Order at the border requires access to asylum

Let's stop fearmongering around the border and acknowledge the humanity of migrants who we have a duty to provide safe harbor.

Alex Miller is an attorney and Director of the American Immigration Council’s Immigration Justice Campaign.

In addition to working in migrant shelters on both sides of the border and in Arizona detention centers, I am now the Director of the Immigration Justice Campaign at the American Immigration Council, and have a unique opportunity to look at the big picture. First, it’s important to understand why people migrate here. There are more people on the move around the world than at any point throughout recorded history. They're fleeing everything from political, racial and religious persecution, to economic hopelessness and the organized crime groups that step in when states fail. Regardless of whether these individuals ultimately receive asylum, complicated motivations and genuine fear have led them to our doorstep.

Because of this, any border policy framework based only on deterring migration is doomed to fail. Just look at Title 42, a Trump-initiated policy that sought to shut the border. Though initially opposed, Biden has stood by the policy, expelling even more migrants under Title 42 than Trump and recently expanding the policy to include Venezuelans. Despite mass expulsions, the number of people encountered at the southern border continues to rise.