The border crisis is real, here's how we can fix it - for Erie and America

Mariam almost died getting to America. Car bombs were detonated outside her home. An IED almost killed her at school. In 2014, death squads marked her entire family for elimination. At the last possible moment, they got an American visa, as refugees. They left sunny, balmy Iraq for the snowy, cold Rust Belt. In 2016, a whip-smart 17-year-old, Mariam, enrolled in my class. In my near quarter-century of teaching, she is the most impressive student (and most remarkable humans) I've ever encountered.

This fall, I thought of Mariam while touring migrant camps in Tijuana, Mexico. Arranged by the Washington, D.C.-based Truman National Security Project, the expedition exposed us to the scale of human misery on our southern border. In these camps are thousands of "Mariams" who all but crawled through glass and hot coals to become Americans. Solving this crisis is both a humanitarian and national security necessity. To do so, liberals and conservatives must confront some hard truths. And the stakes could not be higher. Currently, the GOP has tied aid to Ukraine and Israel to changes in our border and asylum policy. Negotiations are slow. Meanwhile, the Russians advance in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war simmers. The world needs resolution to both. To do that, Republicans and Democrats must compromise.

Democrats, the border crisis is real. Pointing to reality is not a xenophobic or racist. In fiscal year 2023, U.S. Border Patrol has encountered a near-record 2 million migrants which is nearly a 700% increase from 2010. The resulting scale of human need, in Mexico and the U.S., has overwhelmed border towns and now large, interior cities. But Republicans, this "border crisis" is different. These migrants are not illegal border crossings by single, Latin American men, pushed by economic want. The southern border is inundated with families who seek lawful entry to the American Dream. They hail from Central and South America, and the Caribbean but also Turkey, Romania, Afghanistan, and other far-flung locales. Political instability is pushing some. Persecution is driving others.

By law, asylum is granted to those meeting the legal definition of a "refugee." Once migrants request asylum, they wait months in Mexico merely for an initial hearing. If they meet a preliminary criterion, they are granted temporary admission until courts make a final ruling on their status. Due to a backlog, the average wait time for this final ruling is 1,751 days or nearly 5 years. In the interim between entry and a work visa, these families and their needs overwhelm the system. Today, there is a backlog of more than 2 million asylum cases. This is triple the number of 2017. Conservatives are not "racist" or "xenophobic" for recognizing this mess.

We are a country of immigrants. Nothing could be more American than granting asylum to refugees. Immigrants are the lifeblood of the American creed and economy. This is especially crucial for Erie and the Rust Belt. In 1920, one-fourth of all residents in the Rust Belt's 13 largest cities were foreign born. It is no coincidence that the Rust Belt's economic golden age coincided with an influx of immigrants. Rob Paral, a demographer with the nonpartisan Chicago Council on Global Affairs, has shown that Rust Belt cities were "largely built by immigration." It was immigrants who helped spark the economic growth which gave the Rust Belt 43% of all American jobs by 1950.

The foreign-born participate in the workforce at higher rates than native-born Americans. New Americans start businesses at twice the rate of old stock Americans. Stunningly, nearly half, 44.8%, of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. Due to this, immigrants added $2 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product in 2016 and $458.7 billion to state, local, and federal taxes in 2018. I am not surprised by these numbers in the least. I see it every semester in my classes. My very best students are, like Mariam, New Americans. Erie and America need immigrants who are hungry for opportunity.

But the advent of cheap international flights and Mexican smugglers who bring migrants to the border have made a wreck of American asylum laws. These laws were aimed at managing thousands of asylees — not millions. Thankfully, fixes to the system are readily apparent. We can easily erect systems that adjudicate asylum claims without admitting millions who then wait years for a legal resolution. Remember, approximately two-thirds of all asylum claims are eventually rejected. Congress could create a visa system that enables would-be migrants to apply at home, rather than at the border, for asylum. Congress can also create thousands of courts on the border to adjudicate asylum claims within days rather than years. If migrants understand that most applicants will be turned away at the border without entry, fewer will arrive. The torrent at the border will become a manageable stream.

If many progressives refuse to recognize there is a problem, some conservatives are indifferent to policy resolutions. They want the political issue, instead. They know images of the border crisis redound to their political benefit. That's the extent of their calculus. In what has become the sad, lazy norm in American politics, the partisan extremes hold the rest of us hostage. This makes the political system "appear" broken which then drives voters to the extremists.

Asylum should not be the side-door through which millions enter America every year. At the same time, granting asylum for the persecuted and oppressed is central to our national identity. Immigrants power the American economy. They are crucial in helping America maintain strategic superiority in a dangerous world. We can easily build a system that admits those who meet the asylum criteria without the humanitarian disaster at our border.

More: Refugees, immigrants offset population slide, increase Erie County's diversity

Erie and America are better places with Mariam as a citizen. A resolution to this crisis is recognizable, achievable, and will redound to the nation's benefit. It also removes an issue from would-be authoritarians to demagogue. Do the moderates in both parties have the will to make our political system work? Those are the stakes in these negotiations.

Jeff Bloodworth is an Erie resident and a fellow with the Truman National Security Project. You can follow him on X @jhueybloodworth. 

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: How we can resolve the immigration crisis and strengthen Erie, U.S.