Wall debate obscures many other struggles at the border
Discussion overlooks major bottlenecks in U.S. immigration system
SAN DIEGO— In Washington, it’s all about the wall. At the border, it’s only part of the story.
Border authorities are struggling with outdated facilities illequipped to handle the growing increase in family migrants, resulting in immigrants being released onto the streets every day. The immigration court system is so clogged that some wait years for their cases to be resolved, and lacks funding to pay for basic things like in-person translators. An increase in sick children arriving at the border is putting a strain on medical resources.
But the Washington debate has focused almost exclusively on the $5 billion (U.S.) in wall spending that President Donald Trump wants. Other proposals being discussed keep the rest of the Homeland Security Department funding at existing levels.
“The wall is a tool. Unfortunately, even if it’s implemented across the border, it isn’t a solution to all the problems,” said Victor M. Manjarrez, a former Border Patrol sector chief with more than 20 years of experience, now a professor at the University of Texas-El Paso. Trump has suggested migrants won’t bother to come if he gets his way, making other immigration issues less problematic. Walls and fencing currently blanket about one-third of the border — mostly built under President George W. Bush — and the president wants to extend and fortify them. But contracting, designing and building new wall systems complete with updated technology could take years.
Trump met Friday with Congressional leaders who said the president threatened the shutdown could go on for “years.” Trump later said he’d considered using executive authority to get a wall built on the border.
“You can call it a barrier, you can call it whatever you want,” Trump said a day earlier, flanked by immigration union heads. “But, essentially, we need protection in our country. We’re going to make it good. The people of our country want it. ”
Meanwhile, the House passed a bill Thursday evening to fund the government without the $5 billion, with new Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling the wall an “immorality.”
The debate overlooks major bottlenecks in the immigration system as more families and children travelling alone turn themselves in to authorities to seek asylum, instead of trying to elude capture as almost everyone did just a few years ago. In some cases, migrants are climbing existing border fences and seeking out agents to surrender to.
The backlog in immigration courts has more than doubled to 1.1 million cases since shortly before Trump took office, ac- cording to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. Families and children now account for about six of 10 Border Patrol arrests, but there are only about 3,300 family detention beds and the number of unaccompanied children in government care has soared under Trump.
Border crossers are stuck in short-term holding cells and there has been a spike in sick migrant children, including two who died in custody.