This has been a bit of an ongoing crisis, starting in March with the first wave of migrants brought into San Antonio with "no warning." The migrants were often sick, tired, and penniless after detainment by Border Patrol, and, at the time, with Federal funding left in the dust trails of ICE buses, local governments began expending their own resources. Border city governments have spent "at least $7 million over the past year to care for thousands of undocumented migrants released after being detained by the federal government." Apparently, city leaders of both parties have been describing it as something of an "unfunded mandate."
Congress did take action back in July to reimburse local communities, but as of now that money has not reached them, and if the Federal response to the migrant crisis of 2014 informs our predictions for this present problem, they may not receive funding for another year or so.
I found this little dysfunctional interaction between the Federal and local tiers of our government an interesting demonstration of Federalism in the modern day. ICE, a federal agency, got into hot water over immigrant detainment at the border, and thus has passed on the problem, without initial funding or warning, to local governments. In this way, despite the issue not being an official "unfunded mandate," the spirit of the Federal government forcing (if not in writing then by honor) other tiers of government into an action (supporting undocumented immigrants) without support makes it a fairly reasonable comparison. Additionally, I have suspicions about the initial wave of released detainees without proper warning or funding. It seems like a bit of an engineered crisis; drive undocumented asylum seekers into unprepared border communities, let those border communities tank without Federal support, and spin public opinion with rhetoric around asylum seekers tanking border communities. However, I am left leaning, and in favor of accepting refugees and asylum seekers, so I might hold some bias on this case.
Questions:
1. It's the Federal Government's duty to process these asylum seekers, but whose duty is it to see to their health and well-being while they're on American soil?
2. Evidently, how our tiered government has dealt with this migrant crisis is evidence of a slight dysfunction. Is the balance of American Federalism to blame for local governments struggling under the weight of these migrants?
3. Do these circumstances seem to indicate manipulation of public opinion by the current administration (or am I just a paranoid nut)? If not, how might these events impact public opinion regardless, and subsequently impact future policymaking?
2 comments:
While I do support the idea of taking in refugees and asylum seekers, I do believe, however, that the U.S. should enact yet another immigration quota to make the amount of incoming immigrants predictable, thus allowing local governments to allocate funds more efficiently to provide for the immigrants. In addition, it would possibly help stabilize local government treasuries, reducing the chance of major fluctuations in funds needed to support the immigrants. Nationally, the federal government is responsible for granting states funds so that the states can tend to the people within its borders; the state is solely responsible for the well-being of refugees in its borders. The current state of American Federalism is to blame, as the current administration is only concerned with protecting the privileges of the elite, of which much of the federal government is comprised of; Congress has a conservative majority, following the ill-thought out demands of Trump to keep their position. Since the current administration is under Trump, it would make sense if Congress would not want anything to do with immigration, thus explaining why they left the states to handle and pay for the situation.
It is the federal government's job to process the asylum seekers but while they are on American soil, the federal government should also be the people to help take care of them so they are not stressed about finding another home as well as their own health. This is basic human decency and these people were simply looking for more opportunities, also known as the American dream. The current administration, as Jadon has said, is to blame because they are only concerned with keeping the privileges of the elite. They have created multiple bans on immigrants entering the US and recently the Trump administration has recently suggested we slash the number of Syrian refugees that we admit into the country to 28 per year. Their homes are being destroyed in their own country and the entire world is shutting their doors on them. Many Syrians have lost hope and are going back to Syria only to be killed for being traitors. This is only one example of people who need our help.
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