I Have A Question

[Mister Agenda]

Given only those two choices, instead of active duty soldiers, we should have sent bureaucrats to process their asylum claims, doctors to tend to their health issues, and staff to provide for their food and housing. And it would have cost a lot less than positioning 5,000 active duty troops on the border.

So you are in the let them all in camp.....

Welcome to the Libertarian Party - home of open borders..

I used to be a libertarian. Border security is a contentious issue in the LP, but yeah, I was old-school in that regard. One platform plank doesn't define a party though, and they can't copyright it. Anyone who thinks the LP has a good idea can use it themselves.

We would have more secure borders if we allowed people in (gave them a visa) at checkpoints and gave them photo ID and fingerprinted them. The only reason to avoid a checkpoint is if you don't want to be identified. The Border Patrol could be more confident that people sneaking across the border were up to no good and they weren't mainly catching would-be dishwashers, landscapers, and maids. For the first time we would know who most of the people who are in our country without green cards are. They could get SS#, be taxed normally, be subject to minimum wage laws without having to put up with employers who threaten to have them deported if they won't work for less, and wouldn't need fake IDs and such. They wouldn't have to live in the shadows. They would have to compete on a level playing field with American workers. Since they aren't in the country illegally, they could eventually earn citizenship the same way as anyone else if they want to.

Many of the problems of illegal immigration stem from the undocumented status of so many migrant workers. The solution is easy: document them. Build up our database of who is in the country. The ones who wind up committing crimes, we would already have fingerprints and a photo for. We still protect our border from people trying to evade legal points of entry.

This would be superior to our current system in every way, and we could do away with ICE entirely.

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I suspect you're right, especially about the last bit.  Anyone willing to walk 1500 miles for a job is definitely someone I'd be happy to have live next door to me.

Boru

Unfortunately economic advantage is not a legitimate reason to grant asylum.

You mean processing asylum requests isn't exactly the same as 'letting them all in'? Who knew, besides everybody?

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And why is the US the only country that is supposed to take applications for asylum?

Before you ask 'why?' you should always be sure you've already asked 'if?'.