cnn presidential debate simulcast live at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now or online at c-span.org. your unfiltered view of politics. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we areby these television companies and more, including midco. ♪>> midco supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers. giving you a front rowdemocracy. st: a conn on the biden administration's policies on immigration, angela guest with the american immigration lawyers association a group whose mission is what? guest: it is the immigration

association of certified migratio attorneys and the purpose is to provide accurate information. host: how many attorneys to we have in the country? guest: in our association 17,000, but there are other immigration attorneys that have smart decision to join our association, otherwis as how we'd refer to it. ho advisor are you an immigration attorney, as am. i do not tell many people but, no, i m. host: and you worked with homeland security for one .5 years at the start of the biden administration. what did you do there? guest: i was a senior counselor to the homeland security mayorkas. i was a senior counselor on immigration issues. host: why did you leave? guest:one is that it is a 24/7 job

and i have two daughters, and a very understanding husband, but they weren't more me, and my mom is getting up in years, and i needed to pay more attention to family. i had to decisions to leave. if you're going to work in government, i had the very best job. host: policies this month in the form of executive action, viewers are available to look at them house website, but what has been the most significant recent action on the immigration friend from the biden administration? guest: great questio in the news. this week what was announced w policy that apply to people who are married to u.s. een in the united states for 10 years. they are eligible to get a green card but most people would be surprised that't automatically get a green card just bed to a u.s. citizen so the biden administration announced this week that if you needhose qualifications, if you have been in the u.s. for 10you are lawfully married as of

june 17, that you can begin the process to get your green card states,ing bureaucratic obstacles that remwould require people who entered without papers, that they would have to leave the u.s. and then be able to come back inan, million people have not gone foard with that process of leading the u.s., why haven't th because they make decisions like we all make, which there is a risk that they may not be able to come back in, so they would be leaving their family for an undetermined number of years months or days, and you don't know how long you might be outside the u.s., and they be let back in, so with the biden administration announced is if requirements, you have been here for 10 years, you are lawfully married, you go through a background check and make sure a person is eligible for a green card and you do that process here in the than having to leave the country, so it ds not cr a

new benefit, this is something people would be eligible for but it streamline the p streamlines the process. host: coming just a few weeks after the biden administration has made the asylum claim process harder to do, can you explain guest:. there are a lot of pressures at the southern border, a lot of people who w le u.s., and many make the claim for asylum, only some will be eligible ultimately to an asylum because it is a hard standard to

administration is continuing to permit people at ports of entry where we have immigration officials, and they will be permitted, 1450 people a day and they will still be able to come in, but the concern is that for some of those people that they are sending back that reached the number that we can process, some of those people are going to be claiming serious violence, they will be persecutedare vulnerable, conditions are not safe in mexico where they will be waiting, so there was the concern that this is going to be harming some of the very people that we would otherwise want to be helping. host: in your mind, this includes fair policy and you have represented asylum-seekers. guest: it is a really tough policy. i will be honest. it speaks to -- it really does

speak to a veryn system that we have. we do not have strong infrastructure that we need at the border to be able to process people quick have real changesthe u.s., many people think of a young man from mexico coming to work, and that used to be the type ofolks coming, but much more now, we have families, women. women who ans with their children, so it is heartbreaking to know will have to be sending some of those people back, just be blunt, congress has not acted. it has not provided the resources to be able to update our ports of entry, to be able to update the border so it is sufficiently strong so we can screen people eligible i do need the protection that we can offer them to let them and people who are not, that they go back, so we have to decision

of pushing people does mean that some people will be harmed. host: during that possibility of a vote on a bipartisan immigration bill, we heard president biden say that hel action on the border. isn't that ware, taking unilateral action? guest: he is pushing the envelope i taking this action. there is a limit to what you can do in the executive branch, and that is a we have three branches of government, so he is pushing the envelope. there already has been a lawsuit that has been brought against this policy i desborder policy. and wn it. but it is, reality that congress is very polarized forward, they are not able to reach ground and provide the executive the kinds of resources that it needs.

the senate bmentioned, it was a negotiated bill bipartisan, which is, you know, a rare thing these days. and it was a shame to see that it lac support, even thoughfor. it was not a generous and liberal bill, it was a tough bill, so i think the biden administration finds i trying to secure the border and as thoroughly as it can while still being humanitarian, which is why there are people being admitted, and then when you juapose it and when you look at the two policies, the other whendescribed for people who do not have papers but are married to citizens, you see that it really is an effort to find a balancedwe are a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. and for people who have been here many years who i think the average number is like 23 that

we have people here without papers, they are married to a u.s. citizen, they have children, they have ties to the communityto find ways to offer those people as much of an opportunity because they are a part of our communityo protect those families to ensure that they stay together, so the biden administration i always say it is doing a high wire act over the niagara falls with the wind blowing. it is tough. and it is certainly understandable even if i would not necessarily support all the policies, i would understand where they come from. host: you mentioned there is a lawsuit brought on the asylum claim of executive action, is the american immigration lawyers association part of the lawsuit? guest: that aclu, american civil liberties union, and i do not know yet what my organization, whether or not we will join thlawsuit

but we have issued an analysis of the asylum role, which you can find on aila.coming to come i don't believe we are part of the lawsuit. host: angela our guest and the topic is the biden administration's immigration policy, with us until 10:00 a.m. eastern. phone lines, republicans (202)-748-8001. democrats, (202)-748-8000. independent, (202)-748-8002. angela kelley, this is mike in florida, republicango ahead. caller: i'm a republican transitioning to independent but i worked on two consultant companies in d before joining general motor and engineering, and some of the greatest people i ever worked with and most of the people were from other parts of the world china, and isn't the flood --

maybe that isn't the right word -- but we wonder more people going to stem? part of it is because they play with the free market, by bringing all the h1 reason, and if we had less h1 b's, maybe americans wouldfields, so how does the government especially those decide what is coming in every year? guest: that is aperienced her real-world experience because we people who have that kind of education, the high degree of talent in the stem field, and we lack having enough folks that are coming out of u.s. universities, so we have a program known by h one b, and there is always more of a demand for the numb available, and that is something

that my organization struggles with. there are protections in the law, and congress really needs to roll up the sleeves laws. and there are protections and ways so it doesn't disadvantage people already working. doesn't function the way it should all the time? probably not.absolutely but this is another part of announcements that were made this week, and i would like to be sure that your viewers get the whole picture. in wisely is many people know about dreamers, undocumented folks that come here with children, and s have gone protection for the program that president obama created known as daca. the limitations of that program they are educated in the united states, they are as

american as my girls bor n here but they don't have a path to the green card, and if you are in a position, he graduated from a u.s. university, and you have you can work in a country that you have liv life, again, we are moving of bureaucraticder, removing an obstacle, rather than have to leave the u.s. to get that visa and risk not been able to come back in, they can do their processing in the u.s.. they will have to leave, but with the assurance they can come back in. why does that make sense? because these are young people that we have educated, they speak fluently, they are trained and ready to go, so having those folks doing the kinds of jobs that mike described, that makes more sense for the american people. we are sll going to need some talent from around the world. people would like to come to the y and we should embrace that. there have to be rules, but that

ishatthe most attractive country on the planet. this nation. people come here as new americansnd then they become established americans. that is what we would like to keep doing, but we need to l host: liverpool, w york, john democrat. good morning. you're on with angela kelley. caller: yes. i have a lot of problems with illegal immigration especially when it considers older people. do says one person getsperson gets in, and i object to the 32 who follow, especially the older people who never paid into the system because the young people would like to bring their parents over, and the parents never paid into the health care system. they're coming over, there older, they will be using the health care system, and they never paid in. if you never paid in, you do not if you don't buy a ticket, you don't get into the game, and

people are coming into the country, and you go any emergency room and you see illegals who have never paid into the system. host: we got your point, let me let angela kelley respond. guest: you know, i have to put a question assertion trump as to the number of people who come in comes in, it is actually true that the people wh border tend to be younger, not older. but setting that aside, the point is that we would like to have people to be able to come legally with a visa. not with a smuggler. we would like to have legal pathways, or people to come to the u.s. to join close family members, to work the way the last caller indicated, and in some cases, if there are people fleeing persecution, then we be a welcoming country for a number of refugees.

that is the three legged stool of our immigration system. congress failed to update that immigration system. the last time there was a significant reform of our law, where we looked at how many people do need really? it was in 1990. it was in 1990, so do the math. son back then so it is just bonkers t place and immigration system, the numbers are set of how many people get to come in, what our economy needs, it is the same number every year, so it is out of step with what our country needs. to the caller's point, if a person comes your unlawfully, with or they are 25 or 85, they are not eligible for benefits. in the emergency were somebody gets hit by a bus, sure, they

i don't think you can tell looking into an emergency room with her someone is here illegally or not, there is the very basic attention that people will get, but beyond that, people are not eligible for federal benefits if they are here with no papers. it takes a long time, and you have to become a green card holder because you have a family member, like a u.s. citizen, or you have an employer, before you begi understand the frustration about ours a different topic, but i do not want listeners and viewers to have the impression that we have a lot of elderly people in and not paying into the system. that does not align with what i understand about the numbers of people coming in and the a as we are having the conversation, a conversation happens every day on twitter, one tweet and asylum now, it is being abused beyond all recognition, that people always ruin things for good people.

you talk about that you used to work on asylum claims and people seeking us out, what are a couple of stories you remember from doing that? cases that stick out to you the most? before i worked with asylum-seekers, i represented tattered women and children. were recently arrived, immigrants typically from central america and i learned that i needed to understand their immigration case topresent them so they would not be beaten anymore, and what i lrned was that many were seeking asylum. i have often female clients who were traumatized. they were afraid toek me what kinds of persecution they had faced. i had one client i remember, and the reason was because in your country, if you talk about who was after you, then they will find you, so you have to really have self protection and not talk about the violence you are en which is what leads many people to leave, and i had

one young client, andñ were on our way to the immigration court, i was driving with my not then husband but a coworker, and she started from the back seat talking about these men who broke into her house and they raped her. and they were government officials, and she had never told me this and the basis for claim on asylum was that she had to face persecution, and it was because of the government, the military, and how they were targeting her family. i believe her family were a family of journalists. they were afraid to tell their story, and, now, she was in the e had me as a lawyer, we were about the same and she had not told me that, after many interviews and preparing our hearing. imagine being at the border,

that same young woman, and having to tell a male immigration officer that story. when you just arrived, and you have a child with you. it is very difficult. i the tweet that you yone in. our asylum system is deeply ed. we have long backlogs,e do not have enough officers to process people. and we cannot do it alone. and we have to improve our refugee processing, so we need congreform our system, yes, we are laws, but we also have a warmer heart persecution, and that is where i think we have to find the balance. we have not been able to find it because we don't have the resources. so i hope that your listeners and viewers understand that it is a complicated situation and we are need of border control, but we are also in need

of human compassion. host: about 20 minutes left with angela kelley of the american immtin. guest, independent texas. caller: hello, how are you doing? host: well, what is your caller: i would like to know, how would you feel if somebody told you where you belong? host: would you like to explain that more? caller: yeah, you know, america you say justice and freedom for all, what is going on in the border is not justice and freedom for all. why do we need of border? mexico should be part of the united states. it should be the united states north, central and south america. all this stuff abo border, it is just a moneymaker, it is a money pit. don't you use that money you use guarding the border to go after criminals in mexico with the mexican police joining, try to make mexico like as, and

instead of taking all of our jobs to china, why don't we go to mexico -- host: that is gus in texas, a few what would you like to pick up on? guest:i appreciate that. i think what you are pointing to our thestrations that we don't have a border that fu should. it is, i think fundamental to our sovereignty and we do get to decide who comeswho doesn't come in, i think you are really swimming to suggest we should not have borders, but are suggesting that is because you are concerned that our resources not being targeted in the way they should be towards people who mean to do us harm, and this has dothan previous administrations on cracking down on people were bringing in fentanyl but you are right that more can be done. we do have some dangerous mexico, while, at

the samee, tim partner, so it is a complicated situation, but here is what i think we need to do. i think we need to get -- just get really c that we have to manager border better than what we areo think we are on the right track, so we aredeserve it, who can meet the criteria of the law. update that law, as well. we need to manager border so we are confident about who is entering what they are bringing in, we need to managerorder, recognizing that border communities, and you know if this is been to the border many times for people who lived there people go to mexico to go shopping, to get dental people come from mexico to the u.s. to shopping at walmart it is very fluid and much more one community, and people there often do not understand what the fuss is about. that spirit that i see so in border

communities, that needs to be reinforced that we can bring people in and out, back and forth, and make our economy stronger so we can help our neighbors to thet have drug cartel problems they have, absolutely, at clear right-thinking, i'm afraid is missing in congress. and until people honestly turn theirtion to whether you are a member of the democrats or republicanground so we can update immigration laws and really just be the nation that we all deserve. ho do border walls work? guest: i think in some places where it is particularly treacherous, there are barriers that could be helpful. ced that when i was working in the government sense, both from the perspective of border patrol, trying to guard dangerous terrainperspective of many migrants who were brought here by smugglers who feed them a load of bs about

being able to get them into the u.s. andthey put them in dangerous conditions and that is why we see so many tragic deaths of pple at the border. so situations, a barrier is helpful. it is not the answer, though. if we rely on a 20 foot ladder, that pver the other side, so it is a much more complex issue than that, and there are bad actors. there are smugglers constantly trying to find ways around the barriers whether they are using technology or physical barrier and that is what we have to crackd smugglers that use people's phones an4d sociedia , and they reach migrants and they say if you give me thousands, i will get you a greeca border, that is not the case. those are the bad guys that we need to be cracking down on. people like my old client, she does not pose ain, bringing in guns,

drugs yeah, those are truly the bad guys. host: so barbara and virginia, independent, good morning. caller: good morning. we have several family members who grew up in nazi germany. when theywere drafted into the army and sent to, but something their mothers had told them is do not bring any children into this evil world. there were many immigrants coming from perhaps not equally as people as nazi germany was but i wonder if any of these women who were coming in wichildren or couples, husbands and wives coming with children, would be willing to give up was the possibility of having more

children, just to give the children they already have, would they be willing to come to this country? would they be accepted into this country easier if they guar have any more children? host: are youív tal yes, yes. host: angela yeah, barbara, i do not see that as being a policy that our government -- that that would be wise. let me leave it at that. you know, there is a lot to be said about our right to protect the integrity of your body and make those decisions for yourself, but i think what you are poin to is a question about the folks who are coming here. i can tell you based on the experience that many of us observed of peopl in new york chicago a work, they are hungry to work,

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