Sunday’s clash between border officials and migrants trying to illegally enter the United States from Mexico demonstrates a series of policy failures. It also highlights the difficulty of dealing with refugees seeking asylum as well as undocumented immigrants, a problem that has vexed the past several presidential administrations.
News reports showed migrants — including children — attempting to cross the border and agents using tear gas to drive them back. Some had thrown what appeared to be rocks and bottles at U.S. authorities. On Monday, a Homeland Security official said about 50 people had been detained, although details were being sorted out.
The clash drives home the need for a policy that adheres to U.S. law and secures the border while ensuring humane treatment for the migrants. Unfortunately, President Donald Trump’s vitriol and lies about the situation do not draw us closer to those goals.
To begin with, it is legal under U.S. law for migrants to apply for asylum at a port of entry or from within the country. The administration has said claims of asylum will be processed outside the United States while migrants wait across the border, but that policy has been struck down by a federal judge.
The Washington Post reported last week that the administration is working with Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who will take office Saturday as president of Mexico, to institute a “remain in Mexico” policy to keep migrants from entering the United States until they are processed. Having Mexico agree to such a policy still might violate U.S. law; more important, it would create refugee camps and a humanitarian crisis right across the border.
During the recent election campaign, Trump repeatedly tried to stoke fear of a caravan of migrants traveling through Mexico from Central America. That issue dropped off the radar until Sunday’s incident, making us wonder whether the president was truly concerned or whether he was simply using the situation for political gain. Now it has arrived at our border, making it impossible to ignore.
Various commentators have referred to the caravan as an “invasion” or a “war” at the border. In truth, if 200 people entered this country every day, it would take nearly five years for them to account for one-tenth of 1 percent of the U.S. population. The United States is perfectly equipped to deal with migrants fleeing crime, corruption and dangerous conditions in their countries, and it is perfectly capable of doing so in a humanitarian fashion.
Rather than staffing the border with 5,000 troops in preparation for the migrants — a poor use of our military — the administration should be sending people to process asylum requests that, again, are legal for those arriving at the border. Rather than suggesting that separating children from their parents will serve as a deterrent, the administration should recognize the failure of that abhorrent policy. Rather than insisting that a $20 billion wall will stem illegal immigration, the administration should advocate for more cost-effective border patrols. It is important that our border be secure, but there is no evidence to suggest that a wall is the most efficient or effective way to provide that security.
Trump is not alone in finding border security difficult to deal with; politicians on both sides of the aisle have been perplexed by the issue for decades. But it is clear that separating families, shooting tear gas and using tough-sounding rhetoric is not a substitute for sound policy.
