The United States needs a long-term strategy that would get at the root cause of why our border is overflowing and help prevent future crises. U.S. domestic immigration policies did not cause the massive wave of Central American migration cresting at our borders. But they are exacerbating the problem, needlessly endangering lives, lining the pockets of criminal organizations, and showing the migrants and the world an unkind America — an image we should not be projecting.
This crisis is a culmination of problems that have simmered for years. Our government agencies are engaged in a fruitless bureaucratic game of whack-a-mole while our political leaders fail to address the underlying issues.
For one thing, metering (a policy limiting the number of asylum seekers allowed to enter the U.S. each day) forces some asylum seekers to wait days, weeks, even months for an opportunity to present themselves at a legal port of entry. This policy only creates incentives for the large number of illegal crossings we are witnessing today.
Neither our facilities, nor those in Mexico, were designed to detain the record number of migrants crossing the border. The myriad of agencies involved in processing them are not only over capacity, they often are doing a job they were not designed to do.
What’s more, “loopholes” in asylum law did not cause migrants to flee gang violence and a lack of economic opportunity. It’s not fair to blame these desperate people for leaving situations their governments created.
To their credit, many Americans are acting on their own with compassion. They are dropping off diapers and toothpaste to Border Patrol stations. Cash donations are flooding nonprofits helping migrants. For years, churches and other charities along the border have been doing what we do best: helping others in times of need.
The Bipartisan Policy Center also has proposed a smart idea: Create a FEMA-like rapid response system that could address this crisis with humanity rather than dismissiveness and resignation. The $4.6 billion emergency border aid package Congress recently passed is another temporary fix.
The number of migrants crossing recently decreased, and some detention centers are no longer over capacity. But we need to be honest about this reality: Simply changing our asylum laws is not a viable solution.
A successful policy solution would have three main thrusts:
First, our immigration system is long overdue for modernization. Providing more and better legal channels for immigrants to work in the U.S. will ease tensions at the border. Migrants from around the globe are using the asylum system to gain entry to the U.S. because they cannot access our legal immigration system in its current form. More green cards and an improved temporary guest worker program would allow these migrants the opportunity to come to the U.S. to fill open jobs.
Second, a long-term strategy is needed for prosperity across Central America. Here in the U.S., we are able to compete in the global economy through our broad access to the digital world. Expanding connectivity in nations like El Salvador and Guatemala would likewise help them grow and stabilize their economies.
The U.S. could help here, in part, through promoting digital connectivity. Access to financial technologies also would create greater opportunities for Central Americans to prosper in their own nations. Digital financial services could allow them to open bank accounts, obtain credit, build assets, move money more easily into income-earning activities, receive wages, and grow their businesses.
The Central America Free Trade Agreement, which was passed in 2004, already started this process. Thanks to CAFTA, we have seen the beginnings of textile, food, and auto parts industries in the CAFTA countries that are feeding into global manufacturing supply chains. CAFTA also has inspired countries to implement the economic reforms and regional economic integration that will enable Central America to prosper.
Finally, we should engage our North American neighbors and Central America’s governments to develop a regional approach to migration that promotes regional security and preserves the human dignity of the migrants. The U.S. had a regional security dialogue with Canada and Mexico in the Security and Prosperity Partnership of the early 2000s. A framework such as this could involve Central America and help coordinate a response to mass migration events.
The images and stories surfacing from the border are disturbing, but partisan fault-finding and arguing about what we should call our detention centers are an unseemly waste of time. People are dying. Children are being neglected. We need to put our differences aside and work together.
That includes collaborating on the strategies that could create a more stable, prosperous Central America. That way, we would increase the chances that we will not have to endure this awful situation again.
Laura Collins is director of the George W. Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative.
