0:00:01.250,0:00:03.393 By October 2018, 0:00:03.417,0:00:06.809 Juan Carlos Rivera could no longer afford 0:00:06.833,0:00:09.500 to live in his home in Copan, Honduras. 0:00:10.333,0:00:12.226 As the "Dallas Morning News" reported, 0:00:12.250,0:00:16.250 a gang was taking 10 percent[br]of his earnings from his barber shop. 0:00:17.000,0:00:21.309 His wife was assaulted[br]going to her pre-K teaching job. 0:00:21.333,0:00:24.726 And they were concerned[br]about the safety of their young daughter. 0:00:24.750,0:00:26.559 What could they do? 0:00:26.583,0:00:27.851 Run away? 0:00:27.875,0:00:30.309 Seek asylum in another country? 0:00:30.333,0:00:31.976 They didn't want to do that. 0:00:32.000,0:00:35.125 They just wanted to live[br]in their country safely. 0:00:35.875,0:00:37.809 But their options were limited. 0:00:37.833,0:00:39.101 So that month, 0:00:39.125,0:00:42.851 Juan Carlos moved his family[br]to a safer location 0:00:42.875,0:00:47.559 while he joined a group of migrants[br]on the long and perilous journey 0:00:47.583,0:00:49.434 from Central America 0:00:49.458,0:00:55.809 to a job a family member said[br]was open for him in the United States. 0:00:55.833,0:00:58.393 By now we're all familiar[br]with what awaited them 0:00:58.417,0:01:00.726 at the US-Mexico border. 0:01:00.750,0:01:04.768 The harsher and harsher penalties[br]doled out to those crossing there. 0:01:04.792,0:01:08.184 The criminal prosecutions[br]for crossing illegally. 0:01:08.208,0:01:10.184 The inhumane detention. 0:01:10.208,0:01:13.375 And most terribly,[br]separation of families. 0:01:14.375,0:01:17.684 I'm here to tell you[br]that not only is this treatment wrong, 0:01:17.708,0:01:19.643 it's unnecessary. 0:01:19.667,0:01:24.101 This belief that the only way[br]to maintain order 0:01:24.125,0:01:26.684 is with inhumane means 0:01:26.708,0:01:28.143 is inaccurate. 0:01:28.167,0:01:30.792 And in fact, the opposite is true. 0:01:31.833,0:01:37.333 Only a humane system[br]will create order at the border. 0:01:39.167,0:01:44.684 When safe, orderly, legal travel[br]to the United States is available, 0:01:44.708,0:01:48.059 very few people choose[br]travel that is unsafe, 0:01:48.083,0:01:50.375 disorderly or illegal. 0:01:51.292,0:01:52.768 Now, I appreciate the idea 0:01:52.792,0:01:57.309 that legal immigration[br]could just resolve the border crisis 0:01:57.333,0:01:59.768 might sound a bit fanciful. 0:01:59.792,0:02:01.726 But here is the good news: 0:02:01.750,0:02:04.333 We have done this before. 0:02:05.042,0:02:07.226 I've been working on immigration for years 0:02:07.250,0:02:08.934 at the Cato Institute 0:02:08.958,0:02:11.434 and other think tanks in Washington DC 0:02:11.458,0:02:15.143 and as the senior policy adviser[br]for a republican member of Congress, 0:02:15.167,0:02:19.768 negotiating bipartisan immigration reform. 0:02:19.792,0:02:21.643 And I've seen firsthand 0:02:21.667,0:02:27.226 how America has implemented[br]a system of humane order at the border 0:02:27.250,0:02:29.101 for Mexico. 0:02:29.125,0:02:31.458 It's called a guest worker program. 0:02:32.333,0:02:34.309 And here's the even better news. 0:02:34.333,0:02:38.542 We can replicate this success[br]for Central America. 0:02:39.542,0:02:41.434 Of course, some people 0:02:41.458,0:02:44.809 will still need to seek[br]asylum at the border. 0:02:44.833,0:02:49.101 But to understand how successful 0:02:49.125,0:02:52.768 this could be for immigrants[br]like Juan Carlos, 0:02:52.792,0:02:55.184 understand that until recently, 0:02:55.208,0:03:00.292 nearly every immigrant arrested[br]by Border Patrol was Mexican. 0:03:01.583,0:03:04.059 In 1986, 0:03:04.083,0:03:10.018 each Border Patrol agent[br]arrested 510 Mexicans. 0:03:10.042,0:03:12.643 Well over one per day. 0:03:12.667,0:03:15.601 By 2019, this number was just eight. 0:03:15.625,0:03:18.268 That's one every 43 days. 0:03:18.292,0:03:21.083 It is a 98 percent reduction. 0:03:22.750,0:03:26.226 So where have all the Mexicans gone? 0:03:26.250,0:03:28.559 The most significant change 0:03:28.583,0:03:30.851 is that the US began issuing 0:03:30.875,0:03:35.101 hundreds of thousands[br]of guest worker visas to Mexicans, 0:03:35.125,0:03:37.851 so that they can come legally. 0:03:37.875,0:03:42.809 José Vásquez Cabrera was among[br]the first Mexican guest workers 0:03:42.833,0:03:45.708 to take advantage of this visa expansion. 0:03:46.458,0:03:49.893 He told "The New York Times"[br]that before his visa 0:03:49.917,0:03:53.851 he'd made terrifying[br]illegal border crossings, 0:03:53.875,0:03:57.667 braving near deadly heat[br]and the treachery of the landscape. 0:03:58.458,0:04:03.500 One time, a snake killed[br]a member of his group. 0:04:04.958,0:04:08.393 Thousands of other Mexicans[br]also didn't make it, 0:04:08.417,0:04:12.684 dying of dehydration in the deserts[br]or drowning in the Rio Grande. 0:04:12.708,0:04:16.250 Millions more were[br]chased down and arrested. 0:04:16.917,0:04:21.851 Guest worker visas have nearly ended[br]this inhumane chaos. 0:04:21.875,0:04:24.434 As Vásquez Cabrera put it, 0:04:24.458,0:04:27.726 "I no longer have to risk my life 0:04:27.750,0:04:29.726 to support my family. 0:04:29.750,0:04:32.708 And when I'm here,[br]I don't have to live in hiding." 0:04:33.500,0:04:37.684 Guest worker visas actually reduced[br]the number of illegal crossings 0:04:37.708,0:04:40.167 more than the number of visas issued. 0:04:41.250,0:04:45.059 Jose Bacilio, another[br]Mexican guest worker, explained why 0:04:45.083,0:04:47.643 to the "Washington Post" in April. 0:04:47.667,0:04:52.851 He said, even though[br]he hadn't received a visa this year, 0:04:52.875,0:04:56.643 he wouldn't risk all of his future chances 0:04:56.667,0:04:58.125 by crossing illegally. 0:04:59.417,0:05:02.018 This likely helps explain why 0:05:02.042,0:05:05.518 from 1996 to 2019 0:05:05.542,0:05:10.476 for every guest worker[br]admitted legally from Mexico, 0:05:10.500,0:05:15.542 there was a decline in two arrests[br]of Mexicans crossing illegally. 0:05:16.875,0:05:18.351 Now, it's true, 0:05:18.375,0:05:22.893 Mexican guest workers[br]do some really tough jobs. 0:05:22.917,0:05:25.643 Picking fruit, cleaning crabs, 0:05:25.667,0:05:27.792 landscaping in a 100-degree heat. 0:05:28.792,0:05:31.768 And some critics maintain[br]that guest worker visas 0:05:31.792,0:05:33.934 are not actually humane 0:05:33.958,0:05:36.750 and that the workers[br]are just abused slaves. 0:05:37.333,0:05:43.268 But Vásquez Cabrera thought[br]a guest worker visa was liberating. 0:05:43.292,0:05:45.018 Not enslavement. 0:05:45.042,0:05:47.809 And he, like nearly[br]all other guest workers, 0:05:47.833,0:05:53.458 chose the legal path[br]over the illegal one, repeatedly. 0:05:55.292,0:05:59.601 The expansion of guest worker[br]visas to Mexicans 0:05:59.625,0:06:04.434 has been among the most[br]significant humane changes 0:06:04.458,0:06:07.333 in US immigration policy ever. 0:06:08.250,0:06:10.601 And that humane change 0:06:10.625,0:06:13.792 imposed order on chaos. 0:06:15.625,0:06:19.434 So where does this leave[br]Central Americans, 0:06:19.458,0:06:20.833 like Juan Carlos? 0:06:22.333,0:06:24.601 Well, Central Americans received 0:06:24.625,0:06:30.851 just three percent of the guest worker[br]visas issued in 2019, 0:06:30.875,0:06:36.458 even as their share of border arrests[br]has risen to 74 percent. 0:06:37.250,0:06:42.309 The US issued just one guest worker visa[br]to a Central American 0:06:42.333,0:06:47.667 for every 78 who crossed[br]the border illegally in 2019. 0:06:49.000,0:06:52.393 So if they can't get their papers at home, 0:06:52.417,0:06:54.809 many take their chances, 0:06:54.833,0:06:58.351 coming up through Mexico[br]to claim asylum at the border 0:06:58.375,0:07:00.018 or cross illegally, 0:07:00.042,0:07:03.625 even if, like Juan Carlos,[br]they prefer to come to work. 0:07:04.750,0:07:06.792 The US can do better. 0:07:07.500,0:07:11.184 It needs to create new guest worker visas 0:07:11.208,0:07:13.750 specifically for Central Americans. 0:07:14.667,0:07:17.476 This would create an incentive[br]for US businesses 0:07:17.500,0:07:20.726 to seek out and hire Central Americans, 0:07:20.750,0:07:23.768 paying for their flights[br]to the United States, 0:07:23.792,0:07:28.042 and diverting them from the illegal,[br]dangerous trek north. 0:07:28.708,0:07:32.559 Central Americans could build[br]flourishing lives at home, 0:07:32.583,0:07:35.143 without the need to seek[br]asylum at the border 0:07:35.167,0:07:36.434 or cross illegally, 0:07:36.458,0:07:39.375 freeing up an overwhelmed system. 0:07:40.417,0:07:42.268 Some people might say 0:07:42.292,0:07:45.351 that letting the workers go back and forth 0:07:45.375,0:07:48.101 will never work in Central America 0:07:48.125,0:07:49.875 where violence is so high. 0:07:50.917,0:07:54.226 But again, it worked in Mexico, 0:07:54.250,0:07:59.268 even as Mexico's murder rate[br]more than tripled over the last decade, 0:07:59.292,0:08:03.000 to a level higher[br]than much of Central America. 0:08:03.833,0:08:06.393 And it would work for Juan Carlos, 0:08:06.417,0:08:08.601 who said, despite the threats 0:08:08.625,0:08:12.476 he only wants to live[br]in the United States temporarily, 0:08:12.500,0:08:13.768 to make enough money 0:08:13.792,0:08:16.583 to sustain his family in their new home. 0:08:17.250,0:08:21.351 He even suggested[br]that a guest worker program 0:08:21.375,0:08:25.333 would be one of the best things[br]to help Hondurans like him. 0:08:26.500,0:08:33.143 Cintia, a 29-year-old[br]single mother of three from Honduras, 0:08:33.167,0:08:34.809 seems to agree. 0:08:34.833,0:08:39.059 She told the "Wall Street Journal"[br]that she came for a job 0:08:39.083,0:08:41.708 to support her kids and her mom. 0:08:42.708,0:08:46.601 Surveys of Central Americans[br]traveling through Mexico, 0:08:46.625,0:08:49.518 by the College of the Northern[br]Border in Mexico, 0:08:49.542,0:08:53.958 confirm that Juan and Cintia are the norm. 0:08:54.792,0:08:58.809 Most, not all, but most do come for jobs, 0:08:58.833,0:09:00.934 even if, like the Riveras, 0:09:00.958,0:09:04.167 they may also face[br]some real threats at home. 0:09:05.000,0:09:10.309 How much would a low-wage job help 0:09:10.333,0:09:12.958 a Honduran, like Juan or Cintia? 0:09:13.833,0:09:17.559 Hondurans like them make as much 0:09:17.583,0:09:20.893 in one month in the United States 0:09:20.917,0:09:26.875 as they do in an entire year[br]working in Honduras. 0:09:27.417,0:09:29.809 A few years' work in the United States 0:09:29.833,0:09:34.226 can propel a Central American[br]into its upper middle class 0:09:34.250,0:09:36.333 where safety is easier to come by. 0:09:37.375,0:09:41.143 What Central Americans lack[br]is not the desire to work. 0:09:41.167,0:09:45.059 Not the desire to contribute[br]to the US economy, 0:09:45.083,0:09:48.684 to contribute to the lives of Americans. 0:09:48.708,0:09:53.101 What Central Americans lack[br]is a legal alternative to asylum. 0:09:53.125,0:09:55.000 To be able to do so legally. 0:09:56.458,0:09:59.309 Of course, a new guest worker program 0:09:59.333,0:10:05.208 will not resolve 100 percent[br]of this complex phenomenon. 0:10:06.375,0:10:10.726 Many asylum seekers[br]will still need to seek safety 0:10:10.750,0:10:12.042 at the US border. 0:10:12.917,0:10:14.726 But with the flows reduced, 0:10:14.750,0:10:18.417 we can more easily work out ways[br]to deal with them humanely. 0:10:19.667,0:10:21.268 But ultimately, 0:10:21.292,0:10:26.309 no single policy has proven to do more 0:10:26.333,0:10:30.934 to create an immigration system[br]that is both humane 0:10:30.958,0:10:32.851 and orderly 0:10:32.875,0:10:36.250 than to let the workers come legally. 0:10:37.167,0:10:38.434 Thank you. 0:10:38.458,0:10:43.208 (Applause)