Another week passed with no progress made on the border crisis.
Last Monday, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) warned that the long-awaited bipartisan border deal was delayed for at least one more week, and that it may arrive this week at last. Details of the deal aren't yet official, but reports state that restricting asylum is on the table, and Republicans have called for reinstating some of Donald Trump's immigration policies.
But chaos at the border will persist until Washington takes seriously the only true solution to the crisis: expanding legal immigration.
Recent experience shows that, when given a chance to come legally and in an orderly way, migrants do so. Just look at the initial success of parole sponsorship initiatives that allow migrants from five specific countries (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Ukraine) to come to America legally and directly. They're allowed to live and work in the U.S. for two years, sponsored by private citizens. After this program was implemented in January 2023, border encounters of migrants from the nations covered in the program dropped significantly.
Due to the caps imposed on the program, the limited number of nationalities allowed to participate, and other issues, its good results and progress eventually stalled. But its initial success is a strong indicator that parole sponsorships work. If the number of nationalities allowed to apply is expanded and the caps eliminated, it could help put a real dent on the chaos at the border.
The situation at the border is urgent. It's dangerous, unsustainable, and it hurts Americans and migrants alike. While some of the measures that Democrats and Republicans are currently proposing (e.g., building more of the border wall, hiring more border patrol agents) might help in the short term, the truth is we already place plenty of obstacles at the border. Yet we still saw a record number of encounters in the last few months.
What politicians fail to acknowledge is that border chaos is mostly the fault of extremely restrictive immigration policies, which make it impossible for the vast majority of people to immigrate to the U.S. legally. Migrants show up at the border because they don't have another way to come to America legally—there are no visas and no green cards available to most of them.
Should they simply not come, then? It's not that easy. Most migrants come to America to build a better life, fleeing the oppression and lack of opportunities in their home countries. But it's not just push factors in their home countries driving them to seek refuge in the U.S. The pull factor is just as strong, if not stronger: a desire for freedom and opportunity that only the U.S. can afford.
It doesn't matter how many enforcement efforts Congress rolls out; migrants won't stop coming. If lawmakers really want to end the chaos at the border, then instead of wasting taxpayer money on temporary, tired, and failing strategies, they should focus on providing legal, safe, and orderly ways for migrants to come to the U.S.
Increasing legal immigration and creating more legal pathways for peaceful, hard-working migrants to come to America is the only way to solve the border crisis for good. One strategy for doing that is to allow for more employer sponsorship, getting rid of caps on work visas and letting the market dictate how many migrant workers it can take.
More broadly, the U.S. immigration system should be rethought and redesigned to focus on deterring actual threats to the safety and rights of Americans, not economic migrants.
When migrants are allowed to enter legally, the government can screen for security threats (known criminals, terrorists, etc.) and people can fly directly where they need to go instead of showing up at the border. That change alone would greatly help bring order to the border.
Immigration is good for America; immigrants strengthen our economy, create value and jobs, and produce massive benefits for all Americans. They also bring knowledge and skills that can help make America safer and preserve the freedom they themselves came here to seek.
It's unlikely Congress will agree to expand legal immigration. But until that happens, Washington will never be able to secure the southwest border. Safe, orderly, legal immigration is necessary for a freer, safer, and more prosperous America.
Agustina Vergara Cid, LL.B. and LL.M, is a Young Voices contributor focusing on immigration policy. Her commentary has appeared in The Orange County Register and New Ideal. Follow her on Twitter: @agustinavcid
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
