A Wall Cannot Fix Problems at Border; Smart Solutions for Managing Asylum Cases Can

What President Trump calls a border crisis is in fact a crisis in the asylum system—one that has been worsened at every turn by his administration’s harsh policies and rhetoric.

In his demand for a border wall, the President has forced a record-setting government shutdown. Amid an impasse with congressional Democrats disinclined to give him $5.7 billion to begin wall construction, he has dangled the idea of declaring a national emergency and tapping into disaster-relief dollars earmarked for Texas, Puerto Rico, and others.

Yet a wall will not fix the problems occurring at the U.S.-Mexico border, as MPI’s Doris Meissner and Sarah Pierce explain in a new commentary.

Instead, the money would be far better spent retooling an overwhelmed asylum system, adapting outmatched border enforcement infrastructure and procedures to respond to the changing composition of arrivals, and working cooperatively with Mexico to tackle the factors propelling Central Americans to flee.

“For considerably less than the $5.7 billion for the wall and by managing existing resources differently, the administration could turn this ship toward a different sea,” they write.

KJ