigration bill in 2013 that passed the House but stalled in the Senate because conservative Republicans were against it. Without offering an alternative, of course. In the first year of the Trump administration Trump said he’d sign any bipartisan bill that reached his desk, but than he reneged on that promise twice on bills that could have given him all he wanted for his wall. As this article shows, Trump’s policies actually made the situation worse than it could have been. But by all means, blame the Democrats...
2
Perhaps blame the administration that does not fulfill its obligations under law.
2
@cf
Men came to work, and stayed hidden.
You can't hide these children, and the mothers will not abandon their children for work like the men do.
These are fertile women, and the children in that picture in less than a decade likely will be too. Think of the numbers today, then multiply that tenfold. That is who you are admitting in the catch-and-release asylum programs today, just so we are clear. The male workers brought only themselves, not their wombs. The women have different job functions than men -- they make and raise children, not wages.
4
Until we prosecute businesses that continue to hire illegals, more illegals will continue to pour in.
The problem isn't enforcing immigration laws against the "brown skin people", it is not enforcing immigration laws agains the white people, business owners.
Hotels, motels, restaurants, meat packers, farmers, landscapers, construction companies, maid services, etc.. keep hiring illegals and there is no criminal consequence for it. When "caught", these companies are given a small simple administrative penalty that is dramatically reduced after complaining that they "didn't know the worker was illegal".
Illegals come here because we keep giving them jobs!
Don't expect foreigners to follow our immigration laws when we Americans don't follow them ourselves!
20
The border is broken? Since when? Last week all democrats were saying it is a crisis produced by Trump administration. What has changed? Maybe mainstream media decided to report some facts..? Just wonder.
34
@Henry It's a crisis due to the administration's failure to manage it properly.
1
@Henry: Nope. It’s still acrisis and it’s produced and made worse by the Trump administration. That’s what the whole article is about...
@Henry but propaganda has more drama
The “readers picks” among comments here highlight the view that refugees from failed states are unwelcome in the USA. Hard hearted, cruel. And ineffective.
6
This is somewhat vertiginous. Until a few weeks ago, the Times and its Fact Checker were relentlessly messaging there was no border crisis, that the "crisis" was just another Trump Lie. Now it's a crisis? What changed?
52
@Beantownah Trump's policies changed the narrative.
@Beantownah
What changed is the Mueller report came out and there was no Russian collusion, no way of impeaching the president. So they manufacture another crisis, this time using women and children as pawns.
It sells subscriptions.
7
It is ridiculous that anyone coming into this country legally or illegally gets the same consideration. I think if you don't enter through an approved entry point you should be classed as illegal forever until you do. That would kill off the coyote trade and put a stop to this stupidity, but when this administration tried to do that a court struck it down until the legislature could make it legal. Predictably the legislature has done nothing to fix this. It would be nice if they took some time off from their "investigations" and attended to this simple start to fixing the problem. And while people are waiting for their case for asylum to come up why are they allowed to stay in the country until then? It seems they can't lose either way, just come and you get to stay regardless whether you are legal or not. How stupid are we? We let pregnant tourists from China and Russia give birth in our territories so that they can later claim US citizenship as needed. We are being used. This has to stop.
31
Part of the problem is people like Trump who hire illegals. Criminalize the employment of illegal aliens as part of a reform movement!
15
@Harry B
Illegal is a status. They are humans, not illegals.
Also, hiring illegal immigrants is against the law already.
what's happening along the southern border is a tiny, tiny taste of what we can expect over the coming decades from climate change.
15
Why are we afraid of a million migrants/refugees/asylum seekers? Can 300 people not welcome and assimilate one new neighbor?
Search, screen and register new arrivals. Send those in need of medical care to a doctor or hospital, send known criminals to law enforcement and let everyone else go live their lives with some information about living here. The problem is not the number of humans, it is the dehumanizing effects of the shadow economies and for-profit public services our current systems allow to flourish.
If a law's primary effect is the enrichment of outright criminals or shady opportunists, there is a good chance we do not need it.
3
@Alan The majority of these people cant even read Alan. Where do you think they will work? For horrible people like our president, thats who.
3
The way to fix the system is to let EVERYBODY into the USA from around the world - everybody.
This would solve all of the problems in the rest of the world - as there would be less pollution, reduced poverty, diminished crowding and no corruption. These problems would be concentrated in only one place - the USA, and all of the new people would vote Democrat, thus ensuring that the Democrat Party would be in power in perpetuity.
14
“The next time, if I don’t go with a lawyer and they don’t give a clear answer,” he said, “I’m going to look for another way to get in.”
That's why we need the WALL --- NOW!!!
13
"And there's no plan to fix it."
Nor is there any plan to deal with the 10 to 12 million undocumented persons currently living in the US. DACA, which does not provide a path to citizenship, was announced in 2012. It's still in limbo, as of today.
Intra-partisan insults - plenty. Plans - nah.
6
Even with the situation at the border, we still don't need a wall. We need better laws to address the following shortcomings:
- Change asylum laws to limit the numbers of asylum seekers per year
- Reduce chain migration
- Improve E-Verify to be based on biometrics and make it mandatory for all employers
- Provide extremely harsh criminal penalties to businesses and individuals that hire illegals
- Change the 14th Amendment to require one parent to be a US citizen or a person legally in the USA in order for newborn to have birthright citizenship. No more anchor babies!
- Since the overstay of visas is a primary means of entering and staying illegally, make the penalties harsh for anyone that intentionally violates this by barring them permanently from the USA
We need to take drastic measures!
11
This is nothing new. The Europeans faced waves of refugees in recent years and they handled it--sometimes not so well. You have to anticipate the problems before they arrive at your doorstep. The best result is to keep they in their own country by foreign aid. Too bad Trump thinks you can accomplish this by force. There are a million Syrian refugees in Jordan, which is a small country. We certainly can accommodate the numbers that arrive here. What is missing is leadership and the willingness to show some compassion and humanity. Americans are generous people. But you don't bring out the best in us by appealing to the nationalists and telling people that refugees are murders, rapists and drug mules.
7
If you don't believe this article was written to gin up support for a wall, you're being willfully ignorant.
Here's the formula: under fund and rail.
Don't establish a workable Interview system, incarcerate (or set up tent cities on the other side of the border).
Don't try to alleviate real crises in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Add to the worsening of their conditions, resulting in Caravans.
Prey on the public's ignorance about our Immigration laws, especially asylum, instead of educating and elevating the conversation.
Most importantly, blame the victims.
Then, give more power, not less, to a President more interested in personal wealth than his own country.
Are we there yet?
7
We were warned 50 years ago by the book, the Population Bomb, written by Paul Ehrlich, which appeared in 1968.
He suggested that population growth would lead to widespread starvation. That did appear in South Sudan and Yemen, as well as a few other places.
But the "Green Revolution" improved agricultural productivity. So population growth instead caused a host of other problems. Political instability for example. After decades of 3% per annum growth, Syria erupted in civil war.
People generally choose war before they starve. This has the pattern since civilization arose in Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and China.
Liberals hold up conservatives for ridicule when they deny global warming. But the world population has DOUBLED since 1970 and that is one of the primary causes of global warming.
The real fools are the liberals who deny the impact of population growth, and suggest that we can solve the problem of poverty in Guatemala by encouraging migrant caravans to invade the US.
Bad as he is, Donald Trump is mild compared to the demagogues Americans will choose as they continue to deny the nature of the problem destroying their democracy.
Yes, it will take many years yet. We have some time to enjoy the dimming of America.
But democracy is already fading. It will gradually melt away as America clings to the false notion that there is still room on our frontiers for unlimited numbers of people.
The editorial board of the NY Times is a ship of fools.
19
I am happy to say Trump will win again because of this issue. All the fake race baiting by the left will lose them the election and they deserve it. Until the left makes it clear who they represent (Americans) they are finished. Most Americans are on the side of Trump on this issue.
18
Trump and Miller have taken a wrecking ball to the immigration system and they have no way of fixing it. Their only solution is immense cruelty and racism. After a round of firings the administration has been left with a skeleton crew of befuddled and overtaxed immigration officials but no competent leadership. The immigration officers union was among the first to support Trump with promises that he would use harsh measures to stop the flow of undocumented persons. A hard fist, more officers, jail for all who crossed without papers, a tough as nails response, applauded by the union, but now what? Well they got Trump and with him came more trouble but no solutions. The best Trump can come up with is to close the border and ruin the nation's economy. Wow, what a mess and we have Trump and his supporters to thank for this insanity!
5
As others have pointed out, the "border" is not broken - - our immigration system is broken. It has been for quite some time. Though the article won't state it directly, we do know one thing about the problem: Trump doesn't want to fix it; he wants to end immigration almost completely.
By the way, I'm disappointed that the NY Times gives a pass to the image of the "diseased" and contagious immigrant described by the Border Patrol union official. Really? This is an image - - foreigners spreading disease, invasive strangers threatening "American's" health, occupying dangerous bodies - - going all the way back to the US arrival of non-WASP migrants in the middle of the 19th century. It belongs to that same nativist rhetoric as talk of "rapists" and "calves the size of cantaloupes." This weird quotation plays no role in the analysis offered by the article - - perhaps the non sequitur plays something other than an analytical or critical purpose?
8
The two biggest obstacles to stopping the hoards of central american immigrants are the democrats in congress and the democrat appointed judges to stymie every effort to get the situation under control. The U.S. should take a page from the European playbook, and pay Mexico to do our dirty work of turning the people back at their southern border. The Italian's pay the Libyan's and it works. Let's get it done.
12
@DRS
h-o-r-d-e-s not "hoards" The words "hoard" and "horde" are homophones: They sound alike but have different meanings and histories, although both have been associated with barbarians and their activities. Well, on second thought, either one probably works in this context. What's going on at the border certainly seems barbaric. I'd be happy to endorse whatever plan can be developed to treat innocent children humanely in the short term. As long as they are on this side of the border, we must. Or else surrender any pretense of being humane.
"...Most of them are from Central America, seeking to escape from...persistent poverty..."
The above is not a legit reason to get in front of the line of several other millions who would like to come to the US. That's why legal immigration exists and should be respected. I feel for many who are cheated by those who manipulate (read: lie) the law to push others aside.
14
Why aren't these migrants staying in Mexico? They share the same language and customs and it would appear that they would feel more at home. They are risking their health and lives when they could stay in a country similar to their own. Why isn't anyone encouraging this?
11
Where is the Democratic leadership on this? All I hear is crickets.
If the Democrats continue to focus on things like abolishing ICE and establishing reparations, we're going to lose in 2020.
And I'm going to blame them.
30
What is wrong with Mexico to seek asylum? I dislike Trump as much as the next guy but I think he think he is doing a good job with immigration. Get in the back of the line and wait, just like everyone else. They are for economic reasons just like everyone else too.
14
“Most of them are from Central America, seeking to escape from gang violence, sexual abuse, death threats and persistent poverty. “
I truly don't understand how the U.S. is supposed to solve their problems. Literally the same gangs are here in the U.S. waiting for them. Violence? You can't even go to church in this country without getting shot. If a woman can make $85,000 to pay some guy to guide her through the desert, why on earth come to the U.S. to take a minimum wage job working in a hotel. You could not even work at a Starbucks because of the language barrier.
I understand wanting to leave one's country. I would love to emigrate to Iceland but I don't speak a word of the language and could not even order my coffee without whipped cream. So, I'm left with places like Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Britain which kind of sort of speak my language. But I would never consider moving to Romania or Thailand as wonderful as those places seem simply because of the barrier. So, I fail to understand why travelling migrants are not more interested in Mexico or Costa Rica. Maybe its because of the incredible racism in Central America where a Guatemalan is treated like dirt by Mexicans. I don't know but not much makes sense about the choice. And why on earth trek across the desert to the U.S. and not continue on to Canada which is lacking in the violence that we have here in the U.S.?
12
@tom harrison
Desperation. The long held stereotype that the USA is a Utopian land of opportunity.
Trump is awful in so many ways but he has been consistently correct on this issue. And many Americans agree with him, including a large number who won't say it out loud.
22
This is the first immigration article in nearly 3 years which is honest and meets the NY Times' platinum standard: "All the news that's fit to print."
Trump's tough anti-immigrant rhetoric is reasonable. If there's a water leak, the first thing you do is try and stop the leak. Mopping and cleaning come afterwards.
The Dems have never had a plan to address one simple question: exactly how many new undocumented immigrants are acceptable?
If we can arrive at a number, then, presumably, anyone over the number should be denied entry. If we have that number, we can raise taxes to help accommodate that number.
Without that number, Trump's insistence that this is a border emergency is valid. I'm glad that the NY Times agrees.
20
To forestall illegal immigration from poor countries to the richest one in the history of the planet, do you:
1. Work to bolster the poor countries' economies and their respective rules of law, thereby reducing the economic- and safety-based spurs to such illegal action?
Or
2. Smear Mexicans, eliminate economic assistance, and steal and cage children, creating psychological torment and, ultimately, uncontrollable fury that we may expect will be directed inward and outward for any foreseeable future?
In "Annie Hall," released forty years before Trump became president, Woody Allen's Alvy Singer captured Trump perfectly in Alvy's contemptuous dismissal of his grammar-school classmate Ivan Ackerman, shown saying confidently that 'seven and three is nine':
"Always the wrong answer. Always."
7
This may well be the moment, but the current regime of dishonest actors is ill equipped to find a solution.
2
Not a Trump supporter but common sense laws are a must:
A Wall or a Physical Barrier
E-verify
Voting with Proof
Fear of the law - deportations regularly.
End of sanctuary cities.
Enough is enough.
16
This and other articles earlier this year highlight the crisis that is occurring at the border. President Trump is right. There is an emergency and we have the Democratic Party willfully ignoring the hordes of migrants amassed at the border and lying to the cameras saying that is a figment of Trump's imagination. We can't have everyone in the world come to this country that wants to. When will we have patriots in the Democratic Party that will put country before party and push to stop this madness.
9
Peace, prosperity and security: universal desires of people everywhere, but sadly elusive to the good people of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Why not offer the use of the US military to peacefully stabilize the country of Guatemala, which also borders El Salvador and Honduras?
2
Why isn't this president and his administration making things better in this country for the lower and middle class - ie. the majority of Americans? He's had over 2 years to start making things great but instead he is creating total chaos and giving billionaires and rich corporations billions in tax cuts while our middle class taxes have gone up substantially this year. Not good. And those poor children are suffering on our borders. It's just unconscionable. The fear and instability this president and his administration has caused is unfathomable.
8
The Dems lost on this issue and they will lose again on this issue. Yes Trump supporters want to hold Trump's feet to the fire regarding his promised wall, but Trump supporters also know who the barrier to that success is and how many Democrats (Beto, Bernie, Pete, Pelosi) would instead welcome everyone into our country with open arms along with all the problems attached to that philosophy. I'm sure there are even some closet Trump supporters here on this issue that based on articles like this just might have to vote Republican.
10
This is the best wedge issue the Republicans could hope for.
The fear of the borders being overrun will give them another 4 years in the White House.
8
Unable?
More like unwilling; those who are in charge.
2
There’s a humanitarian crisis at the border, not a national security crisis as Trump wants us to believe. He claims that gangs and drugs are spilling across the border and therefore we need a wall, but a wall is not the answer because drugs mostly come through legal ports of entry.
We need more immigration judges. We need more humane processing centers. We need to give more aid to Central American NGOs to help people who are starving from crop failure, who are fleeing violence such as murder and rape. We could give asylum seekers ankle bracelets equipped with gps trackers. But to say “Sorry, we’re full” doesn’t cut it.
People coming across the border with their children are not faking their suffering. The callous response toward human suffering that I see reflected in the comments here as well as from Trump’s pursed lips is truly disappointing.
9
Could it be that Trump created a greater mess than we previously had because of his ranting and raving that our borders were not secure when he didn't get support for his wall?
6
@Clayton Marlow Exactly, thank you.
-Reporting from 20 miles north of the busiest border crossing in N. America.
1
Any rational, practical action on immigration has been stymied by Trump’s obsession with his wall. Trump is not interested in solving problems. He creates them and makes political hay with the resulting mess.
4
Are we a country of laws or are we not? Our immigration laws, passed long BEFORE Trump was out of short pants, have been ignored for decades with the surreptitious approval of both parties. The Democrats see more poorer people identifying with their party. More numbers. The Republicans see cheap plentiful labor who can be exploited because illegals are in no bargaining position when they are abused by being grossly underpaid!!
Reagan made an attempt to deal with the immigration fiasco but nobody pushed it. So we have millions here illegally. Some for decades. That’s one “problem” that needs to be dealt with. Separate from the border crisis today!
But what about tomorrow or next week? As I said earlier..are we a country of laws or aren’t we? Do we want totally opened borders? If so, Congress should change the law and we should enforce that new law. As for now, the “old law” is on the books and needs vigorous enforcement.
I don’t like Trump one little bit. He’s crude, but the gist of his argument here is true. Something must be done to strictly enforce the immigration laws we have. Either that, or LEGALLY change them in Congress!
21
The UN Convention also requires that refugee applicants apply for asylum in the country of first instance, in this case Mexico. The UN has also always recognized that countries have the right to have quotas for refugees.
Both inconvenient facts ignored by liberals.
11
For how many years have US politicians been kicking the can down the road on just about every major issue? Immigration is just one of many.
Unfortunately, politicians on both sides appear to be primarily concerned with assuring they get re-elected by raising enough money and making sure the opposition does not "win" on any issues.
The Republicans are worse than the Democrats, but compromise is now out of the question because the parties think it makes the compromising party look weak. As a result, nothing, or less than nothing, gets down, and problems roll along like snowballs getting bigger and bigger and worse and worse.
Therefore, to avoid controversy and the insults and smears of the opposition, politicians in 1 party do little or nothing (the Democrats), or they escalate a problem by making sure nothing is done so they can blame the other side for "causing" the problem (the Republicans).
Even George W. Bush proposed a reasonable "path to citizenship," but his own party crucified him and screamed "amnesty." Why? Perhaps because immigration, like abortion, has always been a "hot button" and wedge issue that right wingers around the world use to generate fear and hatred to get themselves elected or stay in office.
Situations defined as real (no compromise allowed and win at all costs) are real in their consequences. And look at the growing mess, chaos, and human casualties in the immigration gridlock.
Try getting together and fixing immigration for a change
4
I'm very ambivalent about this issue. No, open borders are kind of insane. And we don't even enforce the laws we put on the books. And yes we messed with Central America for a hundred years and no wonder everyone wants to leave.
BUT... I lived near the Salinas Valley fields, watching workers stooped over lettuce, strawberries, etc. all day long. Fine, we'll remove the illegal labor. But be careful what you wish for. Your produce prices will skyrocket. And don't think some poor white or minority guys will come from Dakota or Arkansas or somewhere to take these jobs instead of getting handouts and OD'ing on drugs. Even if they could stand up, they wouldn't last an hour in those fields. This is another one of the unrealistic aspects of this whole picture. We've made this mess (enough blame for everyone), and it will be very tough to extricate ourselves.
9
Nothing short of a drastic change in U.S. foreign policy which will be binding upon administrations of any flavor for the next 100 years will solve the immigration crisis.
U.S. needs to rein in capitalism and stop meddling in the governments of South American countries. This is the number one reason for the current crisis and it has been a long time coming. Almost every high schooler in the US will do some type of drug the source of which is South America. We can't pretend that economic and violence problems in the south have nothing to do with us. In fact we have everything to do with them.
Again, introspection requires courage, humility, honesty and patriotism. Patriotism of the real kind, like the WW2 soldiers showed, not the kind white supremacists display or the politicians regurgitate every chance they get.
We have surely lost our way. Within the next 25 years, United States will sink to the bottom of the list of economic powerhouses due to reduced immigration, rise of nationalism and white supremacy and lack of affordable healthcare. May be we deserve to spend the next 200 years rebuilding our institutions to make our ways of life more sustainable.
1
I'm willing to bet that few NYT readers (and a lot of "outraged" anti-illegal-immigration folk) have ever met real refugees or asylum seekers who have come across the southern border. Nor have they lost their jobs or have been negatively affected by immigrants (legal or illegal) coming across the southern border.
This "crisis" is more of a marketing campaign by the Trump administration rather than existential threat.
Do any of you really believe, after decades of failed attempts to fix this problem (remember the Republicans refused to support either GWB or Obama in this cause), that powerful American interests want it solved?
6
So many of these asylum seekers are gaming the system to the detriment of those in need here and to somehow romanticize or prioritize their suffering is totally disingenuous. This attitude will get Trump elected again, no doubt. The image conjured up of hordes of people streaming unchecked through the border while elite liberals righteously nod their heads in their gated communities/ivory towers is not lost on the majority of Americans who are struggling to pay bills and keep their heads above water. There's not enough (money or brains) to go around to have established a functioning and affordable health care system and now public resources are freely doled out to illegal non citizens? Trump's going to win the next election unless the Democrats come up with firm guidelines that reassure the American voter that they are going to be taken care of first.
9
We are Not a welfare state. People in Central America believe they can be hired for "fair" wages and better themselves. There's a long history of immigrants who can testify to that dream's reality. Get a balanced picture, please NYT, and repeat the need for migrant labor to work the fields, work the harvests.
Clearly the trumpeters will cry for walls. Walls are what the people in those photos are behind. What we need are conscientious citizens--from the head of the DHS on down--to judiciously and fairly and humanely process these applicants. And what we need is thoughtful government to work with Central and South America, and Europe and Africa and Asia, to slow the migratory instincts that anyone with a cellphone can yearn for.
2
With open, unchecked immigration, you can say sayonara to the environment and to quality of life in this country (overwhelmed transportation infrastructure, overwhelmed water sources, overwhelmed schools, ....) . It won't happen overnight, but in the decades down the road we will come to resemble the very countries these people are fleeing from. No thanks. The United States does not have to be the safety valve for the poor culture and governance of Latin America.
15
If you live in a big city like San Francisco or Seattle where many homeless people live on the streets, would you like to open your door to welcome them to share your life with them? If you don't want to open your door and decide to let the government taking care of the problems, then we better let Trump to handle it. In the meantime, you need doors and walls of your residence to defend your own family.
7
We need to put more money into resources to process asylum requests (it is still legal to seek asylum in the US) and to secure the border in a way that works. A wall isn't a good investment in most areas.
The system needs to be fair, why should Melania Trumps parents be able to easily gain citizenship?
And why are the businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants not held accountable?
3
Some of us have seen this mess coming for years. Thanks for reporting on it. I'd like to see my Democrats step up and offer some realistic solutions, but they won't. That may hurt them in 2020, when the situation will be even worse.
10
Sorry, but this is still a manufactured crisis during a period of a declining population of unauthorized immigrants, and new legal immigrants being discouraged from coming.
4
Look around. The country is "full"? "We" can't "support" any more immigrants? Unemployment is below 4%, approximately 1 milliion job vacancies await filling, and somehow these immigrants are a threat? Come on, these immigrants are just like the immigrants that came here at the turn of the 20th century and after-- willing to do the work that nobody else wants to do, for the chance of giving their children a better life.
4
To simplify: migrants keep coming and we don’t want them. We need to keep them out or at least make them form an orderly line but sympathize with the reasons for their journey.
Let’s build a (Mexican) border city or cities, not a wall, with contributions from the countries of origin, as well as additional contributions from elsewhere. They can be provided needed jobs through corporate bidding. Low wage patient independence. Their children can be helped instead of jailed. They can wait without controversy. Those cities can become centers of commerce and perhaps their citizens will find what they need and remain.
It satisfies most of the demands of all sides and the American companies can be prioritized when bidding to develop infrastructure and housing.
1
Border "security" is a ludicrous an unattainable goal. If there is a problem at the border, we should use the resources of this great country to fix it. Streamline the years of wait and the expense associated with applying for legal entry. What is needed is a streamlined process - an Ellis island on the border. Rather than building a wall to keep people out, screen them, find sponsors work and a path to education. We have produce dying on the vines because there is a shortage of people to pick it. Shortages of nurses, doctors, etc. Many of those seeking asylum in this great country are eager to make a better life for themselves and their children. We should make every effort to help them.
1
It's morally reprehensible to use the current terrible conditions and legal logjam for immigrants (much of which is clearly described in this article as a 'crisis' of the president's own making) as a reason to chide the democrats for refusing to take a harsher stand on immigration. The clear solution is to revamp the immigration system structurally so it has the needed resources: this would solve almost every single problem mentioned here.
The tactic being deployed repeatedly in these comments is called concern trolling: feigning sympathy for suffering people as a justification for another, otherwise unjustifiable, goal. I simply do not believe that the torturous legal limbo of immigrants is legitimately a central point of concern for most of the immigration hawks we have here.
This is, in fact, typical "starve the beast" GOP strategy. If you have a country and economy with plenty of room for immigrants, allow the institutions facilitating immigration to languish, then point to that as evidence there's no room.
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Trump does not want to process asylum seekers; that would mean that asylum would be granted in a percentage of cases.
Trump wants to indefinitely detain and break up families and have horrid conditions to deter all asylum seekers, worthy or not, and make them give up.
Once again, these people are going to go where they have the best shot at survival. The do not care about the ethical ramifications or the legal issues. They want food, shelter, safety. Who can blame them?
Once again, a wall is not the answer.
Once again, providing support to our neighbors - and not overthrowing their governments - is a one piece of the answer. The other is effectively maintaining the system, which no one has been able to do.
Once again, we will have one political side shouting to "close the border" - with what? guns? pepper spray? tear gas? - the other side trying to play damage control at the insane attacks by the first side, and the rest of us pulling our hair out because our president threatens to close borders, yanks international aid, and blames the whole problem on the Democrats all in the same tweet.
Congress, quit the rhetoric and get to work.
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