Border Security and Management Framework unveiled by several advocacy organizations

A coalition of center-right advocacy organizations, all of whom are members of the Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus (ANIC), have proposed a framework that prioritizes border security and suggests improvements that would create a more secure, efficient, and humane asylum process. 

The plan’s four main proposals include:

• Modernizing the U.S. asylum process by creating a specialized corps of asylum officers with the authority to adjudicate most claims at the border within 45-60 days.
• Providing the personnel and resources to adequately secure U.S. borders.
• Supporting investments in programs and technology to stop the flow of fentanyl and other illegal substances into the United States.
• Stopping human smuggling and trafficking by updating federal laws and processes to better respond to incidents, particularly those involving migrant children.

The framework offers solutions that all members of Congress can use when they return to address border security and the asylum process. “The challenges at the border continue, and Congress must act. Our proposed solutions are viable when Republicans and Democrats return to the table. A remarkable majority of Americans want these kinds of solutions,” said Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum.

Republican-led states are rushing to pass state-level immigration legislation

Oklahoma is the latest state to hurry a bill broadening immigration enforcement powers to local law enforcement agencies to the desk of its governor. GOP-led states are following the lead of Texas who passed S.B. 4, a law that would allow state agencies to arrest and deport migrants who entered the country illegally. The Texas law is currently on hold while its constitutionality is argued in federal court. 

Other states who are considering similar legislation include Iowa, Idaho, Georgia, and Missouri.  “It just seems like something that is being sold to us as a solution that’s just going to make things worse for us here locally,” said Chief Michael Tupper of the Marshalltown Police Department in Iowa. “And we need comprehensive immigration reform in this country, but it has to be done in Washington, D.C.” According to the U.S. Constitution, immigration enforcement authority falls under the purview of the federal government.