2008 Anti-Trafficking Law Contributes to Border Crisis

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/15/politics/immigration-unintended-consequences/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

As the immigration crisis continues to develop into a bigger issue, more people are starting to pay attention to the happenings of it. While different theories have arisen as to how it started, one is that the Trafficking Victims Protection Action Act (TVPAA) has contributed to the immigration crisis. The rule was created in 2008, as a way to prevent victims of sex-trafficking from being turned away at the border (in non-contiguous countries). The law gave the unaccompanied minors up to three days to get a hearing, where their fate is determined. However, more than 5 years later, there are many unintended consequences leading to bigger problems.

In 2008, the number of people coming to the United States today is much greater, with a surplus of people coming, to the point where there's not enough courts to give hearings to the immigrants. Because of this, the courts are backlogged, meaning it may take months, even years, before someone can get a hearing. In the time is has taken to get court hearings, children are settling in with relatives, and continuing to live their lives. Not only does part of this relate to Reyna in "The Distance Between Us", but it is what she went through, continuing her life by going to school, even though she took asylum in the United States illegally. Many children are doing this everyday, with the numbers reaching above 50,000.

Throughout "The Distance Between Us", it was clear that the reason for wanting to move to the United States was greater opportunities. Mago, Carlos, and Reyna were all bright children, and their father wanted to give them the opportunity, even though he seemed unsure at first. However, the reason he thought he needed a better home for his children, was because of the lack of opportunities in Mexico. The children and families that are currently crossing the borders think the same thing. With the continuous growth of gangs and violence running rampant in South America, the number of people who want to leave is growing exponentially, leading to an expected 90,000 children who should cross without parents this year.

The next question in the article is, "What happens when the kids get here?" Supposedly, if the kids are from a noncontiguous country, being caught by the border patrol is a good thing, because while awaiting their trial, they can set up a new life in the U.S., and even skip their trial date. Living in California for 12 years, it was easy to see all of the children in the different school districts, who spoke Spanish as their first language, and were Latino. Many people have misconceptions about them not being capable of learning English as well as everybody else. However, like Reyna, they proved themselves, by speaking it better than anybody else. Whether or not some of these children were illegal immigrants, they showed that they belong in the U.S. as much as anybody else.

Since there are two sides of the story, the one in favor and the one opposed to the 2008 rule, a compromise had to be made, so the crisis could be cleared up. A Democratic senator and Republican thought they found a nice middle ground, saying that children had 72 hours to request a trial, but they wouldn't be mandatory. If people could overcome their differences, not only would the problem be easily resolved, but we could be living peacefully without too many political differences.

While the idea presented above could easily work, another idea has come up, which is that if the trials were taken to court more quickly, before illegal immigrants could settle into families, then the major incentive for coming in the first place would be eliminated, meaning less people to come to the U.S. Reyna was lucky enough to eventually get a Visa to live in the United States, because most people who come here don't have that opportunity. Not only was she one of millions traveling to the U.S., but she dreamed of opportunity here, and finally achieved it. By coming to an agreement, the government could easily resolve the immigration crisis, whatever the resolution  may be.