The Explosion of Asylum Claims Driving the Global Migrant Crisis

Wall Street Journal ^ | April 8, 2024 | David Luhnow, Alicia A. Caldwell, and Juan Forero

[karpov]

JACUMBA HOT SPRINGS, CA —About a mile north of the U.S.-Mexico border, a makeshift collection of multicolored blankets and tarps blooms in the desert. The people waiting there are migrants from around the world, most of whom snuck through a gap where an 18-foot steel wall meets a rocky hill outside this desert town [].

The camp has a name, hand-painted on a plywood sign and lit with a solar-powered light for people arriving at night: Campo de Asilo, or Asylum Camp. Run by an aid group, it’s a destination for migrants planning to turn themselves in to U.S. border agents and request asylum.

That simple request is the main driver of record illegal immigration in much of the Western world. People travel thousands of miles, on foot and across seas, to turn up at the land borders of rich countries to ask for asylum, a form of legal protection for people who face persecution in their home country.

It’s also become a key loophole for economic migrants, who aren’t under threat but want better working opportunities. Quirks in the law and an overwhelmed processing system nearly guarantee entry, at least for a time.

The U.S. received more than 920,000 applications for asylum during its 2023 fiscal year, compared with just 76,000 in 2013. Since a single application can cover multiple members of a family, the figures underestimate the actual numbers of people seeking asylum.

Family groups, who now almost always ask for asylum, make up about half the roughly two million people encountered by authorities who illegally crossed the U.S. frontier with Mexico last year. Another half million came through legal ports of entry, many using a Border Patrol smartphone app that launched in January 2023 to make an appointment to cross and ask for asylum.

[Stevenfo]

Virtually none of these people are legitimate asylum seekers. Most have passed through other safe countries en route to the USA, such as Costa Rica, Belize, Panama, and Mexico. Once they pass a safe country they are asylum shoppers.

[In_Iowa_not_from]

Don't forget about US Catholic Bishops and Catholic Charities.

Especially "Catholic Charities." They're communists with a thin veneer of religiosity. Note that once they import these foreigners, they make absolutely no effort to actually convert them to their religions. Considering the millions of 3rd worlders that these "Christian" charities have imported over the last 20-some years, you'd think the Lutheran and Catholic churches would be packed with members. It's just the opposite-- they are closing down left and right for lack of members.

[TexasFreeper2009]

Asylum needs to be ended by law at the first opportunity.

[FlingWingFlyer]

You NAILED it! My thoughts exactly. The reason the illegal aliens are being allowed in is so the commie RAT turd rollers can make America another third world commie crap hole.

[Chicory]

Thanks for posting this. It seemed very clear to me that this is what is happening, but I was unable to find information about it.

[taxpayerfatigue]

After these bogus Lutheran and Catholic charity groups fleece the US taxpayer, they pass these invaders on to the greater populace to deal with the horrendous consequences. The church my husband is a member of (Christian) is now getting an abundance of these “migrants” hitting up the church for donations. Of course, there are do-gooders who have announcements placed in the church bulletin asking members to make monthly donations of $40-$50 to help sponsor the invaders. This particular church proudly lists “Hispanic” attendance totals for each service. The irony is there is a Hispanic church about two blocks away that the “migrants” pass by to get to this church (so they can get on the pity dole). I guess that’s why I no longer attend the Catholic church I’m a member of, or any other church for that matter.