Sunday Morning Migration

Last weekend Sid and Braumeister and I had an opportunity to chat it up about the immigration, asylum and migration conundrum we face.  (I deliberately list these as three separate issues because they as similar but not one and the same.)  Looking at this chart the operative questions that come to mind:

• Are the increased apprehensions under Biden evidence of progress?

• Are the smaller number of apprehensions under Trump lack of progress?  Or the inverse?
  

• Apprehensions + detention = deportation?  Or catch and release?

• Are our borders open, closed or porous?  

• Is it deliberate or a broken system?
  

There's a lot of data here to unpack in this chart.  

Here's a stab.

It is obvious that the number of apprehensions at the border is evidence of a surge.  Immigration activists oftentimes emphasize the events in other countries (gang crime, political oppression, war) as having an outside influence on migration.  

Think:  PUSH.

Factors such as the strength of our economy also play a role.  We enjoy a plethora of job opportunities.  Door, Kewaunee, Brown and Outagamie Counties are relevant examples of this. 

Think:  PULL

Nevertheless, when we make it difficult for people to enter the country fewer individuals make an attempt.  Donald Trump was out-front in his opposition to immigrants and immigration.  A likely cause of a smaller number of apprehensions under his watch.  Joe Biden did not manifest that level of hostility and that might explain a surge in apprehensions under his watch.

Think:  SIGNALING

Border policy is complicated stuff.  More so because I believe that both parties use it as a device to keep their respective base constituents in a near-constant state of agitation and turgid arousal.  As a consequence the nuance and complexities of the subject matter get lost in the tumult of emotional misinformation

Democrats seem to avoid the difficult questions.  And a lax (or seemingly welcoming) immigration attitude/policy brings with it all manner of problems. Including, but not limited to:  dangerous and life-threatening travel, exploitation by smugglers all resulting in the overwhelming of social services and shelters creating dangerous conditions on both sides of the Mexican/American border. 

Simultaneously, immigrants and their families have ascended the economic ladder and thrived in the US.  In their book Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success by economists Abramitsky (Stanford) and Boustan (Princeton) have defused much of the fearmongering. 

The bottom line is no country in its right mind should have open borders.  Nevertheless, refugees with a legitimate asylum claim should have a resolution in less than an eight to fourteen year wait time  Those who wish to come to this country for a job should have a legal opportunity to do so.  Dreamers, born here of undocumented immigrants are already birthright citizens.  (Yes, it is in the Constitution).  They should have a legal path to permanence.

According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests and deportation of undocumented immigrants increased in the second year of the Biden administration. Although numbers remained below Trump and Obama averages this crackdown has had its intended effect with apprehensions dropping.  Alas, Title 42, with its pandemic restrictions, expired last Thursday and appears to have had the unintended effect of migrants interpreting this as an opportunity.  Joe Biden has sent additional troops to the border for purposes of logistical support.  Nevertheless, he's facing some humongous challenges with the migration influx and surge of border crossings.

It's a shit show for sure.

Like I said, this is hard stuff and requires commitment to solutions and successful outcomes from serious leaders on both sides of the aisle.  

I do not believe there is sufficient critical mass to roll that boulder up hill.  Yet.  All of which explains the current fixation over bullshit subjects like  gender dysphoria, election denial and wokeness over Bud Light.

Sheesh.

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary

― H.L. Mencken