Consequences of Policy Failure

In what appears to be the worst incidence of alarming cross-border migrant deaths in the US in recent days, the bodies of at least 53 people were recovered from an abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas. Reports suggested that migrants from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador died from extreme temperatures inside trucks amid a severe heat wave. The grim episode once again highlights the dangers faced by those seeking asylum or better economic prospects in the US that go against the country’s immigration policies, which are so far a work-in-progress. On the one hand, the latest crisis underscores serious shortcomings in border policy enforcement. Despite the scorching heat, border crossings in the region have remained very frequent over the past two years. In May 2020, the US Border Patrol encountered 23,237 migrants, while in May 2022, the number stood at 2,39,146 – more than in any single month in the previous three years. Worse, Mexican officials have confirmed that the truck passed through a federal immigration checkpoint within US territory and still was not inspected. About 20,000 trucks pass through the commercial corridor from Laredo to San Antonio every day, and even more than the US-Mexico crossing routes in total, there is a severe shortage of manpower and surveillance systems.

Yet, as shown above, it is the bigger question behind cross-border migration in the US and its consequences, which are troubling. Democrats and Republicans have locked horns in a rush of talks on comprehensive immigration reform and in hundreds of bills proposed in Congress. Yet there is a fundamental reluctance to find bipartisan solutions to immigration policy, much as the Bipartisan Safe Communities Act emerged out of a collaborative effort and now offers a glimmer of hope toward stopping gun violence. While Democrats have dug in their heels on topics such as a path to citizenship for law-abiding undocumented workers in the US who meet certain conditions, including deferred action for early childhood arrivals, Republicans have called for undocumented migrants to Tried to focus more on keeping out. , The problem with refusing to find a compromise solution is that the resulting failure to develop a well-funded yet enlightened immigration policy leads to avoidable deaths like the one seen in San Antonio. Whatever they do or don’t hand over to political liberals, conservatives should realize that there is no opposition to the “melting pot” effect concomitant with America’s social and economic progress, and that the process should go smoothly. To run, America must manage rationally and humanely. The influx of migrants across its southern border.