Don’t Come to the U.S. Illegally – We’ll Come Get You!

Summary

The ever-expanding Central American Minors Refugee/Parole program (CAM), launched in 2014 (and expanded in 2016) by the Obama administration, and terminated in 2017 by the Trump administration, has expanded further under the Biden administration. In this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, Dr. Nayla Rush, a senior researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies, explains how an in-country processing family unification program for those who came to the United States illegally has expanded under the Biden administration to include adults unrelated to the petitioner, married adult children, and even the relatives of U-visa applicants – illegal immigrants claiming to be victims of certain crimes.

Will expansion of those eligible to apply for the CAM program solve the border crisis? Rush explains why the program will not discourage unaccompanied minors and other migrants/asylum seekers from showing up at our border.

The U.N Refugee Convention turned 70 years old this week, and in the closing commentary, Mark Krikorian, the Center’s executive director and host of Parsing Immigration Policy, calls for the United States to withdraw from the treaty – a Cold War anachronism which restricts U.S. sovereignty, allowing illegal immigrants to use the asylum process as a way to bypass our immigration controls and enter the country without our consent.

Related Reports

CAM and PTA: Opening the Back Door

Biden Administration Expands Access to CAM

Biden’s Plan for Central American Migrants: Fly Them Straight to the U.S.

Time to Withdraw from the U.N. Refugee Treaty

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Guests

Dr. Nayla Rush is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies, focusing on refugee and asylum policy.

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Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".