There is a lot that can go wrong in the US in the areas of border security and immigration policy. Over the past three and a half years, the Biden administration has implemented most of those failed policies. A Harris administration would almost certainly complete those failed policies.
President Joe Biden came to the White House in 2021 with the clear goal of being the antithesis of President Donald Trump and completely reversing the policies of the Trump administration. Nowhere has this process of reversal been more impactful and disruptive than at the U.S.-Mexico border.
On his first day in the Oval Office in 2021, Biden The program was interrupted Formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, the protocols required migrants seeking asylum in the United States to remain in Mexico while their cases were being heard in U.S. immigration courts. This was the first green light for potential migrants around the world, and more importantly, for those who prey on them, that if they could set foot on U.S. soil and apply for asylum, they might be able to remain in the country indefinitely. The border was completely open. (Related: Rep. Jody Arrington: Border crisis comes at an unbearable cost)
The word spread through social media networks such as WhatsApp. Drug cartels and human traffickers used the policy change as a marketing ploy to coerce desperate migrants into abandoning their life savings and making the dangerous journey to the border. Instead of fleeing, migrants were instructed to actually seek out law enforcement officers and apply for asylum, no matter how unfounded their claims may be.
In case the repeal of the Remain in Mexico policy did not send a clear message, Biden will implement it in April 2022. Repeal of Title 42When President Trump initiated a policy during the pandemic that allowed the federal government to quickly expel illegal immigrants apprehended at the border and prevent them from seeking asylum, the results were entirely predictable.
according to Customs and Border Protection DataIn December 2020, there were 73,994 “encounters” along the southwest border. A year later, that monthly figure was 179,253. In December 2022, that number rose to 252,315. Last December, there were 301,982 encounters.
Biden was eager to appease progressives and burnish his anti-Trump credentials, but he failed to consider, or worse, acknowledged and embraced, the consequences of encouraging mass illegal immigration. Biden appointed In March 2021, he vowed to tackle the “root causes” of illegal immigration. On NBC's “Meet the Press” In September 2022, he said, “We have a secure border, which is a priority for any country, including our country and our administration,” but that was a lie.
Now that she's the presidential candidate, Democrats are trying to make us believe that Harris had nothing to do with immigration or the border. The American people know better. They also know that four more years of Biden's immigration, economic, defense and energy policies would be a national disaster.
The Biden administration CPB Number Telling the story – 2.5 million encounters on the Southwest border in fiscal year 2023. That's what Gallup is Reported last month “Substantially more American adults want to see less immigration to the United States than they did a year ago, 55% to 41%,” the highest level of anti-immigrant sentiment since just after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Related: Berry: Will states stop illegal immigrants from voting illegally in November?)
There are two related tragedies here. The first is that immigrants who have endured physical abuse, rape, and murder are now seeking asylum in the U.S. Contrary to what the Biden administration and immigration advocates would have you believe, illegal immigration is not a victimless crime, let alone the crimes committed by some immigrants in this country.
The second tragedy is that anti-immigrant sentiment is on the rise at a time when our economy needs immigrant workers most. Due primarily to demographic trends, but also to cultural shifts in the American workforce, the United States is not producing enough U.S.-born workers to meet the needs of industries like agriculture, health care, and construction.
The United States needs a lawful and orderly immigration policy that takes into account both our national security and economic interests. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration's catastrophic failures on border security and immigration have understandably frustrated the American people even with sensible reforms. A Harris Administration will only exacerbate these failures.
Dennis E. Nixon is chairman and CEO of Laredo, Texas-based IBC Bank and has been deeply involved in border, trade and immigration policy for 50 years.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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