Enforce the Law Before Rewriting It

By Jessica M. Vaughan on July 9, 2014
The New York Times, July 8, 2014

The first priority must be to try to curb the continuing influx of illegal crossers. We should be working with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico to stop U.S.-bound migrants long before they reach our border, and help their governments repatriate them safely. During a similar surge in 2001-02, instead of waiting for them to arrive, U.S. immigration agents based in Mexico City organized a multinational operation to intercept and return nearly 80,000 north-bound migrants, disrupting smuggling networks and significantly reducing pressure at the border. It cost less than $2 million, a tiny fraction of what it would have cost to process them in the United States, assuming they were caught, and would be far more effective now than the bland public service announcements our government commissioned.

Next, instead of dumping these cases onto a dysfunctional immigration court system, it would be better to accelerate the return of recent illegal arrivals by detaining them in the border area and adopting a “last in, first out” processing queue, both for the family units (who make up two-thirds of the surge) and the smuggled unaccompanied children. Swifter processing benefits the illegal immigrants and the taxpayers, who foot the bill for this process.

Finally, the Obama administration must revise its distorted interpretation of the law on handling cases that involve unaccompanied minors crossing the border illegally. The 2008 provisions were meant to help children who were trafficked into the United States, and who have no parent or guardian, not to protect illegally residing parents who hire criminal organizations to smuggle their children. Under current policies, these parents are off-limits for enforcement, which hampers investigations and enriches the smugglers.

This crisis is the best evidence yet that lax enforcement, both at the border and within the country, and talk of amnesty only bring more illegal immigration. Congress is right to insist that the president start enforcing the laws we have in good faith before undertaking a major rewrite.