Immigration
Pushed Away and Stranded: 7 Things to Know About the Border
By Rebecca Ma and Daniel Tse
Headline after headline we’re told that there’s a crisis at the U.S. southern border — and there is. But it’s not a crisis of national security; it’s a crisis of humanity.
As of this year, 110 million people have been forcibly displaced — more people than ever before. Yet the wealthiest countries in the world — such as the United States, whose foreign interventions and policies have played a significant role in global conflicts displacing people — continue to take in the fewest refugees and leave low- and middle- income countries to shoulder the greatest responsibility for hosting refugees.
In the past fiscal year, the United States took in 60,000 refugees and granted asylum to 31,000 people — that’s about 0.08 percent of the total number of people displaced in the world, even though the U.S. makes up more than 4 percent of the global population.
Now, as U.S. politicians barter over life-altering policies on how to address those who seek safety at our southern border, the very future of asylum hangs in the balance. Humanitarian protection for immigrants has historically been a bipartisan value, but as the issue becomes increasingly politicized, it’s hard to discern fact from myth. So let’s set the record straight, with people — not politics — at the center:
1.People at the border come from all around the world.
While many people arriving from countries in the Americas are Latine, a large number are Indigenous but misclassified as Latine. Public discourse often overlooks the many Black refugees in the region, including Sudanese, Mauritanians, Congolese, Haitians, and Garifuna groups. Asians are also largely left out of the dominant narrative, despite an increasing number of people arriving from India, Turkey, China, and Afghanistan in recent years. Ukrainians, Russians, and Roma people have also arrived in higher numbers.
“no one leaves home unless / home is the mouth of a shark” — Warsan Shire
People at the border may arrive from every corner of the globe, but they share at least one thing in common: a hope to build a new life somewhere safe. In the face of persecution, violence, and armed conflict, many have left everything behind to try and find a home. Others have escaped unlivable conditions in their countries, such as humanitarian disaster, instability, and oppression. Many factors push people to embark on a journey for a new home, and often it is because it is not safe or viable to stay where they are.
2. There is no “right way” to ask for safety, nor is there an immigration “line” to get in the back of.
Options for immigrants in search of safety and a home have become more and more limited. America’s refugee resettlement system was decimated under former President Trump. The only option for many, then, is to travel directly to another country for safe haven. Some elected officials and media outlets falsely contend this act of coming to the U.S. border to ask for asylum is “illegal” when in fact, international and domestic law all say otherwise:
The right to seek asylum is enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1951 Refugee Convention, and its 1967 Protocol. The U.S. Refugee Act of 1980 further affirms anyone physically present in the country, land border or port of entry may ask for asylum.
As for other methods of immigration, these systems no longer work for the vast majority of prospective immigrants. For example, millions of aspiring immigrants seeking to reunite with family or build a better life in the U.S. are still separated from loved ones and opportunity due to green card backlogs and technical flaws. They are left waiting for family-sponsored and employment-based visas, often for years, decades, and even lifetimes — time that many people can’t afford to lose. Even people with approved immigration petitions are stuck in these indefinite wait times. Discriminatory policies like the Muslim and African bans, as well as COVID-19-related delays, have also blocked tens of thousands of hopeful immigrants who won diversity visas from getting their green cards and coming to the United States.
Of the millions of Americans who immigrated and resettled to the United States in the 20th century, many would not be here if they had tried today.
3. Getting to the border is not easy; it is a life-threatening last resort.
For people trying to reach the United States, the journey northward through the Americas is grueling and rife with danger. Embarking on this trek means facing treacherous terrain, exposure to the elements, and violence from criminal groups — including gangs exported from the United States. But for people escaping persecution, violence, and instability, taking such risks feels safer than staying where they are.
“… no one puts their children in a boat / unless the water is safer than the land” — Warsan Shire
People traveling from South America and the Caribbean — including people en route from Africa and Asia — often don’t have enough money to get directly to the U.S.-Mexico border, so they instead traverse through the Darien Gap of Colombia and Panama to get to Central America and then to Mexico. The Darien Gap is over sixty miles of mountainous rainforest jungle and vast swampland. Because of its inherent dangers, only a couple hundred people each year would brave the Darien Gap a decade ago. As of this past September, however, a record high of 400,000 people or more have risked their lives on this perilous route this year. More than half were children and babies. For those who make the cross into Panama, they face another half a dozen more borders — roughly 2,500 miles over Central America — before getting to the U.S. border.
4. The journey doesn’t stop at the border, particularly for people of color.
Racially prejudiced policies meant to deter migrants from coming here by restricting their access to protection have endangered countless people. Such policies force asylum-seekers back to the countries they fled from, leave them stranded along the border and in Mexico, or punish them here in the U.S.
Currently in place is an asylum ban based on where and how people arrive at the border, in addition to the long and continued use of expedited removal, incarceration, and mass deportation of immigrants. The border itself has become increasingly militarized with a growing physical wall and presence of border agents — dividing and harming local communities, pushing asylum-seekers into more dangerous routes, and destroying indigenous sites and wildlife.
Offshoring and deterrence tactics disproportionately target and harm people of color, forcing them back into Mexico and putting them at extreme risk of violence and kidnapping, detention, and deportation. Black immigrants are further subject to anti-Black mistreatment and harsh labor conditions with discrimination in pay, while Indigenous people face language barriers and stigma, and others are also discriminated against on the basis of religion, such as Muslims and Sikhs, or for being LGBTQ+.
Recently, the Biden Administration rolled out new parole programs that permit certain immigrants to enter the U.S. However, the family reunification parole program only applies to family members from a limited number of countries, while the process for certain nationals to apply for the humanitarian parole programs and for people at the border to ask for asylum is now through a smartphone app that has been riddled with accessibility issues and technological glitches. Furthermore, these programs were coupled with the implementation of an asylum ban and rapid deportations. The White House’s recent supplemental request suggests the Administration’s intent to increase its dangerous reliance on border enforcement, immigration incarceration, and surveillance.
Policies of deterrence do not stop people from fleeing for their lives. They do, however, diminish channels to safety and force people into more dangerous routes and precarious situations. As a result, countless lives have been lost in the detention and custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in detention in Mexico, by drowning at sea, and in many more preventable tragedies every day.
5. In times of division and hate, people are choosing to welcome immigrants, and so can you.
The U.S. has a steep history of discriminating against Black, Indigenous, and other immigrants of color, which for some policymakers has served as a blueprint and precursor to the modern anti-immigration playbook.
In recent years, governors of states like Texas have begun transporting new migrants to cities like Washington, DC, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, and even Martha’s Vineyard as a political stunt. Many buses and flights arrive without warning, such that migrants are dropped off at all hours of the day and night and left without information or resources.
But such political ploys have backfired, as community-based organizations, volunteers, and everyday people have come together to welcome these newcomers, help them get to their intended or final destinations, and support them as they settle into new homes.
These local networks reinforce existing models of community-based sponsorship and care that, for decades since the resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees, have welcomed and supported refugees as our new neighbors. Instead of policies that restrict access to safety, jail, and deport immigrants to danger, the U.S. can and must take a page from this welcoming chapter of American history and reinvest in true, compassionate solutions that address the real crisis at our border and in our immigration system.
6. We need comprehensive immigration reform.
“A broken immigration system means broken families and broken lives.” — Jose Antonio Vargas
You may hear politicians today say that the current U.S. immigration system is broken and ineffective. While this is true, such a flat statement often loses nuance. The most broken part of our system is how it can work for certain people — depending on the color of their skin or the region of the world they come from — while others languish without hope of relief.
This disparity was built into the structure of our immigration laws, and the political gridlock we face on this issue only serves to maintain the status quo. As we think about how we might change our immigration system, we must work explicitly to remove those disparities that still exist. Comprehensive immigration reform is needed to create a fair, just, and effective system that addresses the root causes of migration and provides a pathway to citizenship for undocumented individuals.
Such reform should include measures to address the push factors that lead people to flee their homes, such as poverty, violence, and persecution. It should also provide a fair and transparent process for asylum-seekers and refugees to apply for protection. Additionally, it should offer a pathway to citizenship for the millions of undocumented individuals who are already living and contributing to our communities.
Comprehensive immigration reform will not be easy, but it is necessary if we are to address the current crisis at our border and create a better future for all. It will require a commitment from both political parties to work together and put people before politics. Only then can we build a system that is truly just and humane.
7. YOU can help us get there.
- Donate to welcome and liberation efforts driven by Haitian Bridge Alliance, the Black Immigrants Bail Fund and Miles4Migrants
- Support the Welcome with Dignity campaign and find out how you can support newcomers in your neighborhood
- Take action with Defund Hate to call on Congress to cut funding to ICE and CBP’s abusive immigration enforcement and border militarization practices, and to instead reinvest in true community needs
- Get involved with Value Our Families and take action to call on the Biden Administration to recover lost visas and expand family reunification parole
- Support the All in for Registry campaign to provide a path to citizenship for millions of our immigrant neighbors, friends and family
- Demand Congress pass permanent protections for immigrant youth with the Home is Here campaign
- Sign up to be a private or community sponsor with Welcome.US and Community Sponsorship Hub
Rebecca Ma is the Immigration Advocacy Manager at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC has a mission to advance the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all. Visit our website at advancingjustice-aajc.org.
Daniel Tse is the Co-Founder of Cameroon Advocacy Network and the Bail Fund and Asylum Coordinator at Haitian Bridge Alliance.
The Cameroon Advocacy Network (CAN) is a coalition of organizations and activists across the U.S. and Cameroon, advocating for freedom and dignity for Cameroonians. Visit cameroonadvocacynetwork.org and follow us @camadvocacy.
Haitian Bridge Alliance is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal and social services, with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. Visit haitianbridgealliance.org and follow us @haitianbridge.
