McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — A new report released Thursday by the Migration Policy Institute suggests wide-ranging reforms to the U.S. immigration system. It emphasizes addressing immigration issues not just at the Southwest border.
The report, “Shifting Realities at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Immigration Enforcement and Control in a Fast-Evolving Landscape,” traces factors that have stretched thin the U.S. border management system and offers recommendations on ways to create a more effective system. This includes:
Establish multi-agency border processing centers where federal officials work alongside non-governmental organizations. This includes U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and Office of Resettlement officers processing asylum-seekers with certified NGOs and legal service providers.
Create a federal mechanism to direct migrants to interior destinations with available services and capacity, like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which openly advocates for migrants to come to its city. This would prevent cities like New York and Denver from being overwhelmed with migrants seeking asylum.
Invest in technology and personnel for federal agencies.
Work with Mexico to strengthen enforcement and border cooperation efforts. This includes ensuring Mexico humanely houses migrants who are waiting to make asylum appointments on the CBP One app. And would have the United States help Mexico to improve its immigration systems so migrants will want to stay south of the border.
Develop refugee processing and resettlement programs within the Western Hemisphere
“The volume and diversity of migrant arrivals have strained U.S. border enforcement beyond its capabilities, overwhelming an immigration and enforcement system not built for them,” analysts Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh and Doris Meissner write.
During a visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said newly created migrant processing facilities, called Safe Mobility Offices, have been set up to assist migrants in Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Ecuador.
He also said the United States is implementing “programs to enable different nationalities to access relief in the United States without making the perilous journey in the hands of smugglers.”
The report credits the Biden administration with adjusting to what it calls “these new realities” and says the administration has “introduced an ambitious set of policies intended to improve border enforcement following the May 2023 end of pandemic-era Title 42 restrictions.
This includes the use of the CPB One app for asylum-seekers to schedule asylum interviews at ports of entry.
However, “the study’s findings demonstrate that border control cannot be achieved at the border alone. Given current and likely future migration patterns, the border control mission requires substantial resource investments not just in CBP but also in other agencies involved in migrant processing,” the report says.
“As irregular migration has ballooned throughout the Western Hemisphere, the need for shared responsibility and collaboration, defined not only by heightened migration controls and enforcement but also by access to lawful mobility pathways, is increasingly evident,” the report says, specifically noting Mexico and Panama.
Mayorkas on Monday said he spoke with Panama’s minister of security last week and stressed accomplishments made by a U.S. delegation that traveled to Mexico City last month. Mexican officials are slated to come to the United States later this month for continued talks.
A follow-up report from the Migration Policy Institute is scheduled to be released later this month.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@Borderreport.com.
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