Schiff says fixing the asylum process long term, in a way that addresses public safety and also keeps migrants safe, will require comprehensive immigration reform.
That, he said, will mean ensuring migrants can apply for protections before leaving their country of origin; hiring more judges and interpreters to address systemic backlogs; and providing resources for communities at the border and elsewhere that have received asylum seekers. It will also require improving border inspections with a surge in resources and technology to ports of entry, he said, to stop fentanyl and other illicit drugs from entering the U.S.
“We must pass a comprehensive immigration reform that treats immigrants and immigrant workers with dignity and respect, keeps families together, and gives Dreamers, farmworkers and other front-line workers a clear pathway to citizenship,” Schiff said. “Comprehensive reform also means ensuring a secure, orderly, and humane response at the border.”
“Dreamers” are those who were brought to the U.S. illegally when they were children.
Garvey says that President Biden’s recent action to limit asylum at the southern border “is an attempted quick fix instead of the real reform needed,” adding that the administration should have taken action on border enforcement earlier.
“Enforcing the law should not be a political decision or an election year talking point,” he said.
In an opinion piece last month in the Los Angeles-based Spanish-language newspaper La Opinión, Garvey said a porous border poses threats to national security, has overwhelmed the already backlogged court system and has strained social services.
Even so, he said, “mass deportation of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in our country is not a realistic solution,” suggesting more resources and staffing for immigration agencies. Garvey is also in favor of reinstating Trump’s so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy that required migrants to wait across the border for the duration of their U.S. court proceedings.
