If ever there was a prime example of what happens when a serious human problem is forced to find its own solutions, current United States immigration policy is it. Asylum seekers and other migrants have been showing up at the Mexico-U.S. border in growing numbers this year.

By now everyone has an opinion on the sending of two planeloads of asylum seekers, mostly from Venezuela, from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard by the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis. Others from Cuba and Central America were deposited outside the vice president’s residence in Washington, D.C. at the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Whether you consider the dispatching of migrants to northern towns and cities a Republican stunt or a forthright statement about conditions in border towns, or both, there is no denying human beings served as political pawns.

Those stuck at the border or being shipped to places unprepared for them are the latest to want so desperately to enter the United States that they will subject themselves to physical danger, detention and deportation.

That is no sudden development. Congress has failed to take up major immigration reform since the second Bush administration, even though a bipartisan group, including then-Speaker of the House John Boehner, were trying to tee up a compromise.

So where has the buck stopped now?

In retrospect, Boehner’s inability to marshal his troops presaged congressional stalemates to come. The Biden administration may have had other priorities, such as pandemic recovery, and other vulnerabilities, such as a razor-thin majority in Congress. But even though neither party wants an immigration policy fight so close to the elections, this is a federal problem. If Congress continues to dodge the issue, the president could be forced to act.

According to the New York Times, the homeland security department has asked the White House to allow ICE to coordinate with nonprofit groups and send immigrants whom the Border Patrol has screened and released on to cities of their choice where they can await their immigration court proceedings. The court backlog for asylum seekers is years long.

Sen. Chris Murphy, who had recent success as part of bipartisan effort to enact limited gun control provisions, reminded his colleagues of a way Congress could do something humane and nonpartisan.

Murphy, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, pointed to the 2023 Homeland Security bill, which would allot $200 million for emergency food and sheIter and enable the Border Patrol to reduce overcrowding at its facilities. He challenged congressional Republicans to support the measure and the Border Patrol if they are serious about managing the chaos. The program would include funding to nonprofits that work with Homeland Security to help with food, shelter, clothing and transportation. It would be a start.

Murphy is not up for election this fall, but the senior Connecticut senator, Richard Blumenthal, is. Both Democrat Blumenthal and his Republican opponent, Leora Levy, are from Greenwich.

De Santis might have chosen Greenwich just as easily as Martha’s Vineyard and probably gotten equal public reaction. But that might have proven embarrassing for a fellow Republican. Levy is herself a Cuban immigrant who has prospered and can now run for the Senate with the endorsement of Donald Trump.

Her campaign website exclaims that “Leora Levy has lived the American dream. She came to this country as a child, escaping Castro’s communist regime in Cuba. She knows firsthand what it means when Communism conquers your country.” That means she shares an experience of hardship with the Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans the governors sent to Massachusetts and Washington.

There is more, however. “Leora ... is a Jewish Hispanic woman who will say in plain language and no uncertain terms that what is happening at our southern border is an invasion.”

“Leora believes that closing our U.S. borders is paramount in the pursuit of safety and security for our country. U.S. border security is under constant threat and must be enforced.”

Immigration law, with all its historic gaps and prejudices, does provide that anyone who comes to our borders seeking asylum will be processed and, if found qualified, be allowed to leave federal custody and enter the country until their case is reviewed. It sounds as though Levy would close the door entirely -- forget what it says on the Statue of Liberty or her own good fortune in being a U.S. citizen.

Blumenthal, who has a record of advocating for immigrants, including those fleeing the Taliban and the Syrian dictatorship, needs to step up. If re-elected, he should join Murphy in exerting his influence to get a debate on effective border reform.

Lisa McGinley is a member of The Day Editorial Board.