Washington, D.C. (November 18, 2021) – More than a million migrants entered Europe in 2015 triggering changes in national immigration policies and in public support for the securing of border and the limiting of migration. Fast forward six years, the United States has just set an all-time annual record for the number of illegal migrants apprehended at the Southwest border, with two migrant caravans presently en route. How similar were domestic reactions to the migrant surges? What can the U.S. learn from Europe, where many countries are building walls?
Inspired by a trip to the U.S. southern border, Kristof Gyorgy Veres, researcher at the Migration Research Institute in Budapest and visiting fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, discusses the immigration challenges faced by the U.S. and Europe, the impact of increased numbers on public opinion, and various policies employed on both sides of the Atlantic.
 
Veres highlights America’s effective Remain in Mexico Program (MPP), which was terminated by the Biden administration and has now been ordered restarted by the courts. The European Union and the United Kingdom are now considering similar policies, requiring asylum seekers to wait abroad while their claims are processed.
 
Veres and Mark Krikorian, the Center’s executive director and host of Parsing Immigration Policy, also delve into the escalating migrant crisis at the Belarus – Poland border, where Belarus has unleashed a migrant wave on the European Union.