Yes, There's a Crisis on the Border. And It's Trump's Fault.

[DonViejo]

Instead of wasting his time on a wall, the president should fix the asylum system.

By ALAN BERSIN, NATE BRUGGEMAN and BEN ROHRBAUGH April 05, 2019

Alan Bersin served as the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and assistant secretary and chief diplomatic officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Nate Bruggeman held senior policy positions at the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection from 2009 to 2012. He is a partner in the consulting firm BorderWorks Advisers.

Ben Rohrbaugh was the director for enforcement and border security at the National Security Council from 2014 to 2016. He also served in senior positions at the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Donald Trump has made border security and immigration enforcement a rallying cry of his campaign and the centerpiece of his presidency. But now, as the effects of his immigration policies have become measurable, it is clear to us—three people who have worked on the issue in previous administrations—that Trump is the worst president for border security in the last 30 years.

The border is currently overwhelmed with increasing numbers of migrants, in particular Central American asylum seekers. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has reported that 66,450 persons were apprehended between the ports of entry in February, the highest monthly total in a decade. Projections for March are even worse—exceeding 100,000—with experts concerned that monthly totals could exceed 150,000 in the coming months. CBP is reassigning officers from the ports of entry, which are critically understaffed, to help Border Patrol with the crush. CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan has said the immigration system on the border is at “the breaking point.” In response, the president threatened to close the border altogether to legal crossings, a threat he walked back on Thursday and replaced with a “one-year warning” to Mexico.

Despite the administration’s attempts to shift blame for the chaos, make no mistake: It is Donald Trump himself who is responsible. Through misguided policies, political stunts and a failure of leadership, the president has created the conditions that allowed the asylum problem at the border to explode into a crisis. The solution to our current border troubles lies in reforming the U.S. asylum system and immigration courts and helping Central America address its challenges—not in a “big beautiful” wall or shutting down the border. Yet effective action on these issues has been missing. And the president has now so poisoned the political well with his approach that there is little hope of meaningful congressional action until after the next election. Unless the administration changes course, the immigration crisis will only continue to worsen.

In fiscal year 2017, the last year of the Obama administration and the first of Trump’s, 303,916 migrants were arrested by the Border Patrol. This was the lowest level in more than three decades. The Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations had worked hard to tackle the problem of illegal migration through substantial increases in border security staffing, improvements in technology, innovations in strategy and improved security coordination and assistance to Mexico. Coupled with improved economic conditions in Mexico, these administrations were hugely successful in deterring and breaking the cycle of illegal crossing: Unlawful Mexican economic immigration, which had historically been the primary immigration enforcement issue at the border, dropped nearly 90 percent between 2000 and 2016.

more
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/04/05/border-crisis-donald-trump-226573

[empedocles]

1. Cutting off aid to those 'three Mexican countries' should compound the crisis.

[dalton99a]

4. Pretty soon he'll add more Mexican countries to the list

[Docreed2003]

2. K&R

[Firestorm49]

3. I've not read anything about tRump or his administration working diplomatically to solve the border

crisis. It appears that the Goof Ball In Chief gets this idea in his head(?) and runs with it. He has let cabinet appointments dwindle, and lacks the ability to realize that problems can actually be solved diplomatically. And, let’s face it, Pompeo is more of a mouthpiece than negotiator.

Screaming, yelling and throwing third grade temper tantrums don’t equate to skillful negotiations. I look forward to the day when this idiot is out of office and real people, people with empathy, understanding and compassion can work with other countries to solve problems - and I don’t mean by just sending them a billion dollars of AK 47s.

Problems can be solved or at the very least, lessened by intelligent people. This sham of an administration is not part of that conversation..