Separating Fact From Politics In The Immigration Debate

Diane Rehm: On My Mind - A podcast by WAMU 88.5 - Thursdays

A record surge of migrants at the U.S.- Mexico border has pushed politicians on both sides of the aisle to look for ways to ease pressure on what many consider to be an overloaded, out-of-date, and needlessly bureaucratic immigration system. Yet, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Molly O’Toole says the focus of negotiations misses the mark when it comes to finding real solutions to the current crisis at the border. “We first need to understand who is coming, why they are coming, and where they are coming from,” she explains, adding that the demographics of the migrants crossing into the United States over the southern border has changed dramatically since the 1990s, but the proposed solutions have not. In the latest episode of On My Mind, O’Toole outlines what she thinks is missing from the country’s current immigration debate.