The border crisis Joe Biden and his administration created is about to hit a new low, as the “mother of all caravans” moves towards the U.S.
Throughout their nearly ten months in office, Biden administration officials have repeatedly denied that the situation at the border is a crisis. Some optimists may even take heart in the fact that border crossings were actually down in September for only the second time in 17 months but that is a misleading statistic. Immigration experts have exposed this by showing that encounters with border crossers are down because more border agents are being pulled off the line to deal with the crush of migrants in other areas, which results in a spike of “gotaways,” or those who enter the U.S. and are not apprehended.
Right now, a massive migrant caravan is moving through Central America and preparing to come to the U.S. One of the leaders of the caravan is openly threatening the U.S., declaring that the migrants are “ready for war” if their demands are not met. The Biden administration has responded to this threat by ignoring it, and their allies in the corporate media are doing the same.
Just because the Biden White House and the media are ignoring the caravan, however, does not mean that all is well. The caravan, which was organized by allowing participants to register via QR code, is reportedly bringing over 3,000 migrants to the border. There have also been reports of tens of thousands of migrants gathering near the border, preparing to enter the U.S. If so, this looming invasion has the potential to make the Haitian migrant surge of September look minor by comparison. Joe Biden, meanwhile, is doubling down on his anti-borders agenda.
During a recent CNN town hall, Biden admitted that he probably should visit the southern border, but suggested that he was too busy to do so. Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues to pursue its “root causes” strategy, which focuses on rooting out crime and poverty in Central America in order to encourage potential migrants to stay in their home countries.
This plan is neither serious nor realistic, as it provides zero relief to Americans suffering from the border crisis right now. No one should be surprised, as the impact of these policies on the American people does not seem to be a concern to this White House.
“The root cause is in the Oval Office,” former acting ICE Director and Immigration Reform Law Institute Senior Fellow Tom Homan said in a recent interview. “The promises he made, the executive orders he’s signed. Getting rid of all the programs that worked in the Trump administration, that’s the cause.”
The Biden administration has abandoned nearly every Trump administration program that had successfully stemmed the flow of migration to the U.S. From attempting to terminate the Remain-in-Mexico policy, to bringing back catch-and-release, to halting construction of the border wall, the Biden administration has done almost everything possible to encourage large-scale, illegal migration into the U.S. The American people have suffered immensely as a result of these policies, and not just Americans who live near the border.
The U.S. is in the midst of a massive opioid crisis that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Biden’s disastrous immigration policies. More than 90,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, a roughly 30 percent increase from the previous year. The states bearing the brunt of this crisis include West Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio, far from the southern border. Given that the vast majority of fentanyl, a particularly deadly opioid, comes to the U.S. through the southern border, it is reasonable to assume that many of these deaths would be preventable if our politicians would simply take border security seriously.
Unfortunately, the looming invasion threatens to make this crisis even worse, and lead to more preventable deaths among young people. Earlier this month, the Texas Department of Public Safety seized $23 million of fentanyl, enough to kill roughly 90 million Americans. In addition to the drugs pouring in, the terrorism threat at the border also remains high.
Joe Biden could stop the carnage at the border any time he wants. All he has to do is reinstate and enforce the policies that worked so well during the last administration. Unfortunately, it appears Biden is content to sit on his hands and do nothing, and America and its citizens will suffer as a result.
Dale L. Wilcox is executive director and general counsel at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.
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