Immigration and Humanitarian Crisis at the Southern Border

The immigration situation at the southern border has grown into a humanitarian crisis due to the massive influx of immigrant families. According to research, the days of few people evading authorities, sneaking past the border and finding summer time work on US soil has evolved into families with toddlers and children in tow, surrendering at the border, escaping gang and/or sexual violence as well as high poverty (Shear, Jordan & Fernandez, 2019). The US somehow, does not have an adequate amount or quality of resources to handle the massive influx and this has led to inappropriate measures being taken, leading to detentions and separation of families.

The move towards just trying to stop migrants from coming across ports of entry and borders is the way the current President is trying to contain this issue, implying security concerns (Shear, Jordan & Fernandez, 2019). Yet, it is ineffective because people are resorting to other entry ways which are not staffed, unmanned and unaccounted for, in other terms- counterproductive to immigration, border security and what is needed. The current administration has tried to prosecute every single person coming across (obviously unfeasible), separating young children from parents (dangerous and unethical), tightening asylum and forcing people to stay in Mexico until scheduled court dates (Shear, Jordan & Fernandez, 2019). This has only added to the compiled mess of human atrocities at the border and has not made the issue better, rather it has deepened the wounds, making it a disastrous humanitarian crisis more than a security issue. There are opposing sides, though. For instance, Obama dealt with similar issues at the border- where he provided humanitarian aid. Some warn that if Trump does this, it can become a systematic magnet-like attraction for migrant central Americans (Rose, 2019). Obama aided that southern border because of the massive population of women and children because it was more of a humanitarian issue rather than a security issue.

The US has always been a place where people seeking better life opportunities can come to. Laws, regulations and agreements like the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees agreement were put in place to allow the seeking of asylum and protection (Shear, Jordan & Fernandez, 2019). We are the super power nation and we always seem to have set a standard historically. Yet, the current administration has been arguably opposed to traditional ways of doing things. Even so, an educated, fully, staffed and resourceful nation should be able to handle immigration.

References

Shear, D. M., Jordan., & Fernandez, F. (April 10, 2019). The u.s. immigration system may have reached a breaking point. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/us/immigration-border-mexico.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FImmigration%20Detention&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection

Rose, J. (Jan 9, 2019). President Obama also faced a ‘crisis’ at the southern border. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/01/09/683623555/president-obama-also-faced-a-crisis-at-the-southern-border