I think that the prescription of the editors of the Washington Post is inadequate:
A SURGE IN illegal border crossings, especially by Central American parents and children seeking asylum in the United States, has been seized on by administration officials as justification for President Trump’s emergency declaration and border wall. The spike in numbers is a genuine humanitarian crisis but not one that would best be addressed by adding more border barriers. Mitigating the migrant flow requires, first and foremost, a renewed focus on improving the conditions driving migrants to leave their home countries. Unfortunately, the administration is doing the opposite.
While I agree that President Trump’s border wall doesn’t address root causes, I don’t see any solutions coming from the editors of the WaPo, either. For one thing they don’t understand what the real problems in Mexico and Central are. They’re taking the claims of the migrants at face value but those claiming asylum are just telling border officials what they must to claim refugee status. In fact they’re economic migrants, something that is obvious from what they do once granted asylum. That tells us what needs to done which is three-fold.
First, we need to tighten workplace enforcement. Our eVerify system needs to be expanded and tightened and the penalties for not conforming with them need to be increased so that no immigrant can work in the U. S. without express permission. Second, reduce aid to the governments of those countries. Those governments are corrupt, criminal, protectionist, and nativist almost beyond imagining. Granting them financial aid just exacerbates the problem.
The people of the countries of Central America need and deserve our aid; their governments do not. That presents a challenge for federal aid. Governments prefer to deal with governments.
The third thing we need to do is promulgate the message that we will enforce our laws. That will be the greatest challenge of all.
