It is Time for a Rational, Effective and Humane Response Long before we saw the unprecedented numbers of families seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border that we are seeing today, the Trump administration was “crying wolf” while at the same time implementing policies that lit a match to what...
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What a Real Alternative Looks Like The Trump strategy for our southern border is an epic failure. The deterrence-only, build-a-wall, send-the-troops, separate-the-families, lock-em-up, border-centric response to a regional refugee and migration challenge is blowing up in their faces. Now they are trying to blame Congress and get rewarded for...
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As NBC News reports, the recent numbers of daily border apprehensions are reaching the highest levels of the Trump administration and are approaching levels last seen in 2006. As a result, the Trump administration is screaming “crisis,” blaming Congress, and demanding a border wall. No, it’s not a security...
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Trump’s Draconian Approach is a Failure and Only Works to Exacerbate Issues In a recent op ed, former INS Commissioner Doris Meissner concluded that our border enforcement system was fundamentally designed to interdict and deter individuals (mostly single Mexican young men) coming to the U.S. for work. But the...
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The Trump administration is touting reports of a surge in border apprehensions of Central American families and children seeking asylum as evidence for the President’s emergency declaration to build his wall. This comes in advance of a potentially embarrassing Senate vote to revoke the President’s declaration. The narrow focus...
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How the Trump Admin has Abandoned Policies and Ignored Deterioration of Central American Governments at the Root of Problem Reports in today’s Washington Post and on NPR use preliminary, unreleased numbers from the Trump Administration to claim that there is an unprecedented increase in unauthorized or illegal entry into...
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It Has More to Do With Unprecedented Increases in Detention and Deportation of Children Seeking Safety The Trump border wall policy was never a serious one and still isn’t. It was started as a “mnemonic device” created by political consultants for candidate Trump to talk tough on immigration. With the...
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Since November, the Trump administration has been working to keep vulnerable asylum seekers arriving at the U.S. – Mexico border in Mexico as they await the opportunity to apply for asylum, both through an agreement with Mexico and by limiting the number of asylum applicants processed per day. In...
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Yesterday, after reports that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were again illegally turning away asylum seekers, U.S. Representatives Jimmy Gomez (CA-34) and Nanette D. Barragán (CA-44) went to the border and tried to investigate. Gomez and Barragán met 19 asylum seekers at the Otay Mesa port of entry, located...
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There are Smart and Humane Solutions The Trump administration has expressed no qualms with spending more than $200 million to deploy the National Guard and the U.S. military to the border, where tear gas was used, even on children. It has also used Presidential and agency resources to develop...
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