Wall Or No Wall, Trump ‘Fundamentally’ Marred U.S. Immigration System, Says Expert Noorani

Despite recent statements made by President Trump in Alamo, Tx., Ali Noorani said on Thursday’s Boston Public Radio that the outgoing president's years-long promise of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border fell far short of expectations.

"He claimed that hundreds of mile of wall had been built,” the National Immigration Forum CEO said of Trump’s Tuesday statement, but noted that "if you look at the numbers, most of the work that has been done in terms of border infrastructure has been fortifying existing infrastructure."

Still, he said Trump’s efforts to stifle immigration during his presidency will have an impact that extends beyond dreams of a massive border wall.

“We also have to be realistic – and be clear – that by shutting down the border to perfectly legal asylum claims, by shutting down the border and forcing tens of thousands of migrants to wait in Mexico while their claims are being processed, he did fundamental change the way the border region is seen on the U.S. side… [and] also on the Mexican side.”

"I think the Biden administration is going to have a lot of work to do to rebuild an immigration system, much less a functioning border management system,” he said.

Ali Noorani is President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Immigration Forum. His latest book is "There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration.”