Last year there was news about how 82 out of 100 Medicaid recipients selected at random in Louisiana were found not to have qualified for all the benefits they received. But somehow the system was duped into believing that they did. The border situation likely suffers from this same phenomenon.
Dishonesty among the new arrivals runs rampant, e.g., DNA tests reveal 30% of suspected fraudulent migrant families were unrelated. The asylum entry program could likely suffer the same fate experienced in Louisiana with the Medicaid recipients if those assigned to administer it aren't diligent.
With a backlog of more than 800,000 asylum claims the system is woefully behind, especially as federal judges rule that the asylum seekers cannot be categorically detained. Compounding the problem is that nearly 90% of those released in the U.S. don't show up for their hearings.
So now we learn that Rep. Veronica Escobar has sent staff into Mexico to coach asylum-seekers on how to game the program.
What is needed is some legislative reform, not legislators plotting to thwart the system. But with many politicians content with a huge overhanging issue ahead of an upcoming contentious election, it's easy to be pessimistic that anything meaningful will be done.
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2:58 PM 7/7/2019
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