YOUR SAY: BORDER POLICY
The Biden administration has stopped using Title 42, under which the U.S. expelled more than 2.6 million migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic, and is encouraging migrants to apply for legal entry. What do you think of Biden’s new border policies? If you
Build a system that works for workers
President Biden was right to end Title 42: using a health emergency to manage immigration is not good policy. But what comes next? Our dysfunctional immigration system has been broken for years. Desperate migrants continue to apply for asylum as it remains one of the only means to gain quick legal entry into the United States. The asylum application backlog is immense and the system has been terribly abused. Simply urging migrants to apply for legal entry is not the answer and it will not work.
Even with our history of xenophobia and racism, America remains one of the few countries that continuously draws immigrants from around the world. We should be proud of this. America is what it is today because of immigration and the America of tomorrow will be forged by immigrants as well. We attract the best and the brightest from around the world who believe in the American dream and are willing to risk their lives to have it. Consider Silicon Valley, where 52 percent of startups are founded by at least one immigrant — not all of whom arrived at our shores through the legal immigration system.
The U.S. economy needs more workers. Crops regularly go unharvested due to agricultural labor shortages. The construction, leisure, restaurant and health care industries (to name just a few) are desperate for entry-level workers. We need to find a way to connect supply and demand. Advanced economies tend to grow when the population grows. We’re just barely managing to keep our population steady — and this is due solely to immigration.
Our immigration mess cannot be solved through presidential fiat. Joe Biden must work with Congress to seek a new path forward: one that provides a legal means for workers to come to America to work — not necessarily to immigrate; one that starts with applications in their home countries — not at our southern border. Many of today’s undocumented migrants would jump at the chance to do this, and others who have already arrived would come out of the shadows if the draconian enforcement measures in place were removed. Indeed, the prospect of temporary employment here, rather than risking it all to cross the desert at night, would drastically reduce illegal crossing attempts. There is a better way.
However we decide to tackle our immigration issues, one thing we must be kept clearly in mind. The vast majority of people looking to cross our border through undocumented means or through the current asylum process are not bad people looking to do bad things. A better system that provides a legal pathway to work in America and filters out real asylum seekers from economic migrants is within our grasp. This can be done humanely, efficiently, and without having to separate families and criminalize those who are seeking a better life.
available technology to screen individuals, vehicles, etc.
Background checks must be completed and return favorable results before allowing entry to the U.S. No exceptions.
Require sponsorship for all those who do not have obvious means to support themselves. There are powerful business interests that want cheap labor. Require guarantees that adequate housing, medical care, food, basic necessities or income will be provided for at least five years. The taxpayer should not bear the brunt of these costs.
Use E-Verify for all employment, to make sure that the employee is legally in the U.S. Recognize a goal of attaining U.S. citizenship for all immigrants, those already here and those yet to come. Preserve the immigrant’s cultural heritage, but integration into our society is essential. Work on every available means to integrate immigrants into U.S. culture by ensuring English language proficiency, and understanding of U.S. history (the good, bad and even the ugly), the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Recognize that drug cartels are profiting to the tune of billions of dollars annually through our current policy. We know where they operate in Mexico and elsewhere. They need to be removed from the equation. To date, throwing money around in countries of origin of immigrants hasn’t slowed the exodus. Reevaluate what may help make life better in these countries.
These are just my thoughts. There are likely many other good ideas on how to accomplish this. We can’t continue to have our borders flooded with people who all claim asylum when the vast majority are taking advantage of our system due to lack of enforcement of current law. Immigration is not a Democrat or Republican issue, not just a border state issue, it is a national issue that impacts everyone in every part of the U.S.