Border Disorder
It certainly appears that gone are the previous Trump Administration days of tight southern border control imposed for the security, safety, health, and, often overlooked, financial well-being of our nation (e.g., welfare, education, medical, etc. benefits expense). One could almost get the impression that, today, there are signs hanging at our border saying: “Out of Order…Come On In!”
“Biden’s getting exactly the border crisis he asked for” proclaimed a recent headline in a New York Post editorial. “A new year, a new president, a return of an old problem, unaccompanied children crossing the border in droves.” Most of these Central American ‘children’ are mid-to-late teens, but some are now arriving who are even under 13-years of age. Where to put them? Well, back to the universally-panned alleged cage-like facilities from previous administrations, while additional facilities in both Texas and Florida are now being forced to be constructed/refurbished/assembled and opened, due to the current and anticipated future crush. “It’s a crisis that we and others warned would come, as soon as President Biden started reversing every Trump border policy, even those clearly responsible for producing historic lows in illegal crossers, and returning to Obama policies that first triggered the unprecedented waves of children crossing without family,” wrote the Post editors.
Shelters for illegally-entering unaccompanied alien youth are said to currently be at 93% of capacity. More space will have to be made available and even more so as time goes on. The Border Patrol apprehended almost 6-thousand unaccompanied minors along the U.S.-Mexican border in January alone, up substantially from the previous year. “Human smugglers working in the region have also been telling would-be migrants to attempt the journey now, saying the new administration would prove more lenient than its predecessor,” wrote The Wall Street Journal. The Trump Administration would send ‘children’ back to their home countries if they were traveling with a non-parent adult. Reportedly, Mr. Biden’s team is considering reversing that practice (naturally!), meaning that a non-parent, traveling with ‘children,’ could be considered to be a part of a “family unit,” and while the ‘children’ must be retained by HHS, the fake parent would be released into our country. What a terrific, perhaps more like terrifying, idea! None of this is at all positive for, nor to the benefit of, our country.
And to make this even more harmful for the United States, the United Nations, of all things, has now stepped in to help admit long-time Mexico-based U.S. asylum seekers to America. What? Yep. The Trump Administration, you might recall, established a “Migrant Protection Protocol” requiring all asylum seekers to remain in Mexico pending review/approval of their applications. As a part of Mr. Biden’s dismantle everything associated with President Trump, he cancelled that common sense, national protective program! Once up and fully running, this newly revised entry protocol, again remember, administered by the United Nations (!!), expects to admit about 300 asylum applicants each day. Do the math. That’s over 100,000 aliens (most likely to be language-and-work-skill challenged) coming into the U.S. per year. And, recall, that’s just the legally-admitted ones!!
Oh, but meanwhile, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tells us to relax, claims there is no crisis. It’s an “acute” situation, but everything’s gonna be alright. “It is a stressful challenge, and that is why quite frankly, we are working as hard as we are.” And here it comes: “We’re not saying don’t come. We are saying don’t come now because we will be able to deliver a safe and orderly process to them as quickly as possible,” said Mayorkas.
And therein lies the current and building migrant problem. The Administration isn’t saying “don’t come,” which is exactly what should be said. How do you tell desperate migrants traveling hundreds of miles, too many times now unaccompanied, and easy prey for evil doers, to just slow down, be patient, we know you’re hungry and frightened, and we know we told you it was OK to come now, but, we’re sorry, you need to wait, because America’s border entry paint isn’t quite dry yet!! And of course, despite Mr. Biden’s open invitation to migrants to come and join us in the land of milk, honey, and unending free stuff, none of this, that is, none of this is the fault of the Biden Administration. The villain? Why President Trump, of course. “He dismantled our nation’s immigration system in its entirety, claimed Secretary Mayorkas. To which, the New York Post editors literally replied: “Bull:” “Trump boosted border resources while using diplomacy to stem the tide. All he dismantled were the Obama policies that triggered the mess in the first place. And it’s President Biden who has dismantled Trump’s solutions.”
Making matters worse for us and easier for Mexico and the migrants, Mexico has reportedly now ceased taking back migrant families “expelled” for attempted illegal entry at our southern border. President Trump implemented that policy primarily for COVID-related, U.S. citizen health reasons. That apparently means the return to the previous administration’s “catch and release” policy that admits detained migrants to the U.S. with the “promise” that they will return to the border for their formal admission hearings! Not surprisingly, in the real vs. Progressive world, few do. Texas Sheriff, A.J. Louderback, said in an interview that “the message has been sent to the world, you can come here illegally, you can commit crimes here against Americans and remain here illegally” (referring to Mr. Biden’s stated intent to reduce the overall deportation of illegals). Worse yet, this Sheriff has asserted on national television that it was “absolutely true” that is Texas, the current administration was releasing illegals into border communities without COVID testing.” The Sheriff’s quote on that charge only, no confirmation. But, in general reference to that issue, House Oversight Committee Republicans sent a letter to Secretary Mayorkas expressing definite potential danger. “We are particularly concerned that the Biden administration’s actions could soon lead to a health crisis at the border, and surrounding communities, causing widespread COVID-19 infections and fatalities.”
House Oversight Committee Republicans’ letter continued with a statement of wide-ranging concern regarding the border situation. “In addition to his reckless policies and executive actions, President Biden’s rhetoric relating to amnesty for millions of illegal aliens and gutting interior enforcement priorities is leading to a perfect storm on the southwest border. Without a radically different approach, a health, security, and humanitarian crisis is inevitable.”
Work stoppage (and resulting unemployment of construction workers) on the southern wall, another politically-motivated, extremely ridiculous, and costly action, makes illegal entry of all manner of migrants a growing issue, as well. And all this, while virus-driven, first-time unemployment benefit applications from out-of-work U.S. citizens have recently sometimes exceeded 800,000 per week (best case ‘only’ in the 700,000’s). Way too many American citizens out of work, while the border gates are being cranked open. Again, actions taken that are not in the best economic or social interest of our nation and our citizens, or even close.
Illegal immigration, especially with this new, seemingly open-door policy administration, should be a concern to all Americans, and it definitely is for Republicans. In a recent Echelon Insights survey, such is Republican voters’ most pressing issue. Almost 60% responded that they are “extremely concerned” about illegal immigration, while another 22% indicated that they were “very concerned.” That’s about 81% total. Democrats, too, should be very concerned, especially those living within or near the southern border communities, but they were either not polled in this particular survey, or results were not revealed.
And, for now, one more discomforting item dealing with the apparent softening of illegal immigration restrictions. Of even greater concern is that not all apprehended illegals, who attempt U.S. entry, speak Spanish!! For recent example, in early February (2021), Yuma (AZ) Sector Border Patrol agents arrested 11 Iranians (5 females/6 males), spotted on a bridge, after illegally crossing “the internationals border into the United States.” Iran is, or at least has been, who knows now, a “Special Interest Country,” meaning extra restrictions and precautions. Last June (2020), reportedly 3 Iranian nationals were arrested already within Del Rio, Texas. Again, while far and away most illegals seeking entry, or caught having already entered(!), do speak Spanish as their first or only language, but not all do. In addition to the problems of health, human and drug smuggling into our country, potential terrorists getting through is again yet another very real concern, especially as our border patrol officers are themselves increasingly ‘handcuffed’ and the numbers seeking entry continue to swell.
With the anti-America Progressive move toward more ‘open borders,’ the motive for Democrats, truth be told, is not humanitarian. It’s about packing in future Democrat voters, regardless of the current and longer-term domestic chaos such an anticipated and intended migrant flood may cause. Clearly what we have, pending, is an incredible mess, to go along with the other messes, legislative and otherwise, that the dismantling Progressives have planned. How much of this continuing and future damage can ever be stopped in the Senate is a serious question. For the next two years, at least, our perforated southern border, and the proposed granting of mass amnesty for those admitted, remain extremely serious national financial and social issues. We, our elected representatives, and our law enforcement forces, must remain vigilant, and ever-more protective, as today’s need for the enhanced health, safety and security of our America increases.
(‘Biden getting what he asked for’ quotes via nypost.com, Post Editorial Board, 2-26-21; Unaccompanied minor stats/WSJ quote via breitbart.com, Bob Price, 2-22-21; Migrant Protection Protocol stats via breitbart.com, Randy Clark, 2-25-21; Unemployment benefit applications via foxbusiness.com, Megan Henney, 2-18-21; Mayorkas quotes via breitbart.com, Charlie Spiering, 3-1-21; Mayorkas quote & Post editors’ response quote via nypost.com, Post Editorial Board, 3-1-21; Sheriff Louderback quotes, including COVID testing reference via dailywire.com, Daily Wire News, 2-9-21; House Oversight Committee Republicans quotes via foxnews.com, Adam Shaw, 2-19-21; Echelon Insights survey of Republicans stats via breitbart.com, John Binder, 2-25-21; Iranians arrested within our border stats via theepochtimes.com, Jack Phillips, 2-4-21).