Jim Hartman
The collapse of President Biden’s border policy was on full display with the end of Title 42 deportation authority May 11.
Title 42 is the Trump-era public health order that has allowed border officials to turn away nearly 3 million migrants to prevent COVID-19.
Biden kept the policy in place for most of his first year in office, but then sought to have it rescinded. He pushed for Title 42 to end without any plan to deal with the massive influx of illegal immigrants it unleashed.
Do nothing has been the Biden migration policy since the president named Vice President Kamala Harris as “border czar,” recognized even then as proof certain that nothing was intended. Harris was assigned to focus on the “root causes” of migration in Central America.
In August 2021, the Washington Post editorial board concluded President Biden’s immigration policy “has been a failure” and “he needs a coherent strategy for the border.”
Nearly two years have elapsed since with no meaningful action.
The southern border is a disaster and in chaos.
In 10 days before Title 42 ended, more than 81,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border, while an estimated 26,000 “gotaways” evaded authorities.
On May 9 and 10, there were more than 11,000 illegal migrant apprehensions each day – single day records.
Officials predict illegal crossings will double from recent averages in coming weeks, though not immediately.
An estimated 60-65,000 more migrants from all over the world are massed across the border in Mexico, waiting for the right moment to walk or swim to the U.S. Criminals and feuding drug cartels with record amounts of fentanyl are being intercepted at points of entry.
States of emergency are declared in El Paso, Yuma and other border cities, but also in Democratic-run New York state and Chicago, far from the border. Shelters and emergency-bed capacity are overwhelmed.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams reports 40,000 newly arrived asylum seekers are likely to cost his city $4.3 billion through the summer of 2024. The city may create migrant tent shelters in Central Park.
This is what failure looks like. Even Biden admitted the migrant surge was “going to be chaotic” with Title 42 ending.
The Biden administration has tried to minimize the collapse of its immigration policy, hoping most Americans wouldn’t notice if only Fox News was regularly reporting on the border chaos.
It’s important to recall how we got here. Democrats campaigned against the Trump administration’s policies as cruel.
Biden has done everything in his power to remove deterrents to mass migration.
Upon taking office, he ended the “Remain in Mexico” policy implemented by President Trump, which required asylum seekers to wait in Mexico until their U.S. immigration court date.
Biden also terminated the “safe third country” agreements Trump negotiated with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, which required migrants to apply for asylum in the first foreign country they crossed into.
The signal went out to migrants that the border was effectively open. If you entered the United States and claimed asylum, you would be admitted with a future date for an asylum hearing you may never have to show up for. Millions of migrants took the hint and came in record numbers.
The current surge is so great the Biden administration began releasing migrants into the U.S. without court dates and with no way to track them. A Florida federal judge temporarily blocked that policy.
In a letter to Biden, Nevada Democrats Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, and Rep. Susie Lee, slammed the Biden administration for being “insufficiently prepared” for the border debacle.
The only way to stop the migrant deluge now is a clear message:
If you’re caught illegally at the border, you will be deported and put on a banned list for legal entry. No exceptions.
E-mail Jim Hartman at lawdocman1@aol.com.