Here’s How to Actually Secure the Border – Inside Sources

The Supreme Court’s recent 6-3 decision upholding border “metering” clarifies a stark legal issue: to be considered for asylum eligibility, an individual must physically set foot on U.S. soil. If the government can stall or block applicants before they physically cross the border — or get Mexico to do this — the court’s conservative majority has handed any president a powerful tool to delay or even block border asylum processing.

However, the court left the real issue untouched. Its decision does not resolve what asylum policy at the border should look like. The majority opinion dismissed as “overstated” the warning that turning people away at official ports of entry — denying them the chance to apply for asylum — will drive some to cross unlawfully elsewhere. True or not, a system that incentivizes unlawful crossings is a failure.

The American public has lost faith in this broken framework. Recent national polling conducted by the Center for American Progress and Blue Rose Research reveals a deeply divided electorate: 44 percent favor a hardline asylum ban, while 43 percent support a more progressive “reform and protect” approach. This justifiable skepticism leaves a narrow political lane for a solution that delivers security and order.

Americans deserve a secure border and a functional immigration system. We can achieve both without turning our backs on victims of persecution before their claims are even considered. The Trump administration’s chaotic, cruel and extrajudicial tactics were never a real solution — they’re an ideological crusade against immigration. We can modernize asylum to regain public trust, secure the border, and preserve lifesaving protections for those fleeing terror.

The Center for American Progress has designed a clear, durable, humane alternative to end systemic misuse of the asylum system and restore order to the border. Our plan flips the incentives: It rewards lawful, orderly asylum claims and penalizes unlawful crossings by moving the entire adjudication process to the border, including expeditious approvals for victims of persecution and immediate repatriation for unsuccessful applicants. 

Instead of allowing applications to languish for years while individuals wait in the U.S. interior for a decision, we propose a swift, front-loaded system that prioritizes final decisions and denies smugglers and traffickers the ability to abuse the asylum system.

Under our plan, the government would immediately screen out non-qualifying applications from democracies that do not persecute their citizens, while raising the legal standard for all asylum claims at the border. This streamlined process would fast-track final decisions within 30 days. To guarantee due process and fair outcomes, asylum seekers would stay in humane custodial processing facilities proximate to the border with guaranteed access to legal counsel. Unsuccessful applicants would face immediate repatriation. 

Effective border and immigration management also requires clearing the wreckage of the past. We must surge resources to fairly clear the massive asylum backlog that keeps millions in legal limbo.

Furthermore, our plan strengthens the refugee resettlement program, making it the primary pathway for those fleeing persecution so that vulnerable individuals can seek safety within their home regions, eliminating the need for a dangerous trek to the U.S. border. Finally, it creates a dedicated legal avenue for crime victims to receive safety so that they do not need to try to access an asylum system that was not designed for them.

The Supreme Court decision cannot fix the systemic failures of America’s asylum infrastructure. CAP’s polling found that the American people want robust border security and a fair, efficient, secure asylum process. Congress cannot keep kicking the can down the road, leaving national security and humanity at the mercy of shifting executive edicts. 

It’s time for lawmakers to build a border and asylum system that is orderly, swift and fair — one that rejects cruelty, stops unlawful immigration and the trafficking of drugs and other contraband, and proudly upholds the humanitarian principles that have defined American strength since World War II.