International Affairs

David Aguilar Theresa Cardinal Brown

Bringing the Border Closer to Home

NMC’s International Affairs Forum hosts immigration debate

By Al Parker

Some years ago, a young woman born in Mexico and raised in Traverse City since the age of six stood in the Northwestern Michigan College admissions office of Jim Bensley.

With tears in her eyes, the student explained she was living in TC under a family visa, which had expired, and was pleading for the college to help her. She feared being sent away to the city of Juarez, Mexico, a place where her brother and uncle had been murdered by a drug cartel.

Her fears turned real when, the next week, a large black SUV pulled up to her house. Two men in black suits, immigration agents, approached her, asked her name, handcuffed her, and took her away.

“At the time, I remember feeling so helpless as there really wasn’t anything I could do to resolve the situation,” recalls Bensley. “She was sent to Mexico, where she lived in constant fear of being raped or kidnapped while also working daily on the extensive paperwork that would allow her to return to the U.S., the only real home she had ever known.

“Thankfully, after a long, drawn-out process and with support from her fiance and others in Traverse City, she was able to get back to the U.S. where she and her husband now live and work.”

On the Agenda at International Affairs Forum

Our nation’s immigration policy has long been the source of contentious debate and calls for policy reform from all sides. On Oct. 20, Northwestern Michigan College’s International Affairs Forum (IAF) is offering a unique opportunity to hear from two distinguished immigration experts on the subject.

David Aguilar, former acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, and Theresa Cardinal Brown, managing director of Immigration and Cross Border Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, will tackle the confusing topic of immigration.

“We plan to start from the premise that comprehensive immigration reform is necessary,” says Bensley, now director of IAF. “David will provide rationale for limiting the program to those who have entered the country legally and Theresa will argue for a less restrictive policy. As always, our audience, both in-person and virtually, will have the opportunity to ask questions following the debate.”

Why is immigration important to us in northern Michigan?

“Because so much of what many of us take for granted is that immigrant and migrant families provide important work in our area, not only in agriculture but in other fields such as healthcare, education, and construction,” says Bensley.

“Immigrants contribute much to the area’s economic growth,” he continues. “In the Traverse City region, our population is getting older, and what comes with that is

the need for younger employees to fill jobs that are desperately in need of workers. In short, sustaining labor force growth is vital for ensuring our economic growth and competitiveness over the long run. … Comprehensive immigration reform is needed for those in northern Michigan, as the human and economic toll without it detrimentally affects us all.”

So much of what many of uS take for granted iS that immigrant and migrant familieS provide important work in our area, not only in agriculture but in other fieldS Such aS healthcare, education, and conStruction,” SayS benSley.

David Aguilar

As acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Aguilar oversaw a workforce of 60,000 agents and personnel and a budget of more than $11 billion. He’s had a distinguished 35-year career in federal law enforcement and has clear memories of his first visits to Michigan.

“My first time in northern Michigan was at the age of 12 when my family traveled to northern Michigan as migrant workers,” he recalls. “We worked the cherry and strawberry fields north of Lansing.” Later, as chief of the Border Patrol, he traveled to the state’s northern border.

His impression of our current immigration policy?

“Our nation’s immigration policy is in complete disarray. We, as a nation, need to revamp the immigration laws, regulations, and policies,” says Aguilar. “The current state of the U.S. immigration system is the result of piecemeal legislation, executive orders, and policies creating an ineffective, complex, outdated, archaic system. One strength is that we recognize the value that immigration and immigrants bring into our country.”

What have we learned from the past, where are we now and what should we do in the future?

“Past experience has demonstrated that addressing the nation’s immigration system in a patchwork manner has not worked,” he

says. “We are literally at a state of a failed border and a failed immigration system due to the overwhelming flow of illegal/irregular migration into the U.S. Immigration reform must be addressed comprehensively in a bipartisan manner to address the interests of the nation.”

Theresa Cardinal Brown

As a senior immigration and homeland security professional at the Bipartisan Policy Center, Brown strongly believes in the need to bring all sides together to make the immigration system work for America.

She has authored several reports and publications on immigration and is a regular contributor on immigration issues in publications such as The Washington Post, New York Times, and USA Today. Her TV and radio appearances include PBS NewsHour, CNN International, Fox News, and other outlets.

Brown has developed a myriad of solutions and approaches to the various issues at the border, including constructing specialized regional migration processing centers near the border that would have separate spaces for families, unaccompanied children, and single adults. (Persons suspected of criminal activity or with outstanding warrants might be placed into secure facilities to conduct law enforcement responsibilities.)

These facilities would work in partnership with temporary housing for migrants conveyed directly from the border, run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, FEMA, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Along the way, they would also coordinate with the HHS National Disaster Medical System for doctors and nurses to provide medical assistance to migrants.

Brown also recommends reassigning asylum officers and interpreters to regional processing centers in border asylum processing teams responsible for the asylum interview process after migrants arrive to the processing facility. The teams would process each case within 20 days to ensure that families can present their cases together. The asylum officers would be authorized to decide asylum claims in the first instance and approve “clearly approvable” cases without resorting to an immigration court.

Finally, she advocates for creating border courts with judges located near regional facilities who would prioritize processing the cases from recent arrivals. This court would operate under the same rules but with a separate docket for border cases. Cases that cannot be decided within 90 days could be transferred to other immigration courts, allowing migrants to be relocated with supervision. Border cases must be decided within six months from date of arrival.

Immigration Debate on Oct. 20: An hourlong reception with wine and light appetizers begins at 5:30pm at Dennos Museum Center’s Milliken Auditorium. Presentation at 6:30pm. Admission $15 per person, free to current students and educators. Speaker format: Oxford-style debate moderated by Major General Michael Lehnert, USMC (ret.), IAF Advisory Board co-chair. David Aguilar will be in person and Theresa Cardinal Brown will appear virtually. tciaf.com