“We are a nation of immigrants — we're better than this!”
Background
Immigration policy isn't just about border security — it's about human beings, many of which have a legal right to pursue an asylum and work in the United States under the Constitution. It's affecting farmers in the Western part of the country, because no one else wants to do the hard labor that needs to be done on a farm anymore, especially for such low wages. Without migrant farm workers, the price of food in the United States will skyrocket.
There are other industries in the United States that also rely on an influx of foreign workers, such as hospitality, and software development. Even President Trump's National Golf Club Mar a Lago has had foreign workers employed in the past, because there are very few people that will work for the low wages in the hospitality business. Software development companies like Microsoft and Google are constantly looking for foreign workers, although a bit more specialized than most people that come in through the southern border.
The President's immigration policy is that all foreign workers shouldn't be competing for jobs with Americans, while in reality there is no competition for those jobs because there is a high need for these types of laborers. This system just isn't working, and it's time to start discussing how to improve our immigration laws so that we don't have backlogs of cases leaving legitimate asylum seekers waiting years to find out whether they can stay in the United States or not.
The Influx of Migrants
Coyotes take migrants' life savings, and sometimes more, to get them to the United States — women as young as 15 are tested for pregnancy upon being caught by Immigration, Customs & Enforcement (ICE) at the border. Young women come into the United States pumped up on birth control, while other women come ready to give birth into the United States, some timing their arrival so their children will have a better chance than they would in Central America. Most of the migrants entering through the Southern border come from El Salvador and Guatemala. President Trump is making the southern border crisis worse due to cutting the funding that went to Central American countries.
As many as 4,000 migrants pass over the southern United States border every day, and most who cross the border illegally are caught by ICE, and then they go into a process where they are waiting for an immigration judge to determine if they can stay in the United States or not. This slow process, in addition to the influx of hundreds of thousands who have crossed the southern border illegally, has led to a backlog of over 900,000 cases as of July 2019, with an average wait time of over 700 days. There are only 424 immigration judges, and in New York City, hearings are scheduled into August 2023. Many of the migrants that are waiting for their asylum trial have been released into the United States, where many seek out sanctuary cities and never show up for their court date.
Approximately 144,000 migrants crossed the border in May 2019, compared to about 104,000 migrants in June 2019. Some migrants have scars, are gay, and are threatened in their home country — just some reasons why migrants are seeking asylum in the United States. The cities alongside the Mexico border show most of the burden of processing migrants, while northern states like New Mexico, which processes up to 10,000 migrants a month, are also being stressed by large numbers of Central Americans.
Some migrants never make it to the United States, like Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria, that drowned together crossing the Rio Grande. The picture changed President Trump's tone — he admitted there were problems at the border. Several children have died in custody in the United States as well.
There's been a decrease of migrants coming into the United States — an approximate 25% drop in June 2019 compared to May 2019. It reached 100 degrees at the southern border in July 2019, which reduces the number of immigrants that cross the border.
The Wall
President Trump promised to secure the United States with a wall the length of the border with Mexico, but fortunate for him, Congress hasn't touched the issue of border security for 54 years. He wants the wall to keep everyone from crossing the southern border, illegally, but what he and his supporters don't realize is that there's no way to stop the migrants from coming into the U.S. by water, even if the border wall keeps them from crossing by land.
Currently, a border crosser simply finds the weakest part in the wall, which can be at places where different types of walls are joined together, or where there is water, or they might bring a giant ladder to go over the top, or tunnel underneath. Just about the only thing we haven't seen is a migrant bring a welding kit, and arc cut their way through the wall — which is certainly possible, but highly unlikely. Drug cartels have even tried to drive cars over the top of the wall with extravagant ladders under the wheels, but that has never worked, either.
The Republicans ultimately failed to get the wall funding through the 115th session of Congress — Trump blamed then Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan. During the 116th session of Congress, President Trump declared a national emergency to try to transfer funds from the Defense Department for his wall, but the ACLU sued and got an injunction that prevented Trump from accessing the funds to be used on his border wall project. It was unconstitutional, because all funds must be appropriated for their purpose by Congress.
A California Judge blocked President Trump from using the $1 Billion of Pentagon funds to build the border wall as unconstitutional, blocking the construction of 51 miles of planned border wall in May 2019, and an appeals court upheld the ruling in July 2019. The Republicans want the wall so badly that one member in the House of Representatives derailed a recent FEMA bill when it came up for a vote during the break through unanimous consent, because it didn't include Trump's border wall money. The FEMA bill passed about a week later, again without the funding for the wall.
With less than 1.5 years from 2020 election, the border wall is becoming a liability of a campaign promise by President Trump, with yet another Judge saying that we need checks and balances. The President uses the migrants as political pawns because he is trying to leverage to keep his campaign promises, which are impossible to keep. However, it could be a small consolation prize that Congress provided funding to build civilian fencing in the Rio Grande Valley sector on the U.S.-Mexico border — just not a wall.
U.S. Relationship with Mexico
President Trump threatened tariffs on Mexico's imports in an effort to prevent the influx of migrants, which would actually punish American consumers purchasing automotive parts or vehicles and food. Mexico made concessions in return for not being the target of U.S. import tariffs, but the relationship is strained.
Mexico is going to keep track of the names of the people that cross its southern border, through registration — they will detain and deport migrants as they are able to. Mexico's national guard is protecting the highways where migrants come in on buses.
The Central American nation is already taking in asylum seekers that are sent back from the U.S., but the Mexican government doesn't have enough resources to take care of migrants. Mexico's refugee organization has very limited resources.
In return for the Trump Administration not pursuing the tariffs, Mexico sent 6,000 national guard troops to its southern border, but the number of migrants waiting in Mexico has stressed the nation's resources, and Mexico only accepts a certain number of migrants. Mexico also sent 15,000 troops to the United States border.
Unaccompanied Migrant Children
Housing for unaccompanied migrant children is currently handled by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) — they must be transferred to DHHS custody within 72 hours of being detained to ensure they are treated properly, however many are not. For an example, kids were going without food and showers at a detention center in El Paso, Texas. There's a law that says that unaccompanied migrant children must be provided education, recreation, and legal services.
In June 2019, three hundred migrant children were neglected at the Southern border, and several migrants have died as a result of care at the Clint, Texas facility, where the worst of the worst situations have occurred. The conditions were beyond deplorable — babies were going hungry, and children were not allowed to bathe for weeks at a time. There was no toothpaste or soap, and border patrol agents said these were not basic hygienic products.
While the Press was allowed into the facilities in June 2019, they were not allowed to film inside, despite that they want to show the world what is going on in there. The Press was also prohibited from talking to the children inside the immigrant detention centers. Customs and Border Protection agents were trying to hide things that were going on there. Migrant children have drawn pictures of little faces behind bars.
Border patrol agents were reportedly being mean to children, didn't allow children to bathe, and there wasn't enough space for children to sleep, and children were served cold food. A facility designed to house only 100 people had over 700 people detained there.
There were 41,000 migrant children that had been processed as of the beginning of June 2019 for the year so far. Additionally, there were 11,500 minor migrants detained in May 2019 alone, and DHHS shelters were operating at almost 100% capacity. There were 13,500 migrant children in custody on June 26th, 2019. New policy created by Congress and signed by President Trump in July 2019 states that children will not be held for more than 90 days in the detention centers.
DHHS was working with The Pentagon to determine which military bases could hold migrant children. They were looking at bases in Oklahoma and Montana to expand their operations. Fort Sill, a base in Oklahoma that served as a WWII Japanese internment camp, is now housing up to 1,400 migrant children as of July 2019. It was also used during the Obama Administration for the same purpose.
In July 2019, we found out that the children that have been detained at the border have diseases, such as scabies, shingles, and chicken pox, and are being held in cells where the diseases can spread to other children. Approximately 31% of children were reportedly held over the 72-hour requirement, and over 500,000 children have crossed the border since 12/30/2018. There are now 200 medical taking care of the children, while there were only 20 on 12/30/2018.
The Associated Press was let into a facility where children pledged allegiance to the American flag, and played soccer. It's what the government wants us to see. As of July 2019, the Press still hasn't been allowed into the overcrowded border stations. They'll keep asking for permission to go into them.
Children are being asked by Border Patrol agents to care for themselves in detention centers, some of which should have been in diapers but were not. The detention centers are not fit for children — there have been serious abuses in CBP facilities, including six kids that have died in CBP custody or immediately afterwards. The children need to be moved out of the facilities as soon as possible — we need accountability of what is going on.
Most children have relatives in the U.S. that can care for them, so it would actually save money if the children were connected with those relatives faster than they currently are. Alternative care facilities such as foster care could also be a solution to moving children out of unsanitary conditions. At least 5 migrant children have died in government custody since September 2018.
The conditions on the Mexican side of the border, including for children, places them in danger, such as babies drinking from unwashed bottles, and spreading diseases. Children are fleeing for their lives — they take a very dangerous trip, and they end up in detention. These centers are not safe places for children. Six children have died that have come out of detention centers, because they've been treated too late. Children can get sick very quickly — it's a major humanitarian crisis that needs to be fixed.
Amnesty International has called for the closing of the child temporary detention centers.
Child Separations
Out of the 450,000 family groups that have crossed the border so far in 2019 as of July, fewer than 1,000 children have been separated from their families. This is far fewer than the number that were separated last year, while the number is still too high. President Trump is using migrant families as pawns in his political chess game targeting Democrats. The Democrats put him in check several times for the family separations, which Trump said was because of a policy, although it amounted to how the policy was being interpreted by an inept Administration, at least when it comes to human rights.
“Concentration Camps”
United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC) used the term “concentration camps” to describe the facilities where migrants are being held. ICE employees reportedly have made migrants surrender all valuables before being processed at detention centers. Their belongings are then disposed of, due to them having “bugs” and “waste water” in them. This is almost the exact equivalence of what Hitler did with the Jews in Nazi Germany, by making them surrender their belongings that were then thrown out, and then they were put into concentration camps.
This language caused offense to many Jewish people, that accused AOC of delegitimizing the history of the holocaust. However, pictures inside many detention centers show that the immigrants are crammed into small standing room only areas, sometimes behind chain-linked fences. AOC may have been referring to how concentrated the immigrants are in the facilities, rather than trying to make a comparison to Nazi Germany. She certainly wasn't suggesting that the detention centers are death camps, while there have been several isolated deaths linked to the centers, including as many as six children.
Democrats seem to be more humane regarding their approach to illegal immigration, while President Trump seems to be exasperating the situation into a manufactured crisis at the border. The inhumane treatment of immigrants in detention centers during the Trump Administration led Congress to appropriate $4.5 Billion, $1.5 Billion for food, and $3 Billion for the care of minors in June 2019, after there were reports of some migrants being told to drink out of a toilet because their sink didn't work, and reports of migrants being served cold food that was inedible. The migrants should be fed hot Mexican meals, including beans, eggs, and rice — not Cup `O Noodles or cold frozen burritos.
It is worth noting that the Democrats did impasse with the Republicans' request for funding 45,000 more temporary beds for immigrants in February 2019. But contractors are making billions charging over $700 a day per head to keep migrants in the for-profit prisons longer, and there's no accountability for the treatment of human beings in these facilities. It's not just about pumping cash into the system, but also changing the standards. The Trump Administration is taking advantage of the neglect of the immigration system by Congress.
How the Trump Administration is Treating Immigrants
When members of Congress visited two detention centers at the southern border in the beginning of July 2019, they were advised by CBP agents to not talk to the detainees. However, they did anyways because the border patrol agents couldn't cite a law or policy that prohibited members of Congress from investigating the matter. The purpose of their visit was to find out how it has gotten so bad. The Border Patrol doesn't have the authority to keep legislators out from monitoring these prisons.
They visited the El Paso, Texas border station, where adults were being held. Some immigrants have gone nine to fifteen days without showers, and CBP agents have split up families. They have been fed food that is spoiled, and cold, and have been treated like “dogs” according to people that were detained, just because they wanted to come to this country. There were two women with epilepsy, one of which had to go to the hospital. There was a stainless steel toilet, and migrant women were told it's OK to drink out of the toilet because it’s potable water, because the water faucet in their room didn’t work. The women were asked what their crime was, and they said they crossed the river to come to America.
They also visited the Clint, Texas border station, where children were being held. Over 300 children were living in poor conditions separated from their own family. There were 700 children at Clint in May 2019, and now there were only around 25 children. There were 3 showers, and 7 porta-potties for the entire property in Clint, which was for 700 children. The rooms were cold, and bright lights were on all the time, causing children to lose sleep. The guards chided the Congresswomen when they passed notes to the children. It was found that the children have more humanity than the people that are watching them.
Some immigrants have been detained in standing room only for up to 1 week, and were unable to change their clothes for up to 1 month. The detention cells are cramped and unsanitary. Migrants that were detained didn't know when they would be let out. Children aren't meant to stay in detention centers for more than 72 hours, but they're remaining there for weeks or months before being transferred to DHHS custody.
Representative Joaquin Castro said the conditions in the detention centers have gotten worse under President Trump. Some women have been held in detention for 50 days with no running water in their cell — for drinking or to wash their hands after they go to the bathroom. There have been over 20 miscarriages in Border Patrol custody during the Trump Administration. Are they really Pro Life Republicans?
There's CCTV surveillance video that is recorded inside each of the facilities 24/7, so if the Trump Administration is going to oppose the descriptions that legislators have provided to the Media, they should release the surveillance video streams to the Press. President Trump hasn't been inside the migrant prisons, but wants to let the Press into the facilities, even though he doesn't trust the Press.
Protesters wearing MAGA hats shouted at the Democratic legislators visiting the facilities. The immigrants are just trying to apply for asylum, which is legal under Federal laws — there's no logical reason to protest this. Trump said that the conditions that immigrants are receiving in detention centers are better than what they would have received in their home country, admitting that the immigrants have legitimate asylum cases.
President Trump has defended the Border Patrol, and has said that all of this is fine, including the bad conditions, because it's better than what the migrants faced at home.
Non-Profit Migrant Centers
Of the migrants that are released into the United States after detention, pending their immigration trial date, Customs and Border Control (CBP) agents deliver the migrants by the bus load to outdated facilities run by non-profit organizations, where most of the migrants will leave within a day or two.
If non-profit centers are not able to take care of migrants initially upon their release from detention, CBP agents just drop them off at bus stations. It's up to private communities, as well as local, regional, and state governments to take care of the migrants once they are released — there is no Federal funding. Faith-based communities are stepping up the effort to provide temporary housing for Central Americans while they look for work or locate a family member to stay with.
Inappropriate Social Media Use
There were inappropriate messages found on several social media pages that were created and maintained by current and former Border Patrol agents on Facebook. They have threatened AOC, by suggesting CBP agents should throw a burrito at her. Members of Congress launched an investigation, and Trump said the Border Patrol agents were “hatreds”.
A vulgar, disgusting page on Facebook was discovered. There were 9,500 members on the Facebook group referred to as “I'm 10-15”, where members made fun of migrants that have died. There are derogatory, racist, and sexist comments on pictures regarding migrants. The Border Patrol is investigating the Facebook group to see if there are active border patrol agents in the group. Leadership at the CBP knew about the Facebook group in February 2018 before it broke news.
The inappropriate social media content brought up the issue that the culture inside Customs and Border Protection is fractured, because the agents aren't adept to handle the humanitarian challenges that are presented to them on a daily basis. Seventy current and previous Border Patrol agents are under investigation for Social Media posts.
There are definitely some bad apples in our immigration enforcement system. There's been sexual harassment and violence among fellow border agents, and there's little to no accountability in the border patrol at all. It's rare that a border agent ever gets reprimanded or disciplined. They can do anything they want, because people in the management are the same way.
The Border Patrol has 20,000 agents, with presumably 9,500 of those members in the Facebook group. The messages were grotesque towards women and people of color. While ICE has regulations and allows rights to migrants, CBP doesn't really have any regulations. For an example, ICE has 41 pages of medical policy to protect immigrants, while CBP has no policies at all pertaining to medical conditions.
There was also a second Facebook group discovered, called “The Real CBP Nation”.
Vice Presidential Visits
Vice President Mike Pence toured two detention centers. “This is tough stuff.” he said after visiting one facility, where some men said they have been there for 40 days. The first facility he visited had very few migrant families with children, who were either sleeping or watching cartoons on TV. It seemed like what the government wanted people to see, but the Vice President was only in the second facility for 90 seconds. Many of the men there had not showered for 10-20 days, according to Media reports.
ICE Raids
ICE officials vowed to target 2,000 migrants to deport after July 4th, 2019, which will focus on deporting criminals. The law enforcement agency deported approximately 95,000 immigrants in 2014. It was reported that they started targeting 10 cities on 7/14/2019. President Trump used scare tactics to rein in attention on the raids, that stoked fear into the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States. Thousands of people across the nation are protesting ICE raids.
People are genuinely afraid about the ICE raids, and they're worried that this government is attacking them, instead of protecting them. People are being trained about how to best guard themselves — such as:
- They have a right to remain silent.
- They have a right to not open the door.
- The only way ICE can come in if the door is opened, is if they have a judicial order signed by a judge.
- These are constitutional rights.
- Despite the deportation orders, they have rights.
- Even people with final deportation orders have to go through a court process before being deported.
- They should also be prepared in the event of an arrest, such as someone to arrange to get them an attorney, someone to pickup their children.
Sanctuary Cities
Florida signed into law a bill prohibiting sanctuary cities.
Merit-Based Immigration
President Trump has suggested discriminating against families instead of discriminating against genius, through merit-based and skill-based immigration requirements, while not addressing the tough immigration issues like fixing DACA. There are only 7.5 million jobs for legal immigrants that come to the United States legally, under current laws. Some Republicans want to fiddle with the Temporary Protective Status program, which isn't broken. Their rights for asylum needs to be respected.
Decriminalizing Illegal Border Crossings
One approach to solving the border crisis that was proposed by a Democratic Presidential candidate on June 27th, 2019, is to decriminalize the illegal crossing the United States border, and instead make it a civil offense, so that people are not jailed for seeking an asylum. This concept got push back from Jeh Johnson, the fourth Department of Homeland Security Secretary that served during the Obama Administration. He said that if you have an open borders policy, it will send the signal to people around the world to come to the United States, and the country would be inundated with refugees from all over the world.
Jeh Johnson said it would send the numbers of migrants crossing the border up to 200,000 or 300,000 a month. He said we should hire more immigration judges, instead, so that the migrants have an expedient immigration trial. He said the reality of the current conditions are worse than what they had in their home countries, and that we need to continue the investments by Congress to eradicate the violence from where the migrants come from. They are fleeing a burning building to seek a new life. The initial investment was making a difference — President Trump suspended the aid, which is making it worse again.
President Obama allowed people to apply for asylum when they were in their own country, but President Trump stopped that, in addition to the aid for the foreign nations.
A Path to Citizenship
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill to create a legal pathway to citizenship for the dreamers and TPS recipients, and The White House threatened to veto the bill. A majority of the country thinks the Dreamers have legal rights to stay in the United States, because they were born here.
Legal Rights of Immigrants
There's currently a legal debate of whether migrants that enter from other countries illegally have rights under the United States Constitution. A judge in Seattle found it was unconstitutional to hold immigrants indefinitely — they cannot just be put into detention and not be given a trial.
The State of New York passed a Driver's License Bill for Immigrants on June 18th, 2019, which now allows them to drive to get groceries, go to the doctor's office, and take their kids to school. They made it so the Federal government won't be able to get any of the information, and it's just like when other people go to the DMV to get their driver's license.
U Visas
There are laws protecting illegal immigrants that help law enforcement prosecute criminals. So called U visas should be a path toward citizenship.
Healthcare for Migrants
California became the first state to pay for health benefits for migrants in June 2019, and many Democratic Presidential candidates said that the Federal Government should provide healthcare to all, including migrants from other countries.
Incentives for Immigration
Republicans believe there is a need to pass laws in America that don't incentivize immigration to the United States — but most Democrats seem to be happy with migrants coming here. They come to work and raise families, and of course send money back home to their families in Central America.
Trump's Migrant Problem
President Trump's Administration bought buses, and were considering busing thousands of migrants to coastal border facilities, including in Florida, but backed out of the plan in May 2019. The release of people doesn't have to be chaos. Trump has said that if the migrants are unhappy about the conditions, just tell them not to come. Trump has said that the centers are clean, and that they're doing a good job.
Of all voting Hispanics in the United States, 62% disapprove of President Trump. A resident of Columbus, Ohio was fined hundreds of thousands of dollars by the Trump Administration for not returning to Mexico. The migrant's supporters chanted “Let Edith Stay!”, and vowed to fight the case in court. Ironically, President Trump's Emergency Declaration doesn't apply to this crisis — only the border wall.
The Trump Administration is making a new policy that possibly says that only migrants from immediate border countries can get an asylum in the United States. The Administration made a rule that asylum seekers would have to file in at least one other country for asylum, if they are not from Mexico. President Trump is trying to eliminate the ability for all people to obtain an asylum in the United States, which is unprecedented.
Migrants of the Past
The Chinese Railroad Workers that came to America did hard labor, and were erased from history. Some railroad workers were not even listed on what little documentation does exist — or the documents simply didn't exist.
The Chinese were considered a commodity, or a tool for the economy — they were not given the same advantages of American railroad workers, and they were removed from the country after they dedicated their lives to building the railways.
How To Solve Our Border Crisis
These are solvable problems if Congress were to do its job properly. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should be given complete authority to control our borders, and should get the funding it needs on a regular basis that Congress deems necessary. Additionally, the President of the United States should not be managing the border crisis on a daily basis, as the politicization of the crisis makes it appear like a manufactured crisis that strokes fear into the President's base of support.
Humanitarian aid workers at the southern border should not be prosecuted for providing material support to people seeking asylum, such as water and food, because the people could die without proper humanitarian aid.
The Border Patrol agents that threatened members of Congress, and have threatened people's human rights should be fired, because they're not fit to wear a uniform that represents the United States of America. We also need more immigration judges to be able to handle the influx of immigration cases. The Republicans keep saying we need to tighten up the asylum laws, but there's not likely going to be any changes until the Democrats take back the White House, and they're more likely to allow more people into our nation.
It's a drag on national morale that the Trump Administration is sponsoring something that is so inhumane and embarrassing. Both sides of the immigration debate make the same arguments over and over again at an impasse. Congress needs to pass comprehensive immigration reform measures, if not all at once, then in smaller bills that solve problems that both Democrats and Republicans agree on.
There should be standards observed about how human beings are being treated in the CBP facilities — they should be released and ordered to come back for their asylum hearings. Death row inmates in the United States aren't treated as bad as many of these migrants are being treated.
The asylum system in the United States needs to be child friendly — it needs child doctors and psychiatrists, not just police officers. In many cases, asylum seekers are not receiving due process, because they didn't receive their legal paperwork at their current address — this needs to change.
