By Erin Chew

Please Note: To protect the identity of the migrants and advocates interviewed, some names have been changed upon request. 

“Ali”, 28 left Bangladesh bound for the United States in a bid to escape political unrest in his home country. He crossed the Tijuana-San Diego border illegally unaware that the politics behind his action could determine who the next US President could be.

For “Ali”, policies in the US on tightening the borders was not even a thought. He was told he would be welcomed and accepted once he reached the US border and it was that hope which kept his dream alive.

“All my savings and the money I borrowed from friends and family back home was paid to a person who helped me understand how to reach the border. All I was told was that when I reach the US side of the border, the US must allow me to stay because the new government is more fair to migrants like myself”. 

Tightening of the borders has become a major wedge issue in the lead up to the November 2024 election, with both sides trying to woo voters by claiming that their party is tough on immigration. The current electoral rhetoric ranges from stoking fear into voters by claiming migrants coming across illegally are ‘criminals’ and will diminish the ‘American White middle class’ to the importance of border security in a bid to reduce numbers of illegal migrants. 

In June, 2024, President Joe Biden issued an executive order which was essentially an asylum ban on migrants illegally crossing the border. Under this measure, migrants would be deported or turned back when the daily quota of Border Patrol encounters ( meaning those who were apprehended/surrendered themselves at the border) reached 2,500. In addition, the daily quota had to average out to 1,500 encounters per day for a week.

In September, 2024, the Biden Administration doubled down and imposed another regulation on top of their June executive order, changing that the daily quota of Border Patrol encounters and stated that it must fall below 1,500 per day for nearly a month before processing restrictions are lifted.

Advocates, workers, leaders and volunteers who engage and support migrants coming across the border know the reality of the politics and current border policies, which they say lacks compassion and humility. Despite this, they are all fear that even though they feel this current policy is harmful, the alternative of a Donald Trump Administration is worse and would lead to mass deportations and more border walls. 

Filipino American local leader for the Asia Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), Ian M. Seruelo, stated in a recent interview with AsAmNews that the question about who he would support in the upcoming election is a difficult one. However, he conceded that the choice is clear as it is between one candidate who is hateful towards migrants coming across the border and another who appears more welcoming but will likely not change the current policy. 

“As a progressive (as the majority of migrant advocates are) it is a choice between Donald Trump whose rhetoric on migrants and the border is hateful and harmful and that is how his policies would follow if he becomes President, and Kamala Harris whose declarations about migrants and the border is more nuanced with a more welcoming and respectful attitude towards migrant communities in America. However, she supports the Biden Administrations tightening of the border policies, so that isn’t good either”. 

“Definitely we all know from experience that under a Trump Administration there will be a massive deportation campaign with no space to engage and advocate. With a Harris Administration there will be space to engage and advocate for migrant rights and potential positive future changes at the border”, Seruelo discussed.

Mexican American Lilian A. Serrano, Director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition – which is a network of organizations that serve the immigrant community from San Diego to Texas believes that both the Democrats and the Republicans are not facing and fixing the challenges that advocates like herself would like to see, but instead act tough and politicize the situation as a response to voter pressures.

“Unfortunately, it is a reality that both Democrat and Republican administrations have proven that they are not willing, or there is no political will of fixing the issues migrants coming across the border face. From the 2016 and the elections up to this upcoming one, it is crystal clear that people and politicians are using the tightening of border policies as a wedge issue to win elections. There is so much fake news about the border going around and all the proposed solutions from both sides are creating more problems rather than solutions”. 

A Somali American, who asked to be known as “Sandra” is a college student who volunteers in her own time helping migrants who come across the border living in refuges and centers all across San Diego. She stated that American politics is messy, crazy and lacks compassion. She emphasizes that it is no surprise that migrants coming across the border have no knowledge about the border politics and the upcoming election, because it is already confusing even for the regular American voter. 

She believes that many voters will look at the border policies and vote based on which side presents a more sensationalist narrative.

“As a young black woman, I already feel like an outsider in the US – let alone those who are coming across the border with no support networks, no English speaking skills or a lack of and coming from a hard journey. US politics and the tightening of border policies are already confusing for us Americans, so it will be near to impossible for migrants who are trying to seek asylum to fully understand how harmful it all is. Without seeing the border situation with their own eyes and understanding the desperation that these migrants feel, voters will just vote based on what rhetoric is most palatable to their ears”. 

However, this has not changed her vote in the upcoming election. “Sandra” stated that she will vote for Kamala Harris as President and support the Democrats, but believes that things won’t change much even if she gets elected as President as the border situation is a highly politicized issue. Though, for her it is better than the alternative.

“We really don’t have many choices, but I would like to see Kamala Harris as the US President because she represents everything that I am physically – female, Black and a minority. I do hope that things will change for migrants coming across the border and I will keep being hopeful, but in reality, border policies will likely remain the same, but it is definitely better than to see Donald Trump becoming President”.

Making the journey to cross illegally is a difficult decision to make. Migrants who attempt to come across and get apprehended by the US Border Patrol for processing enter the oblivion of uncertainty about their fates. However, those interviewed feel this risk is worthwhile to have a chance to start a new life and one which they feel is full of hope. 

“Chen”, a 24 year old migrant from China is one of those who plans to make her new life in New York. “Chen” made the arduous journey to the Tijuana-San Diego border on her own. Back in China, she was working in restaurants in Shanghai as a waitress, earning a meagher income. Despite having a degree in teaching, it was difficult for her to find a job as a teacher due to the fact that she came from a small, rural village hundreds of miles outside of Shanghai. 

Like “Ali”, “Chen” has no idea about American politics but feels that they will accept migrants because the US is a fair country that believes in human rights. 

“I have a distant relative in New York, so I will go stay with them to restart my life. Coming from a small rural village, I tried making my life in the big city of Shanghai, but it was impossible, as I graduated from a small teaching college near my village and I am not a Shanghai citizen”. 

“Everything that I see online is that America is a free country and is accepting of many different cultures of people. They believe in human rights and seem to be a fair society. If you ask me about policies and political parties, I really have no idea – I just hope they will accept me as one of them”, “Chen” stated. 

“Ali” and “Chen” are part of the changing faces of migrants coming across the Mexico-US borders. Where traditionally, it was migrants coming from all across  Latin America –  Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, there is a new wave coming across from Bangladesh, China, Haiti, West Africa, India and Afghanistan. 

According to a Pew Research Center analysis of government statistics from August, 2024, Border Patrol have recorded around 58,000 encounters of migrants coming across the US-Mexico borders. Interestingly, this is a 77% decline from December, 2023, which recorded 249,741 encounters. 

Along the Tijuana – San Diego border the trend follows and during the weeks in the Spring of 2024, seeing around 10,000 Border Patrol encounters. Despite political rhetoric that the border situation is in an uncontrollable state, numbers have significantly fallen, and this has been attributed to the policy changes on both the Mexico and US side. 

Those who advocate, work and volunteer at the border have passionately stated that these policy changes are harmful to migrants and a breach of international agreements that the US has engaged with in the past. Serrano echoed this sentiment and mentioned that the Biden Administration’s border policy changes are making it more difficult for migrants to make asylum claims, but pointed out that the tightening of the border policy started when Donald Trump became President in 2016. The plight for asylum seekers at the border and those working in the field has consistently gotten more and more difficult.

“Despite recent declines, there has always been a flow of migrants coming across the US-Mexico border, especially the San Diego border. In the past, say over a decade ago, international agreements that the US have engaged with only had the requirement that any migrant coming across the border can start an asylum claim when they reach US soil”, Serrano discussed.

“With all these changes of policies from the Trump era to the current Biden Administration has only resulted in the queue increasing on the Mexico side with migrants wanting to come into the US. Thousands have waited and continue to wait for years and many more are still making the journey”.

Seruelo has called the Biden Administration border policies “arbitrary”and stated that the border situation has become a major issue in the media and for the upcoming November election. As the current Chairperson for the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium (SDIRC), which is a coalition of more than 50 organizations in San Diego, California that advocates for policies that advance the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees, Seruelo added that these border tightening policies actually creates more work for advocates like himself.

“These quotas and bans are very harmful, and are too arbitrary without taking in many humanitarian considerations. For those of us advocates, we believe that the negative narratives about the border situation are tied to the politics of the times, especially now with the election coming”, Seruelo discussed. 

There needs to be a more coordinated approach in facing and confronting the challenges at the US-Mexico borders and that requires engagement with government and advocates and doing so with compassion and humility. 

The current situation at the border remains a wedge issue for both Democrats and Republicans leading up to the election on November 5, 2024. Advocates fear there remains no solution in fixing the system, that includes understanding the challenges migrants face and the increasing difficulty for those who work, advocate and volunteer for migrant rights.

(This coverage was made possible by a grant through the URL Collective, a nonprofit supporting local, diverse media. AsAmNews and URL Collective have partnered to bring you election reporting from grassroots media.)

AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.

We are supported through donations and such charitable organizations as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. All donations are tax deductible and can be made here.

Please purchase your tickets to our fundraiser Up Close with Connie Chung, America’s first Asian American to anchor a nightly network newscast. The in-depth conversation with Connie will be held November 14 at 7:30 at Columbia University’s Milbank Chapel in the Teacher’s College. All proceeds benefit AsAmNews.

Related