Quote:
Originally Posted by well named
The simplest immediate alternative is to dedicate an appropriate amount of resources necessary to house detained immigrants/refugees in humane conditions, and to process asylum requests in a reasonable amount of time.
My view is that if a government official in charge of deciding how to handle detainees recognizes that there is no way to detain them humanely, then they ought simply to not detain them. I don't think that position should be subject to compromise. There's no doubt that this will still leave a crisis to handle, but my goal isn't necessarily to find some easy solution that fixes every problem, but to avoid committing egregious human rights violations.
From a longer term perspective, I'd argue that if we want to slow the rate of migration we should do more to try to help improve conditions in the countries people are fleeing. Given the dangers and difficulty people face trying to migrate, I think that's a good idea almost regardless of one's views on immigration. That said, from my perspective there is no compelling reason not to simply welcome most of these people as immigrants and to try to help them settle in the US. But I don't think restrictions on immigration are all unacceptable. I do think that if you want to restrict immigration you have to be willing to commit the resources necessary to resolve immigration enforcement without forcing children to live for weeks in these conditions.
Please post the number of people who weekly (or monthly) present themselves to the boarder for asylum or immigration currently.
Please describe in detail what would be the required housing/detention conditions for these people. Please describe whether these facilities exist currently or if they will need to be built (and if so, how long will it take to build, and where).
Please describe in detail how much you think it will cost given the # of people posted above.
If detention is not an option, explain in detail your plan for housing and supporting (e.g. feeding) these people. Have you signed up personally to sponsor an asylum seeker? Should other Americans do so? What should happen to asylum seekers if the break other laws (other than illegally crossing the border)?
Please explain why asylum seekers shouldn't seek asylum in Mexico. Is Mexico not a suitable destination, and if so please describe exactly why.
Given the current US immigration waiting lists, how should new immigrants presenting themselves to the boarder today be treated compared to people who are already on the lists, some who have been on the waiting list for many years?
Should immigrants from Mexico have priority over immigrants from India just because they are physically closer to the USA?
How many federal immigration judges are there currently? How many should we have on an immediate basis?