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Guest Columnist – Next Steps for Immigration

Next Steps for Immigration ¿Seguiremos estancarnos en materia migratoria?

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by our guest columnists do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of this publication.

Morgan Smith

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The time is flying by in terms of border and immigration issues and there is much to be done but are we ready – either in Mexico or the United States? Or will the frenzy of upcoming election years in both countries make progress impossible?

In Mexico, President Andrés Manual López Obrador (AMLO) is more than half way through his six year term. Claudia Sheinbaum has resigned her position as the mayor of Mexico City in order to run for President in 2024 as a member of AMLO’s party, Morena, is the favorite at the moment and would be the first woman president. Marcelo Ebrard has now resigned his position as foreign minister. Also a member of Morena, he will be a tough opponent for Sheinbaum.

Their focus will be the economy, improving a wretched health care system, and dealing with increasingly powerful drug cartels. Immigration will be viewed as more of a US problem. On the US side, we are seeing new Republican contenders every day, even though Donald Trump has a huge lead. They’re all itching to make immigration a major campaign issue. On the Democratic side, for Joe Biden, avoiding border and immigration issues will be a priority.

Couldn’t, however, small changes take place even in this intense political environment and couldn’t they have a positive impact for their sponsors? There will probably be a migrant surge this summer. Couldn’t we make changes that would mitigate it? Where is the leadership we need?

On June 14 and 15, my wife and I visited migrant shelters in El Paso and Juárez. This was a follow up to visits on May 10 and 11 and May 31 and June 1. The issues are the same. The shelters are struggling and the items we bring – medical supplies, shoes, clothing, food – are very much needed. But another issue is that families applying for asylum are having to wait far too long for their hearings. This backlog has to be eased, especially for those waiting in Juárez. It’s not fair to, in essence, punish those who are following the law.

As I have written earlier, we have had extensive contacts with Venezuelans, often under harsh conditions. They continue to display an optimism and enthusiasm that is impressive and makes me believe that they would be excellent additions to our workforce if an expanded guest worker program could be organized for them. Why aren’t American farmers, for example – most of whom are Republicans – pushing their members of Congress to get this done?

If I were a Democratic member of Congress, I’d be advocating for money for more Border Patrol agents because I believe in border security. And I’d fight for hiring judges or hearing officers who could reduce the shamefully high backlog of asylum cases that need final hearings.

In these three most recent trips, we’ve taken seven car loads of items to two different shelters – Sacred Heart in El Paso and Respettrans in Juárez. It may not sound like much but imagine the look on a mother’s face when she gets a new pair of shoes for her child. And remember that the bulk of what it takes to run a shelter like Respettrans in Juárez comes from a host of volunteers headed by leaders like Dr. Eva Moya in El Paso and the Dignity Mission in Placitas, New Mexico. Neither our government nor Mexico’s is engaged with these non-profit shelters.

These are several of the steps that political leaders could take and I believe that the reaction would be positive. Why not get moving now instead of getting caught unprepared when the next surge occurs?