Mark Krikorian is a nationally recognized expert on immigration issues serving as the executive director of Center for Immigration Studies.  They are an independent, non-partisan research organization examining and critiquing the impact of immigration on the United States.  He has testified numerous times before Congress and has published articles in many outlets.

Mark began by communicating that the border control executive order is trying to limit the use of asylum claims as a gimmick to enter and then be released into the U.S.  What the executive order actually does is to allow the government to not accept any asylum claims from those crossing the border illegally but only if the level of illegal crossings reaches 2,500 per day.  In other words, this is the acceptable “floor” for illegal immigration.  Mark described it as being the same as the big city district attorneys who say if you only shoplift $1,000 worth of items, that’s OK, you won’t be prosecuted. 

The numbers are currently down at the borders.  That’s to be expected because any time a new border policy comes through, smugglers and prospective illegal aliens step back to look and see what this new policy is all about.  Once they find out it’s really “smoke and mirrors”, the numbers will go right back up.  So Mark believes this is a political stunt designed to give the impression of serious border patrol without increasing the anger too much from the anti-border constituency.  

Other points are discussed as well including the CBT-1 app.  This allows people to schedule their illegal immigration while allowing others from 4 specific countries to skip the border altogether and fly into the U.S.  Mark explains the impact these things may have on perception management as well as the upcoming election.  After all, some are wondering if this is all about gathering votes.  

Hear it all, including feedback from listeners, on this edition of Crosstalk.

More Information

cis.org