I am an immigration lawyer and I have trouble taking anyone seriously when they propose “decriminalizing the border”, because it’s so irrelevant to the actual legal issues most immigrants face. People usually don’t get prosecuted for crossing the border illegally, and when they do the consequences are pretty minor. The government does it once in a while to make a point but the really inhumane stuff happens on the civil side of immigration enforcement, where you can still be detained indefinitely and the procedural protections of criminal law don’t apply. If it were a choice, I’d MUCH rather be prosecuted for illegal entry than have a deportation case brought against me.
The other things are fine as far as they go. I’m pro-open borders but since I don’t see it happening anytime soon I’d prefer to see a more serious attempt at reforms that could actually go somewhere.
Re: climate refugees your point about refugee quotas is right, but the standards for asylum are exactly the same as the standards to be a refugee; it’s just about whether you’re in the US or out at the time you apply. And there are no quotas for asylees so revising the eligibility standards there is meaningfully helpful. I would prefer to see a broader “economic refugee/asylee” category but I think accepting climate refugees/asylees is a good practical step in that direction. Someone like me can probably twist the hell out of that in court to basically create a broader “economic asylee” category but I need that crack in the door so I can pry it open.
I am an immigration lawyer and I have trouble taking anyone seriously when they propose “decriminalizing the border”, because it’s so irrelevant to the actual legal issues most immigrants face. People usually don’t get prosecuted for crossing the border illegally, and when they do the consequences are pretty minor. The government does it once in a while to make a point but the really inhumane stuff happens on the civil side of immigration enforcement, where you can still be detained indefinitely and the procedural protections of criminal law don’t apply. If it were a choice, I’d MUCH rather be prosecuted for illegal entry than have a deportation case brought against me.
The other things are fine as far as they go. I’m pro-open borders but since I don’t see it happening anytime soon I’d prefer to see a more serious attempt at reforms that could actually go somewhere.
Re: climate refugees your point about refugee quotas is right, but the standards for asylum are exactly the same as the standards to be a refugee; it’s just about whether you’re in the US or out at the time you apply. And there are no quotas for asylees so revising the eligibility standards there is meaningfully helpful. I would prefer to see a broader “economic refugee/asylee” category but I think accepting climate refugees/asylees is a good practical step in that direction. Someone like me can probably twist the hell out of that in court to basically create a broader “economic asylee” category but I need that crack in the door so I can pry it open.
Good point on decriminalization and asylum.
When you say the other things are fine, are you referring to my positions, or FPGen’s?
FP Gen’s, but the “as far as they go” was a compact method of expressing agreement with you that they leave out a lot of important stuff.