We’re Having the Wrong Debate About the Border
By Marcia Brown
(EXCERPT)
The word “asylum” was spoken only six times during each of last week’s Democratic presidential debates. With a southern border more fortified than it ever has been, asylum is one of the primary ways migrants gain entrance to the U.S., and is responsible for the majority of the recent surge in border crossings. Indeed, the situation at the border can best be described as an asylum crisis.
While Democrats recognize that asylum is a legal process that the U.S. must by law provide, they don’t seem to realize just how many people need asylum. A working asylum system would need to function more efficiently, humanely, and—frankly—allow entry to a lot more people. Instead of addressing everything Trump is doing to prevent asylum seekers from accessing the system, Democrats have been focused on decriminalizing the border, a solution that only addresses some of the host of challenges in our immigration system.
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