Bordering On Insanity
The situation at our wide-open southern border with illegal migrants continues to get worse rather than better. Primarily due to the administration’s mixed messages (you’re welcome here/Don’t come) from the outset, and now no consistent policy regarding who stays on U.S. soil, somewhere, and who is supposedly sent back home. For instance, with the recent Haitian migrant swarm at the border bridge near Del Rio, Texas, reportedly about 5,000 Haitians were sent back home, several thousand chose to return to Mexico rather than face deportation, and the remaining thousands have apparently been released into U.S. communities, supposedly with orders to report back for proper processing and hearings, which most, understandably, never do, given the risk of deportation, preferring to simply melt into America’s shadows. Meanwhile, Panama has warned the administration that upwards of 60,000 additional Haitian refugees are heading through their nation on into Mexico with plans to cross the U.S. border. And what are we doing about it? As far as anyone knows, nothing!! So, another surge awaits our continually overwhelmed Texas border.
And by the way, one might reasonably ask, how are so many Haitians getting to Central America and on up to the U.S.? There’s a little matter of considerable water between the nations. And by the way number two, with these and additional migrants from other southern countries: Who is paying for all of this, to include food, transportation, sanitation, and medical care (including care for underage unaccompanied children)? No one seems to be digging into the economics of this whole disastrous process, beyond the occasional article on the illegal immigration role played by human traffickers. The administration just sits back and accepts the onslaught of both people and drugs.
And you do know that poverty/financial need is not grounds for U.S. asylum. Generally speaking, only “persecution” in their home country is the accepted asylum standard. Reportedly, 85% of asylum applications from illegal migrants coming across our southern border are denied. Thus, the reason that most allowed in (due to a continuous surge beyond the ability of our Border Patrol to handle, in addition to those who sneak across undetected) do not return for their asylum hearings!
Under President Trump, who actually cared about the illegal intrusions, a “Remain in Mexico” policy was established that forced admission seekers to stay in Mexico until such time as they could be individually processed and a hearing on their asylum appeal properly conducted. As soon as the new administration took over, they cancelled that extremely effective policy, but because it was Trump’s, the back door to the country swung open, never yet to close. That’s when the Biden people installed “Catch and Release” as official U.S. border policy, a powerful migrant-drawing magnet!
On appeal, a federal court upheld the Trump policy, and the Supreme Court has preliminarily upheld that court. But, regardless of those bothersome laws and court decisions, the current administration has been clearly dragging its feet on policy reinstatement, like a pirate with a wooden leg. The border situation has gotten so bad that, against their Progressive judgment (which is always bad judgment), Washington may soon be forced to try again to enforce “Remain in Mexico.” But that requires the approval of Mexico, which this time around has not yet been forthcoming. Understandably, Mexico is getting tired of serving as a migrant doormat. Negotiations will, hopefully, continue. Observed President Trump looking at the mayhem created by dumping his successful policy: “Our border was the envy of nations. Now our border is the laughing-stock of the globe.”
Stunningly, CBP’s total migrant “encounters” for the year are anticipated to be close to 2-million, which does not include those likely thousands who managed to enter without being detected. Thank you, “catch and release”! And now, apart from the Texas border issues, the Yuma Sector (Arizona) is seeing increases in migrant apprehensions. “Most migrants are converging near the Morelos Dam, west of Yuma, where the Colorado River is extremely shallow. This makes for easy entry into the United States, where the migrants promptly surrender to Border Patrol agents.”
Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX) recently characterized the continuing border crisis as a “self-inflicted wound (created) by the Biden administration.” Made all the worse now that Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas has announced that “contract s to construct border wall barriers in the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo Sectors will be cancelled.” Reportedly, the stacks of steel remaining from the Trump wall initiative, rusting there at the border, were costing the current administration $3-million per day! Fortunately, the State of Texas has stepped up in two ways, one more permanent. Funded by the state, Texas is moving ahead with its own border wall construction, said to be in the same size and configuration as the original Trump plan. Other border states may eventually move to protect their citizens, as well, since border sealing is not on the administration’s agenda. Walls aren’t green, you see. And step number two taken by Texas, pending major progress on its own wall, was a “steel barricade” of 150 side-by-side state trooper cars (from officers reassigned), lined up to help stop the migrant hoard from future surges, specifically at Del Rio, the scene of the recent Haitian migrant onslaught. Innovation taken temporarily while Texas builds its own restraining wall. Laudable creativity. Just regrettable that the state has had to fill the gap, literally, because of the federal government’s politically-motivated (future Democrat voters gleam within their eyes) illegal migrant folly, make that more correctly, it’s sheer stupidity.
So then, again, we are faced with the anticipated 2-million illegal migrant arrests by year end, and by comparison, that’s the highest number of illegals arrested at the southern border since 1986! Said Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently: “The Biden administration has completely abandoned ranchers and other residents in this state, and all the people who live on the border.”
And then there’s the huge and complicating issue of unaccompanied, underage illegal migrants. Just through September, over 132,000 underage migrants have been taken into federal custody, an almost 300% increase from the same period last year!! Now, what to do with those tens of thousands of illegal youth piling up, and detained primarily, at the Texas border? Simple, says the apparently unconcerned about the open border (and most everything else that’s going terribly wrong, based on ever-wrong, elitist Progressive policies), let’s just ship them somewhere else within our country. And that’s exactly what they are doing. Since August 8, charter flights from Texas are transporting thousands of youthful illegals to a small airport near White Plains, New York, in the dead of night. From there, buses then take these unaccompanied underage persons to unspecified locations within New York State, New Jersey, and Connecticut (and perhaps other states, as well), there to be cared for by nonprofit organizations under contract to the federal government, per a New York Post report.
And, why at night, you ask? “The obvious reason why they’re flying these migrants across the country in the dead of night,” said Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), “is because they don’t want to reveal the consequences of their open borders policy. They know that Joe Biden’s open border policy is a political disaster.” Cotton continued: “All of these migrants should not be in Texas, or Florida, or New York, they should be in Mexico, because President Biden should have kept the Remain in Mexico policy in place (rescinded on Biden’s first day!) to make sure that people aren’t entering the country with bogus claims of asylum.”
The southern border isn’t anywhere near closed, as politically claimed, but remains an open source of illegal entry by men, women, and children, by human traffickers (often undetected), by criminals & potential terrorists (for which we’ll pay one day), by thousands of unvaccinated persons, perhaps carrying COVID and other diseases, and by drug traffickers (an estimated 500 tons of all manner of illegal drugs are claimed to have come thru our SW border so far this year (including fentanyl, claimed to be the cause of an increasing number of overdose deaths, principally among America’s young people). We are a nation at extreme risk because of our continuing open border status, from the standpoint of security (criminals & terror), national health & wellbeing, and for the financial health of our nation (huge increases in migrant welfare payments, child support, housing, medical care and education). Wrote commentator Dan McLaughlin on the overall border dilemma and continuing, undiminishing crisis: “Our immigration policy is often too harsh and too lax at once, treating lawbreakers better than people who play by the rules and passing laws that are inconsistently enforced. Even by those standards, Joe Biden is making it up as he goes along. Our southern border is wildly insecure.” And to conclude this discussion with the fitting title of McLaughlin’s commentary: “Biden’s asylum policies for migrants at the border are insane.”
ADDENDUM: And it really needs to be stated that every illegal migrant who is politically allowed to enter our nation (or sneak in undetected) is an insult and disservice to those legal, qualified (e.g., character/language/employability) immigrants, whom we as a nation continue to welcome. Those who have applied for entry by the rules, and then have waited in line, to eventually be admitted to our United States, seeking freedom of opportunity and citizenship, and who by so doing, are committed to contribute, both to our society, and by their productivity, to our economy.
And therein lies the critical difference when it comes to the current state of U.S. immigration. The illegal migrants are given access by a negligent, purely politically and power-driven administration. While our welcomed-on-merit, legal immigrants have, instead, earned their admission to America. It’s clear that the latter course is the far better choice, and the far more positive-for-our nation, both for the near-term and well into our future. (NOTE: Recent legal exceptions have been made for specific properly identified and vetted Afghan nationals (and families) who have previously assisted our military there as interpreters or in other pro-America roles.)
(Haitian migrants stats via breitbart.com, Edwin Mora, 9-30-21; Panama warning about coming surge stats via dailymail.com, Keith Griffith, 10-1-21; Trump quote via newsmax.com, Jeffrey Rodack, 9-30-21; Yuma Arizona Sector traffic quote via breitbart.com, Randy Clark, 10-8-21; McCaul quote via breitbart.com, Trent Baker, 10-17-21; Mayorkas decision quote via townhall.com, Katie Pavlich, 1`0-8-21; Texas construction info via breitbart.com, Randy Clark, 10-10-21; “Steel Barricade” info via dailymail.com, Ross Ibbetson, 9-22-21; Total CBP migrant projections (2021) via breitbart.com, Bob Price, 10-14-21; CBP migrant estimates for 2021 and Abbott quote via foxnews.com, Emma Colton, 10-20-21; Underage migrants arrested via nypost.com, John Daniel Davidson, 10-19-21; Transporting underage youth away from Texas at night data via nypost.com, John Daniel Davidson, 10-19-21; Senator Tom Cotton quotes via dailywire.com, Editors, 10-20-21); Illegal drugs coming into American in 2021 via foxnews.com, Edmund DeMarche, 10-20-21; Biden’s border policies are insane quotes via nypost.com, Dan McLaughlin, 9-21-21).