As context for the remarks of the Wall Street Journal editors, consider the graph above. In March some, including the Biden Administration, were explaining the sharp increase in immigrants crossing our southern border as a timeshifting of May or June “encounters”, as they are called, into March. That explanation is no longer supportable. The editors remark on recent developments:
The Biden Administration’s immigration policy has been a debacle from the start, but two events Friday ought to spur a reboot. Democrats will need one if they want to avoid a political backlash in 2022 and beyond.
Customs and Border Protection reported that its agents had some 188,000 migrant encounters in June. CBP has made more than a million arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border so far this fiscal year, already more than any full-year total since at least 2005.
The number of families caught trying to cross reached 55,805 for the month, a 25% increase from May, and unaccompanied children encountered rose to 15,253. These numbers don’t count those who cross illegally and aren’t caught, and they mask the human exploitation of migrants by the cartels that control border crossings.
The migrants keep coming despite the vocal pleading of Biden officials because migrants perceive the benefits are worth the risk. The Biden Administration is expelling adults under a pandemic-era emergency policy. But news reports say it is considering an end to that policy, which means migrants would be able to seek asylum and remain in the U.S., often with permission to work, while they wait for their cases to be heard. That can take years given the backlog, and many will never show up in court.
No wonder so many pay the cartels and take their chances on the trek through Mexico rather than stay in Central American countries with little economic opportunity and no rule of law. Apparently America’s “systemic racism†isn’t as awful as the Biden Administration claims. But the surge of migrants is a growing political crisis for Democrats, whose failure to fix the broken incentives is costing them support, including among Hispanic-Americans in the border counties of Texas.
Meanwhile on Friday, federal Judge Andrew Hanen ruled that the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is illegal. The George W. Bush appointee ruled that Congress never gave the executive branch the power to grant mass work permits to immigrants who are in the U.S. without authorization.
Apparently, when you encourage people to “surge across the border”, as Candidate Biden did during the campaign, they believe you and they may not change that behavior without some additional incentives. Or disincentives as the case may be.
I support the rule of law and think that the presidential oath of office means what it says. There is no “unless it’s politically unpopular among activists in your own party” clause. I also think that President Obama overreached in DACA. I support Congress’s enacting a law to replace the executive order and enforcing that law once it is enacted. I don’t believe that “poisoning the well” is the best strategy for gaining the support that such a law will require.
Waiting in 3-2-1 for Jen Psaki to tell us straight faced that they really meant time shifting from August, September, October………………..and the slack-jawed journos moving on the important issues of the day, like Mr President, vanilla or chocolate?
“the human exploitation of migrants by the cartels that control border crossings”
Because the Biden administration chooses not to.
Too bad that doesn’t fit on a campaign poster.
At 2 million per year, Honduras is about to run out of people. It’s current population is 9.9 million. Of course, not all the 2 million are coming from Honduras, but many are.
Are we skimming their best? their young? their ambitious? their men?
What kind of country will be left behind?
The Honduras TFR has been falling rapidly, and it was 2.43 in 2019. I am not sure what the replacement value is for Honduras, but it is likely more than the 2.07 quoted for the US and other advanced countries.
Look at the bigger picture…. we should be somewhat grateful the crisis isn’t worse.
In the last 2 weeks, serious disorder has erupted in Haiti, Cuba, and South Africa. A big warning sign that many countries in the Global South are buckling under the stress of Covid (including trade and economic stress). If more of these countries fall into civil disorder, it is going to make the chaos from Syria/Iraq 10 years ago look like child’s play.
That’s one of the factors that has pushed Mexico towards being a failed state.
CO- This has nothing to do with conditions elsewhere. This is all about Biden sending invitations telling everyone to come here. Dave says so.
Steve
All? No. Contributing factor? Absolutely. You don’t believe he said that during the campaign? I’ve cited the transcripts.
The first thing you do to reduce illegal immigration is to reduce the pull factors. Why? They’re the ones most easily under our control. That’s among the reasons I support a robut eVerify system and thought that Trump’s opposition to such a system called his bona fides on immigration into question. To whatever extent they’re actually needed the effect will be to increase the pay of entry level workers.
IMO bringing in large numbers of migrant workers is mostly a license to abuse people. They can’t complain about bad conditions or pay that’s too low. The evidence that we actually need more of them is weak.
While Biden has been welcoming migrants to come on over from the Mexico border, he has been far less gracious towards Cuban refugees who are actively protesting the abuses of communism. In fact he is telling them to stay away, and is even threatening Cuban Floridians, who want to help them, to stand down in any attempts to send them food and supplies.
I guess, like everything else in the Biden Administration it’s all a matter of “selective†empathy joining his sense of “selective†justice, honesty, due process, economic growth & fairness etc..
In fairness he’s telling Mexicans and Central Americans to stay away at this point as well.
Biden’s deeds do not match his (current) words; his deeds are more consistent with what he said during the campaign….
Which deeds?