Most people want to be compassionate toward those suffering. Certainly most Americans do! Here’s the rub: People are understandably uneasy with the overwhelming numbers of people wanting to enter our southern border. As long as people are uneasy and fearful, we have a security issue. Furthermore, Americans will not support good immigration policy until these security issues are addressed. I believe we can address these issues and still allow many refugees in, but we must plan thoroughly, wisely and realistically.
You, my reader, are likely a person who tries to think for yourself. It is admittedly hard, though, when there are so many discordant voices speaking in our ears. First, let’s look at the facts. It is not illegal to seek asylum, but many people enter illegally simply because they don't know the correct process to request asylum. It is only fair that we treat with respect people who are desperate for help for their families.
However, we still have to admit we have a crisis! The confusion over how to apply for asylum contributes to increasing numbers of people entering our southern border and adds to the humanitarian and health crisis. December saw the highest number of migrant crossings for any month during Joe Biden’s presidency. Migrants were stopped at the border by authorities, 251,487 times in December, up 40% from December 2021.
We must acknowledge the concerns of those living in border states as legitimate concerns of safety and health. Being continually overwhelmed with throngs of people camped on the streets has not given Americans living there much hope that their concerns are being taken seriously. We cannot ignore these concerns, even as we acknowledge that most migrants just want to seek asylum.
Then there is an added issue regarding illegal drugs. The officials on the border who are most focused on keeping out drugs are the ones with the most accurate knowledge. I have heard their testimony and they state unequivocally that the people coming in on foot are not the ones bringing in illegal drugs. They firmly contend that illegal drugs are overwhelmingly coming into our country on the highways in motorized vehicles, not from people walking in.
Before we can try to solve this crisis, we need to check our attitude for needless hostility. Those who spend time talking to these refugees will tell you that most of the families seeking asylum are fleeing violence and want a non-violent future for their children. They are not members of gangs. Rather, many are actually fleeing gangs. They are trying to rescue their kids from being forced into drugs and lawlessness. They express desires for their children to grow up to be normal, productive citizens. Furthermore, people from repressive governments such as Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are fleeing political repression. Haiti has been suffering from natural disasters such as hurricanes and volcanoes with a high number of displaced persons who have had neither place to reside nor means to find food. We need to see the people on our borders as refugees, not people wanting to cause us harm.
Solving the crisis will take the federal government to get involved in a dynamic way. I believe this is a huge enough problem for the President to declare it a national crisis. I would like to see him appoint one person, with wide authority, who would oversee a major overhaul of the legal aspects of these cases. The federal government should set up more efficient ways for people to register for appointments for asylum evaluation, with several more courts along the border, including more judges and experienced attorneys to help with the cases. These professionals could be recruited from across the nation.
When asylum seekers are evaluated and accepted as true refugees, let's send them to cities and towns which have been prepared and are ready to receive them with good housing and job prospects. This country has many concerned communities in every state who are eager to get involved. There are several groups already working to find communities wanting to help and there are at least nine organizations that work with immigrants, happy to contribute their help.
Actually, our country could greatly benefit economically from the addition of more immigrants. We have already seen success stories with immigrants. Over the years, our country has had towns that have actually disappeared, becoming ghost towns. This is an ongoing threat for many small towns, especially in the Mid-West, but also in areas in the East. Immigrants, interestingly, have proven to be the answer to some of these towns facing extinction. One such town is Fargo, North Dakota, which welcomed 350 refugees in 2015. This town had some people wanting to start a meat packing company, but extensive efforts to recruit other Americans to come there to work were unsuccessful. Then the opportunity to bring in refugees was opened to them. The immigrants came, and their town began to grow and thrive. It was happily saved from becoming another sad ghost town.
Other towns benefitting from immigrants are Rockford, Illinois and Long Island Greenport, New York. These communities were experiencing labor flight out of their towns. The latter one was transformed by the arrival of immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala and El-Salvador. Working in landscaping, house-keeping and construction, these immigrants were the answer this town was looking for.
A current nation wide labor shortage was commented on just last week by Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell. He stated that “The labor market continues to be out of balance, with demand substantially exceeding the supply of workers.” The whole country needs more workers, and refugees are willing to go anywhere, just to be able to live and work in our country.
One legitimate concern is that helping people who come here will just increase the number of people coming. Possibly! However, they are going to come anyway! These people are coming out of fear and desperation not opportunism. When we look at the countries from which these people come, things are not going to get better soon without a lot of work.
One answer is to help these countries stabilize and bring down crime. We need to promote more aid (but not to corrupt governments) both from our federal government and from public support, going to responsible non-profit social service organizations. There are several such aid groups which have excellent records for providing aid wisely, showing success at strengthening families, by teaching better means to make a living and by working with teens to resist gang involvement. Consider this: most people love their country of birth and naturally would want to stay there if they have three things, a livelihood, safety and hope.
We are a nation with a history of welcoming and helping immigrants. This is part of who we are. Also, as a nation of many religious people, how can we be true to the faith we profess, if we do not practice love and compassion? We are a nation of great wealth, energy and compassion. We have the ability to tap into these qualities, but we need to convince some of our political leaders that we can do a great deal more to be good neighbors. Do your part and contact your state representatives and governor. Then give to responsible charities which are already working in the home countries of people coming to our borders. With help they could do so much more. Let's do it!
Security Issues at the Border
Thank you, Nancy! There is so much more I could have said, especially from the faith point of view, but I didn't want it to be too long and I wanted to focus more on the security issue. I'll address the faith aspect later.
Thank you, Marjorie, for exploring so comprehensively these issues which have been so seemingly intractable for so long. Every bit of light shed is important.