The Truth about US Immigration policy & border control

The Biden administration has created a disaster on the Southern border of the United States. It did so by methodically —and by all indications intentionally— undoing every meaningful border security measure that had been in place. As a result, in the first five months of this year, nearly 200,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended at the border. But the crisis is worsening and it is turning into a real uncontrolled invasion.

During the months of June, July and August, over 500,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended. And September broke all previous records with over 250,000 apprehended in that single month. October is already breaking that record and we are watching further caravans with more than 50,000 immigrants moving toward the southern border claiming their "right" to be received in the United States. No country can possibly support such a tidal wave of immigrants in such a short time, not counting the danger of unrestricted entry by some people who could be criminals, terrorists, or carriers of epidemics.

We should be careful of not allowing to be misled by those who favor open borders, framing the issue as if the US face a binary choice: either let all immigrants in because they are “looking for a better life” or close our borders completely and inhumanely. This is a false choice! The unspoken alternative is to enforce the law, taking in immigrants who enter the U.S. legally while securing our borders against those who attempt to enter illegally — particularly those meaning to do us harm or having other serious shortcomings. Therefore, it is quite disturbing to observe the total lack of concern on the part of the federal government, especially in terms of the national security aspect of border control.

It is important to remember that Congress came together to pass the bipartisan Secure Fence Act of 2006, just 15 years ago, directing the Department of Homeland Security to take appropriate actions to achieve “operational control” over U.S. land and maritime borders to “prevent unlawful entry.” It defined operational control as the prevention of all unlawful entries into the U.S., including terrorists, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband. And it specifically set the goal of “provid[ing] at least two layers of reinforced fencing, installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors.” It added thousands of Border Patrol personnel, mandated the acquisition of new technologies, and resulted in the construction of more than 650 miles of physical barrier along the southern border of the U.S. between 2006 and 2011. But the present Administration is blatantly ignoring this law!

However, some of the prominent authors who are presently opposing the "wall" and the indispensable immigration control measures were then among the most prominent in favor of that law. This included Senator Barack Obama, who said in 2005: “We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked, and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently, and lawfully to become immigrants in this country.” It included Senator Chuck Schumer, who said in 2009: “Illegal immigration is wrong, plain and simple. . . . People who enter the United States without permission are illegal aliens and illegal aliens should not be treated the same as people who enter the U.S. legally.” And it included Senator Joe Biden, who said in 2006: “Let me tell you something, folks, people are driving across that border with tons, tons—hear me, tons—of everything from byproducts from methamphetamine to cocaine to heroin, and it’s all coming up through corrupt Mexico.”

A decade later these same Democratic leaders were lambasting President Trump’s border wall policy as “immoral and ineffective,” even “racist,” and fiercely opposing any and every serious proposal aimed at enforcing immigration law. The uncompromising bias of these Democratic Party leaders is primarily responsible for the huge and dangerous immigration crisis we are experiencing.

The Biden administration methodically undid every meaningful border security policy that it inherited. The first bullet point of President Biden’s budget for the Department of Homeland Security this year trumpets the fact that not a cent will go towards the construction of border walls. Furthermore, let us remember as well that the Trump administration negotiated the Migrant Protection Protocol, a bilateral agreement with Mexico more commonly known as the Remain in Mexico Program. Under this agreement, people illegally entering or being smuggled into the U.S. with a minor would no longer be able to stay simply by asking for asylum. It was chiefly this Remain in Mexico Program that ended catch and release, removing the greatest incentive for people to try to enter the U.S. illegally.

After full implementation of Remain in Mexico, illegals who applied for asylum were returned to Mexico to await their hearings. This resulted in a dramatic reduction in the flow of illegal immigrants, especially of families and unaccompanied minors. By February 2020, the US had seen a 75% reduction in families attempting to enter illegally.

Another game-changing development under the Trump administration was a series of Asylum Cooperative Agreements made between the U.S. and the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. These Asylum Cooperative Agreements codified accepted international practices governing asylum seekers, which encourage migrants to seek relief from the first safe country able to assist them. Less than three weeks after President Biden took office, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that “in line with the President’s vision” the U.S. had suspended, and was in the process of terminating, the Asylum Cooperative Agreements with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Thus ignoring the basic legal premise of asylum: the migrant must have a valid claim to be the victim of persecution in his or her home country due to race, religion, nationality, political affiliation, or membership in a protected class. Under current law, a desire to improve one’s economic status is not a valid asylum claim.

At the point when the present administration could no longer deny the dangerously overcrowded conditions at Border Patrol facilities, some operating at more than 400% capacity (more than ever), it adopted a shell game strategy, first moving migrants into newly-constructed facilities and then surreptitiously flying families and unaccompanied minors to cities throughout the U.S. The point of this ongoing shell game is not to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the US, but to improve the political “optics” of the crisis.

It is simply common sense to view border security as national security, but if you make this point today as I'm doing here now, you risk being called a racist or worse. But it needs to be said over and over until the country may fight its way back to the point where a bipartisan consensus is achieved under voters' pressure so that immigration laws will be enforced.