The impression in Central America today is that if you push north before new immigration laws are passed, you will get a path to U.S. citizenship.
Given that this is false, and that there is little or no hope of any bipartisan laws being passed any time soon, DHS needs to counteract this false message by implementing a robust public relations campaign south of the border.
Even before I worked for the White House Security Council’s DHS Human Smuggling Cell in 2015, the message that had spread widely among Central American migrants was to get a foothold in the U.S. before any new immigration laws were implemented. So much, in fact, that the Obama administration spent $5 million to run catchy radio and television ads to tell migrants about the dangers of crossing the border illegally. The ads did not work, however, perhaps in part because the message pertained specifically to the narrow case of unaccompanied children flowing into the U.S.
A clearer message is needed today: that in order to claim asylum in the U.S., a migrant must apply legally at a designated port of entry, and that 90 percent of those claims are denied. This message faces a slight complication in the form of a recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that migrants can apply at any location where they enter, even illegally outside the ports of entry, but the slim chances and strict criteria for asylum should be made clear before anyone risks his or her life trying to cross the desert.
The DHS public relations team should work with the Mexican government to spread the message on what migrants should expect if they enter Mexico. It should include transparent optics of the harsh realities of deportation by Mexican authorities and unsanitary living conditions.
The U.S. can also capitalize off Mexico’s social programs and tout the idea of migrants staying in Mexico while they apply for asylum. For migrants needing time for their asylum claims to be adjudicated at a U.S. port of entry, they can apply for Mexico’s one-year humanitarian visa program for incoming migrants.
According to a Tijuana official, there are currently over 10,000 jobs available in the same city the migrant caravan is holding up in. Perhaps the migrants will take advantage of what Mexico has to offer and remain in place, passing on an opportunity to come to the U.S. legally or illegally.
Migrants will always push north attempting to enter the U.S. Many will die crossing the porous and dangerous border areas outside the ports of entry. The U.S., working with Mexico, can offer solutions in the form of honest messages until new immigration laws are passed.
Dr. Jason Piccolo is a former Supervisor with the Department of Homeland Security, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and nationally recognized whistleblower for the 2015 release of unaccompanied alien children to criminal sponsors.
