Environmental hypocrisy is easy to point out because the goals often are unattainable, and many elites don’t believe what they’re preaching. Whether it’s Al Gore, specious celebrities or John Kerry, few live up to their lofty standards.
But immigration duplicity is another, perhaps more dangerous, matter. It’s also an issue Democrats clearly are losing in the public arena.
Social justice warriors have no interest in earnest discourse; they deem support for strong borders as “racist.” Meanwhile, current polls and the 2020 congressional elections in places like California, Florida and Texas showed that folks of all colors and persuasions seek border security.
Whether or not Biden administration officials use the proper term, this is a humanitarian crisis. While most Democrats won’t acknowledge the catastrophe, those who represent border districts will.
“When you create a system that incentivizes people to come across, and they are released, that immediately sends a message to Central America that if you come across you can stay,” Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, told the Washington Post. “The only way to slow it down is by changing policy at our doorstep.”
To appease radicals, as he’s done too often during his first two months on the job, President Biden suspended former President Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy on his first day. Now asylum seekers can stay in the United States for years while their case is heard. A Tuesday report showed barely one in 10 migrant families were expelled last week.
More than 70,000 people were apprehended crossing the southern border in December. That number rose to 75,000 in January, and nearly 100,000 arrived in February, the highest total since 2007. March’s numbers already surpassed other months, with about 6,000 arriving each day. As of this weekend, Customs and Border Protection had over 15,000 minors in custody — often held in cages — along the border.
Even sympathetic writers say, “The best way for an American administration to deter migration — and save lives — is to communicate a clear and consistent message: Do not waste your money; do not risk your life; do not try to enter the United States without authorization. But the Biden administration, so determined to break with Trump’s record on immigration, has found it hard to speak clearly — or clearly enough to counter the lies of the traffickers.”
After snapping back at legitimate concerns, Team Biden may finally shift to a more “aggressive” message that should have been their stance from the beginning. With such conflicting statements, will actual policies match the “shift”? If not, a rush to the border, at least for unaccompanied minors, will continue.
“I’ve never seen it like this in 16 years working down here,” a police officer covering the Del Rio sector told Alpha News. “Oilmen and ranchers trying to make a living are concerned for their safety, especially at night.”
Yet instead of visiting the Rio Grande Valley, what did the president and his assistant do last week? They followed a flawed media narrative to Georgia and convened divisive, inane conversations on “racism,” where it likely didn’t exist. Asked Monday when she might visit the border, the callow vice president cackled.
“So far, the Biden administration’s reaction to the challenge/crisis seems to be to spend more money doing more of the same along the border; pursue long-term changes that rely on progress being made by Mexico and Central American countries; blame the Trump administration; deny the media access to cover the story; and spin the current situation,” Mark Halperin wrote Monday.
Criminal cartels take advantage of lax policies to recruit more illegal immigrants, who pay thousands to be trafficked into our country. Common sense tells me that as more migrants arrive and stay via asylum claims, others will also decide to make the dangerous financial investment.
“This is a crisis and it filters into every community,” Sheriff Wayne Ivey said last week. “It’s impacting our ability to fight COVID-19. It’s impacting us with massive shipments of illegal drugs coming into our country. It’s draining all the resources from CBP.”
The current president could have continued Trump-era policies that kept migration in check with encounters between migrants and CBP falling by nearly 90% in one year. Instead Biden and his Cabinet play politics and avoid responsibility.
In a Fox News Sunday interview with Chris Wallace, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the administration and passed blame to Trump and COVID-19.
“We are encouraging families not to send their children along the dangerous journey because so many do not make it safely,” Mayorkas said in part. “We are in the midst of a pandemic, and we’re focused on operations and executing on our plans. What we are seeing is the result of President Trump’s dismantlement of the safe and orderly immigration processes that were built over many years by presidents of both parties.”
The enormous White House staff could also follow up on this 2019 bipartisan report to Homeland Security. It includes several reasonable legislative and administrative remedies. But that would require effort and concern.
“Our Hispanic community is being used on the one hand by human traffickers, drug cartels, and coyotes who create false hope for immigrants who want to reach the United States,” Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., recently claimed. “On the other hand, we have the Washington politicians, who play with our community’s hopes to stay in power and win votes.”
A.J. Kaufman
A.J. Kaufman is an Alpha News columnist. His work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Florida Sun-Sentinel, Indianapolis Star, Israel National News, Orange County Register, St. Cloud Times, Star-Tribune, and across AIM Media Midwest and the Internet. Kaufman previously worked as a school teacher and military historian.
