Expert: Border Solution Should Include More Legal Pathways

Kevin Frey, Spectrum News, Dec. 19, 2023

"Negotiations to tighten the southern border continue in Washington, as senators search for a potentially elusive deal. However, some immigration experts question if an agreement would have any tangible impact — at least in the short-term — on New York, where the state is grappling with a surge of asylum seekers. ... Among the policy changes reportedly under consideration: detaining those claiming asylum and quickly expelling some migrants to Mexico before their asylum screening.  But immigration law experts, like Stephen Yale-Loehr with Cornell Law School, warn this alone would not solve the problem for cities like New York, which is currently grappling with a surge of migrants. “Probably not, because the crisis is larger than any one piece of legislation,” Yale-Loehr said. Yale-Loehr likens the policy changes that senators are discussing to a bandage over a gaping wound, saying broader reforms are needed. He suggested for Congress consider ideas like making more work visas available. “We need to have a balanced approach. Yes, we need to have deterrence so that only those people who deserve to be in the United States can come. But we also need to find more legal pathways for people to enter legally in the United States, so that they are not tempted to enter illegally,” he said."