Next week, a look at what the community is doing to help their new neighbors and why
city officials are asking the state and federal government for help.
The migrants arriving in Whitewater represent a tiny fraction of people crossing the southern
border into the US.
In December alone, some 300,000 people from Central America and elsewhere reportedly
did so.
Two and a half million people in 2023.
The crush of people crossing the border is described as a humanitarian crisis.
Meanwhile, three million pending asylum cases before US immigration courts means migrants
gaining entry at the border wait years for their hearings.
All the while, living and after a time, legally working in the US.
Erin Barbato is the director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at the University of Wisconsin
Law School.
She recently visited the border and she joins us now.
Thanks a lot for being here.
Thanks for having me.
So I understand that you were in Tijuana.
I was in Tijuana in December to take a close look at what is actually happening on the
border and the policies that are in place there right now through the Department of
Homeland Security and how people, really looking at how people can access our asylum system
and the new policies that are in place.
What did you see at the border?
So we visited a number of shelters that were housing people who were in transit attempting
to seek refuge in the US and in order to do so right now, they need to apply for an appointment
with an app, a CBP1 app.
And many of the people we met with have been waiting for months in order to access that
appointment.
But it's our government is encouraging people to go through a regular route to enter the
US to seek protection, but it is causing a lot of people to wait very long in Mexico
before they can even access our asylum system.
Why are so many millions of people wanting to gain entry into the US?
I mean, that's a good question.
I think when you look at it, we live in a great country and people are suffering all
over the world.
And so if we were living in a country where no one wanted to come, that would probably
be an issue.
But we're living in a country where we do have opportunity for people and people's lives
are in danger in certain countries.
Not everybody coming will qualify for asylum, but many of them do.
What policies have changed allowing this kind of more recent crush?
So I'm not sure if the policies have changed.
It's difficult in the past few years to compare numbers, considering that the border was closed
under Title 42 for so long, and now that the border is not open, but it's functioning
under what's called Title 8, which is a law that governs our asylum process, allowing
people to seek asylum in our southern border, which they can't really do right now unless
they have a CBP1 appointment.
One other change that potentially has some validity in helping people access the asylum
system in a more regular manner is the opening of these Sigurigadmovial offices in Colombia,
Guatemala, and Costa Rica, and it will allow certain people with strong cases to apply
for refugee status there and then fly to the U.S.
And so it could take some of the pressure off the border, as well as our asylum system.
Meanwhile, though, there's so much discussion around this and the numbers of people crossing
into the United States.
What happens if, through some executive or legislative action, the borders close?
Is that even possible?
It seems that it is possible, potentially, whether our president has the ability under
the laws to close the border, I think, is a question that will be litigated in court.
Our laws say that people have the right to seek asylum in the U.S., as well as chat
with the border if they have an employment-based visa or even a visitor visa to visit a family.
So it could have really harsh consequences on separating families and also putting more
people in danger, but that may happen.
Short of closing the border, does it seem likely that highly restrictive laws will be
put in place at this time?
I know that they've been discussed.
I'm not sure that they've ever worked before.
More deterrence, more enforcement doesn't seem to deter people to necessarily come from
the U.S., and I think there might be a better way to look at a more humanitarian solution.
Why do people wait so long to have their cases hurt?
The backlog within our administrative law system in the immigration courts is very long.
And so people, even with the strongest asylum cases, are waiting years in order to access
the benefits that they are entitled to under our laws.
And so it makes the system very difficult to manage.
People may miss their court hearings because the court hearings get changed all of the time.
And people don't have an attorney when they're in the process unless they can afford one or
find a pro bono one.
So it's a really difficult system to navigate, and it's not going quickly for people who
are eligible.
Once they get to that hearing, how likely is it that people seeking asylum will be granted
at?
You know, the percentages differ where you are in the U.S. The judges' percentages
of approvals are available across the country.
So it's hard to say exactly, but it's difficult.
It's not, the percentages are not high for the people that receive asylum.
If you're represented by an attorney, you're more likely to receive asylum because you
may be know what the law is, what the judge is looking for based on your story.
But it's a very complicated, difficult process.
And people do not just, aren't just given papers.
It takes years, it takes months to prepare.
It's a very difficult process.
But meanwhile, people who are awaiting that hearing, they can get authorization to work
legally.
Yes, normally, depending on what process they're going through, but you have to wait a number
of months, six months to a year normally, to obtain a work permit to work in the U.S.
Once you have that, you're here with authorization, and you can work, you can get a driver's
license, you can get a social security number.
But you are not here permanently.
You can't leave the U.S. You don't have access to public benefits.
You are here temporarily.
And maybe it's for years waiting to access the asylum system, but the work permit does
allow people to participate in society and support themselves.
All right, we need to live it there.
Erin, Barbara, you do.
Thanks very much.
Thanks so much for having me.
They need to have a work permit to do so.
And if you don't have a work permit and a foreign identification, so we have a kiddo
from Afghanistan right now who got asylum, but he doesn't have a passport, so he has
to wait to get his work permit, which is going to take three to six months, in order to even
get to work, even though the law says he can work.
So it's just a very broken system.
It's really broken.
In the amount of 25% of my time is just applying for work permits, and this is not a good
use of anybody's time.
And it's backlogging everything with innovation.
Well, I suppose any idea how many billions of dollars it would take to throw at this
to fix it?
I know.
I mean, there's not, in terms of supporting communities, there's really no money that's
thrown at it already.
So besides some support for people who come over as refugees, but beyond that, we're
all, everyone's on their own.
The police chief from White Water is fascinating.
Yeah.
I think so.
He called me like a year ago.
I don't know if I told you this, and he asked me if I could do some trainings with his
police officers.
It seems to be really thoughtful, so I'm glad you're covering that.
Yeah.
It's a nice story.
Yeah.
And you don't always get that, so.
Right.
So he's trying to come up with a humanitarian solution too, to an issue he can't manage
on his own.
So anyway.
Thanks for your work.
Well, thank you.
Thank you for your daughter.
She sounds great.
I think she might be President Wonder.
I don't think so.
No.
I don't think she'd like to.