Harris and Trump’s Border Policies Will Lead To More Deaths at the Border

Restricting asylum and focusing on enforcement-only policies have historically been detrimental to migrant safety

Arturo Dominguez
4 min readSep 29, 2024
Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

Preventing migrants from entering the U.S. through deterrence has historically created more dangers and had little effect on the number of border crossings. Such actions have led to more than 7,500 known migrant deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border — a number that is understood to be grossly undercounted as it can take years to find the remains of those who die.

Deterrence-only policies force migrants to attempt crossing into the U.S. through more remote and desolate areas. Currently, the vast majority of asylum-seekers who cross between points of entry immediately turn themselves over to border patrol agents to claim asylum as required by U.S. law which states clearly that you must be on U.S. soil to claim asylum.

“Any alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival and including an alien who is brought to the United States after having been interdicted in international or United States waters), irrespective of such alien’s status, may apply for asylum in accordance with this section or, where…

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Arturo Dominguez

Journalist covering Congress, Racial Justice, Human Rights, Cuba, Texas | Editor: The Antagonist Magazine |