1/7 Thanks to the White House for publishing the border security "talking-points-memo" that it sent to Congress today, complete with a PowerPoint presentation.
It gives us a great opportunity to respond, providing facts that they left out.
whitehouse.gov/articles/presi…
It gives us a great opportunity to respond, providing facts that they left out.
whitehouse.gov/articles/presi…
2/7 The statistics on drugs at the border are alarming. But the White House neglects to mention that most are seized at ports of entry, not the spaces between them where a wall might be built. 
3/7 These numbers on criminal, gang, or terrorist apprehensions at the border raise more questions than they answer.
4/7 Such a huge spike in kids, families, and asylum claims tells us we have a humanitarian crisis, not a border-security crisis, at the border. This undermines the White House's own argument for more walls and agents.
5/7 One reason the migrant experience is so awful is that asylum-seekers can't use ports of entry because they only take a handful of people per day—so they hire smugglers and go to remote areas.
6/7 Detention challenges? Pursue alternatives to detention. Adjudication challenges? Hire more immigration judges (while strengthening due process).
7/7 The White House's recommendations sound tough, but just won't work. Instead:
1. improve the ports of entry.
2. Pursue low-cost alternatives to detention.
3. Hire lots of immigration judges (with due process) to reduce those backlogs.
1. improve the ports of entry.
2. Pursue low-cost alternatives to detention.
3. Hire lots of immigration judges (with due process) to reduce those backlogs.
