‘Broken’: America’s border crisis with Mexico, explained | About That

>> Andrew: DOES THE U.S. HAVE A BORDER CRISIS? YEAH. >> THEY’RE BRINGING DRUGS, THEY’RE BRINGING CRIMES, THEY’RE RAPIST, AND SOME I ASSUME ARE GOOD PEOPLE. >> MIGRANTS GASPING FOR AIR. >> WE’RE NOT ANIMALS, WE’RE HUMAN BEINGS. >> OUR COUNTRY IS BEING POISONED.

>> THE BUSES KEEP COMING TO NEW YORK CITY AND WASHINGTON D.C. >> NEW YORK CITY IS A SELF DECLARED SANCTUARY CITY. >> REPUBLICANS ARE PLAYING POLITICS WITH HUMAN BEINGS, USING THEM AS PROPS. >> THIS ISSUE WILL DESTROY NEW YORK CITY.

>> TEXAS HAS BEEN LEFT ALONE AS SOME FRONTIER OUT POST. >> BORDER, BORDER, BORDER. >> TO SECURE OUR OWN BORDER BEFORE WE TALK ABOUT DOING ANYTHING ELSE. >> Andrew: IT HAS CONSUMED AMERICAN POLITICS FOR YEARS AND THIS YEAR, AN ELECTION YEAR, IT’S EVERYTHING.

THIS CRISIS IS ALMOST TOO CRISIS, DEPENDING WHERE YOU SIT POLITICALLY. SOME SEE IT AS AN INVASION. >> INVASION. >> INVASION. >> INVASION. >> Andrew: A BIG SURGE OF POTENTIALLY BAD PEOPLE THEY SAY, DRUG DEALERS, THOSE WHO DON’T BELONG.

THE OTHER SIDE BELIEVES THE CRISIS IS HUMANITARIAN WHERE BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO DESPERATE PEOPLE. >> TONIGHT, THE DROWNING OF THREE MIGRANTS ESCALATING TENSIONS BETWEEN THE WHITE HOUSE AND THE STATE OF TEXAS. >> Andrew: SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THESE TWO REALITIES IS WHERE

BOTH SIDES AGREE IS A TRULY BROKEN SYSTEM, WHERE SOME THAT GET IN WILL BE ORDERED TO LEAVE THE U.S. AT THE END OF A COMPLICATED CONFUSING CORE PROCESS THAT CAN TAKE YEARS. >> IT’S SO COMPLICATED FOR THEM THAT THEY CAN NO LONGER WAIT.

SOMETIMES THEY DECIDE TO RISK IT ALL. >> Andrew: LET’S TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE U.S. BORDER CRISIS IS, STARTING WITH THE RAW NUMBERS. SO ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU HOW MANY MIGRANTS CROSS ILLEGALLY INTO THE U.S. EACH YEAR IS GUESSING. NO ONE HAS THAT NUMBER.

THE BEST WE CAN DO IS LOOK AT HOW OFTEN U.S. BORDER PATROL CATCHES PEOPLE TRYING TO CROSS. DONALD TRUMP’S FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE, 2017. HE GETS TOUGH OR BORDER SECURITY, ORDERS A WALL, HIRES SECURITY AGENTS, AND HOARDS MONEY INTO SECURITY FACILITIES.

APPLICATIONS ARE AT HISTORIC LOWS, WHICH IS ABOUT 300,000. THAT SOUNDS LIKE A LOT BECAUSE IT’S LIKE 1,000 PEOPLE A DAY GETTING CAUGHT TRYING TO GET IN BUT THE NUMBERS GET BIGGER. 2018, JUST OVER 400,000 APPREHENSIONS. THE YEAR AFTER, 859,000.

THIS IS WHILE TRUMP IS PRESIDENT. 2020 WAS A FUNNY YEAR, THE START OF THE PANDEMIC, THE START OF LOCKDOWNS, PEOPLE MOVED LESS. A YEAR LATER, JOE BIDEN’S FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE, THE NUMBER OF MIGRANTS TRYING TO CROSS EXPLODES, 1.6 MILLION.

THE NEXT YEAR, 2.2 MILLION. 2024 IS ON PACE TO SMASH ALL PREVIOUS RECORDS. EVERYONE KNOWS THE PROBLEM IS NOT GOING AWAY. >> THE BORDER IS THE WORST IT’S EVER BEEN. >> YOU SEE MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF PEOPLE COMING ACROSS THE BORDER ILLEGALLY.

WE DON’T KNOW WHERE THEY COME FROM. >> I’VE BEEN CLEAR, THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN. >> Andrew: WHEN REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS TALK ABOUT A BORDER CRISIS, THE NUMBERS ARE THEIR COMMON GROUND. THEY JUST INTERPRET THEM DIFFERENTLY. DEMOCRATS POINT OUT THAT TRUMP

WAS SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER ABOUT BORDER CROSSINGS WHEN THEY WERE AT ALL TIME LOW. REPUBLICANS POINT OUTLOOK AT THE NUMBERS NOW. IF YOU WANTED PROOF OF BIDEN’S OPEN BORDER POLICY, JUST LOOK AT THE FACTS. LOOK AT THE CONSEQUENCES. LAST DECEMBER, A FEW MONTHS AGO,

THE PROBLEM OF ILLEGAL CROSSINGS GOT SO BAD THAT THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION HAD TO SHUT DOWN LEGITIMATE PORTS OF ENTRY IN SEVERAL STATES, SO THE PEOPLE WHO WORK THERE COULD BE REASSIGNED TO PROCESSING ALL THE MIGRANTS CROSSING ILLEGALLY. LUKEVILLE, ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, EAGLE PASS, TEXAS, ALL

LEGISLATE — LEGITS CROSSINGS, ALL CLOSED. >> WE HAVE SO MUCH BORDER WITH MEXICO. >> Andrew: THE ENTIRE U.S. AND MEXICO BORDER IS ALMOST 2,000 MILES LONG, 3,000 KILOMETRES, BUT TEXAS OWNS MORE THAN HALF OF THAT. >> MOST OF THE MIGRANTS ARE

FLEEING CORRUPTION OR VIOLENCE, BUT THEY’RE FRUSTRATED OF WAITS UP TO THREE MONTHS ON THE MEXICO SIDE WHILE TRYING TO FOLLOW THE U.S. GUIDELINES FOR ASYLUMS AT REGULAR CROSSINGS AND THERE IS GROWING VIOLENCE AS THEY WAIT IN MEXICO SO THEY DO THIS. >> Andrew: TEXAS GOVERNOR GREG

ABBOTT SAYS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED TEXAS, HUNG IT OUT TO DRY, AND HIS STATE IS UNDER ATTACK. >> TEXAS HAS BEEN LEFT ALONE AS SOME FRONTIER OUT POST FOR US TO GRAPPLE WITH OURSELVES THE RECORD BREAKING VOLUME OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE COMING ACROSS

THE BORDER A YEAR. IF THIS IS NOT AN INVASION, WHAT IS? >> Andrew: IN 2021, HE LAUNCHED OPERATION LONE STAR, WHICH IS THE STATE’S WAY OF TACKLING A NATIONAL PROBLEM. SEE, NORMALLY IMMIGRATION IS A FEDERAL ISSUE. STATES THEMSELVES DON’T ENFORCE IMMIGRATION LAW.

ISSUING DOZENS OF LOCAL DISASTER DECLARATIONS ALLOWED THE GOVERNOR TO REDEPLOY THE TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD. THAT’S MILITARY. DESTINATION, THE MEXICO BORDER. >> GOVERNOR ABBOTT STARTED THE STATE’S RIGHT TO SELF DEFENCE TODAY ALONG THE SOUTHER BORDER. HE DOUBLED DOWN ON WHAT HE CALLED AN INVASION.

>> THE VERY LATEST ON THE BORDER RIGHT NOW, THE STAND OFF OVER THE USE OF RAZOR WIRE. >> Andrew: HE CALLED THIS LINE OF DEFENCE THE STEEL CURTAIN. WHEN LONE STAR FIRST LAUNCHED, 500 NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIERS BECAME 10,000 BY THE END OF IT,

WHEN YOU COUNT STATE POLICE THAT WERE ALSO DIVERTED TO BORDER PATROL. OFTEN, THE LAW THEY’RE ENFORCING IS TRESPASSING BUT THEY ALSO TARGET SUSPECTED DRUG SMUGGLERS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKERS. TEXAS CLAIMED 38,300 CRIMINAL ARRESTS WITH OVER 453 MILLION LETHAL DOSES OF FENTANYL SEIZED

IN THE LAST THREE YEARS. THE HEADLINE OF THAT SAME NEWS RELEASE? TEXAS TRANSPORTS OVER 100,000 MIGRANTS TO SANCTUARY CITIES. THAT’S WHERE A TEXAS PROBLEM BECAME EVERYONE’S PROBLEM. >> WE HAVE SEWED THIS DISCOURSE FAR TOO LONG. THIS IS DECIMAING OUR CITY.

IT WILL UNDERMINE OUR CITY. >> Andrew: NEW YORK IS A SO-CALLED SANCTUARY CITY, WHICH IS ANY CITY THAT GOES OUT OF ITS WAY TO PROTECT UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS. SOMETIMES THAT CAN BE A DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL POLICY WHEN POLICE OFFICERS STOP PEOPLE. SOMETIMES IT’S PROVIDING

SERVICES IN SPITE OF A PERSON’S IMMIGRATION STATUS. SOMETIMES IT’S COMPLETE NON-COOPERATION WITH IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS. THE POINT BEING, THE STATE OF TEXAS TARGETED NEW YORK CITY CITY, PUTTING MIGRANTS ON BUSES AND DRIVING THEM ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WITHIN LESS THAN TWO YEARS, MORE

THAN 37,000 WERE SENT TO NEW YORK CITY, MORE THAN 30,000 TO CHICAGO, DENVER, WASHINGTON D.C., PHILADELPHIA, LOS ANGELES, ALL RECEIVED THOUSANDS. >> THIS IS A POLITICAL STUNT BY GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT. UNFORTUNATELY USING HUMAN BEINGS AS POLITICAL PAWNS. >> Andrew: NEW YORK’S MAYOR SAID

THE MIGRANT CRISIS WOULD DESTROY THEIR CITY. THEY PACKED MIGRANTS INTO BUSES TO KEEP THEM FROM FREEZING. A MONTH BEFORE THAT, A 5-YEAR-OLD BOY DIED IN A TEMPORARY SHELTER, A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, WE’RE NOT SURE FROM WHAT. STORIES LIKE THIS IS EMBLEMATIC

ON WHAT REPUBLICANS POINT TO AS THE MORE URGENT PROBLEM. >> SO I WAS THINKING TO MYSELF HOW BEST TO SHOW HOW DANGEROUS THE JOURNEY CAN BE FOR THOSE PEOPLE FLEEING TO THE UNITED STATES TO CLAIM ASYLUM. YOU KNOW, I CAN SHOW YOU STATS,

HEADLINES, MAPS OF TREACHEROUS CROSSINGS, BUT IN THE END, I THINK I SHOULD JUST SHOW YOU A PHOTO. I’LL WARN YOU, IT IS OF DEATH, A DROWNING, TWO DROWNINGS ACTUALLY, A FATHER AND HIS YOUNG DAUGHTER. SO THIS WAS PUBLISHED IN A MEXICAN NEWSPAPER.

THIS IS OSCAR RAMIREZ AND HIS LITTLE GIRL. THEY WERE TRYING TO CROSS THE RIO GRANDE INTO TEXAS. ACCORDING TO THE MOTHER, THE FATHER AND DAUGHTER MADE IT. HE TOLD HIS LITTLE ONE TO STAY PUT AND HE WENT BACK FOR HIS WIFE. SHE PANICKED.

SHE JUMPED INTO THE WATER AFTER HER FATHER AND THEY BOTH DROWNED. OVERWHELMINGLY IT’S MEXICANS TRYING TO CROSS INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM MEXICO, BUT MIGRANTS COME FROM ALL OVER CENTRAL AMERICA, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, HAITI, NICARAGUA, VENEZUELA, AND AS FAR AWAY AS CHINA.

>> ALL OF THESE PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS, FLEEING FOR THEIR FLOOIF LIVES. >> MANY PEOPLE LOSE HOPE THEY CAN PROSPER AND ACCESS LIFE IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY. IF YOU COMBINE THAT WITH SOME CORRUPTION IN SOME COUNTRIES,

WITH SOME LACK OF FREEDOMS, LIBERTIES, AND THE REPRESSION, THAT CREATES A PERFECT COMBINATION WHERE PEOPLE DECIDE TO LEAVE AND TO FIND THAT OPPORTUNITY SOMEWHERE ELSE. >> Andrew: I’LL SHOW YOU SOMETHING. THE MISSING MIGRANTS PROJECT IS AN INTERNATIONAL GROUP TRACKING

WHO DIES OR GOES MISSING WHILE FLEEING THEIR HOME COUNTRY. MORE THAN 9,000 IN THE AMERICAS SINCE 2019, MOST WHICH HAPPENED ALONG THE U.S. AND MEXICO BORDER. SCROLLING DOWN, YOU CAN SEE THE DEATHS AS JOURNALISTS UNCOVER THEM. LOOK AT THIS.

ONE DEAD AND MISSING, FEBRUARY 20TH, CAUSE OF DEATH, DROWNING. ONE DEAD AND MISSING FEBRUARY 19TH, CAUSE OF DEATH, DROWNING. SO ON DOWN THE LIST. THERE ARE FOUR ON THE 18th, MORE ON THE 17th, AND 15th, WITH LINKS TO DETAILS AND SOURCE ARTICLES.

>> WE WANT A BETTER FUTURE SAY THIS VENEZUELAN. THE JOURNEY HAS BEEN VERY DIFFICULT. WE HAVE BEEN MISTREATED, WE ARE HUNGRY, WE HAVE SUFFERED. >> Andrew: THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER IS DECIDED BY THE UNITED NATIONS THE DEADLIEST LAND ROUTE FOR MIGRANTS ON EARTH.

>> THEY KNOW THEY WILL FACE MANY CHALLENGES IN THEIR JOURNEY AND BARRIERS, PHYSICAL BARRIERS, LIKE RIGHT NOW THE RAZOR WIRE IN TEXAS DEPLOYED BY GOVERNOR ABBOTT, SOCIAL BARRIERS, BUT THAT’S WORTH IT FOR MANY OF THEM BECAUSE WHAT THEY HAVE HAD HOME WOULD BE WORSE IN THEIR OPINION. [???]

>> Andrew: SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THIS IMAGE OF MIGRANTS AS EITHER IN THEATERS OR HUDDLED MASSES, THE REALITY OF WHAT HAPPENS TO SO MANY OF THEM WHO RISK THE TRIP AND SURVIVE. THE ACT OF MAKING IT TO AMERICAN SOIL TO SEEK ASYLUM, BUT WHAT

THEY INVARIABLY COME ACROSS IS A BROKE SYSTEM, WRAPPED UP IN THE MOST INTRICATE COMPLEX LAWS IN THE ENTIRE U.S. LEGAL SYSTEM. A FEW TIMES NOW YOU HAVE SEEN RUBY POWERS. SHE HANDLES ASYLUM CLAIMS IN HOUSTON. WATCH HOW SHE ANSWERED WHEN WE

ASKED HER, SO IF SOMEONE CROSSES THE RIO GRANDE, GETS STOPPED, WHAT ACTUALLY STOPS FROM THAT POINT ON? >> WELL, GENERALLY THE NEXT FEW QUESTIONS, THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH THE BORDER PATROL WILL LEAD TO A DIFFERENT SCENARIO. WHETHER OR NOT THEY SAY THAT THEY ARE AFRAID TO RETURN,

WHETHER THEY GET A CREDIBLE FEAR INTERVIEW, THOSE TYPES OF THINGS WILL LEAD TO A DIFFERENT PATH. IN A WAY, IF YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT DECISION, IT’S CONVOLUTED AND WHAT COUNTRY THEY’RE FROM OR IF THEY HAVE CHILDREN WITH THEM, IT COULD DIFFER DAY-TO-DAY.

SO EVEN AS A PRACTISING IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY, IT IS CONFUSING TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE CHANGES. >> Andrew: THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT IF A CLAIMANT IS NOT DISQUALIFIED IMMEDIATELY FOR BEING IN THE WRONG PLACE FOR THE

WRONG REASON, THEIR BEST CASE SCENARIO IS A DRAWN OUT COURT PROCESS, UNEQUIP TO HANDLE THE LOAD. >> THERE COULD BE 3.5 MILLION PEOPLE IN IMMIGRATION COURT. DEPENDING WHERE YOU ARE UNDER JURISDICTION, THERE COULD BE EITHER THREE JUDGES IN THAT

COURT OR MAYBE EIGHT OR TEN. THERE ARE SOME COURT WITH SO FEW JUDGES AND SO MANY CASES THAT THEY’RE BOOKED THREE TO FOUR YEARS IN THE FUTURE. >> Andrew: UNLIKE IN CRIMINAL COURT WHERE IF YOU GET CHARGED SOMETHING, YOU ARE GUARANTEED A

LAWYER THAT CAN FIGHT YOUR CASE, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE OF THAT IN IMMIGRATION LAW. THE MIGRANTS GET TO TAKE THEIR SHOT, THEY’RE THE LUCKY ONES. IS THERE A BORDER CRISIS? ABSOLUTELY. >> IT’S LONG PASSED TIME TO ACT. >> THIS IS LIKE A WAR.

>> Andrew: THE PROBLEM IS, THERE IS NO CONSENSUS ON HOW TO SOLVE IT. [???]

The crisis at the U.S. southern border is set to be a major issue in the 2024 presidential election. More than two million migrants were apprehended at the Texas-Mexico border last year alone. Andrew Chang explains the complexities of the growing issue and what’s dialing it up.

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