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Comment Third option, but it's not pretty (Score 2) 251

The challenge is this: If someone presents themselves at a nation's border and declares themselves a refugee from persecution that nation has two options -

1) Let them in, evaluate their situation and then based on that allow them to stay or tell them they have to go back - Which may lead thousands and thousands of economic migrants to declare themselves as "refugees" leading to years-long waits for a review.

2) Say "I don't care what's going to happen to you, go away" - Which may lead to legitimate refugees and their families being tortured and killed.

The third option can be about as bad, possibly worse:

Imprison them for months or years while you process their applications.

You can do this with "humane POW-style" imprisonment where they are comfortable but not free to leave, "typical relatively-humane criminal-prison style" accommodations that re decidedly uncomfortable but decidedly better than back home if they are truly non-economic refugees, or "you think it's bad at home, try this on for size and when you get sick of it, beg us to send you back home" inhumane accommodations where about the only thing they are (mostly) guaranteed is that they won't be killed or die of malnutrition or poor medical treatment.

I'm sure there are a number of hostile-to-immigrant people in the USA that will look at that last one and say "great idea!" It's not, it's a horrible idea.

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