President Biden spent relatively little of his address to Congress on the subject of immigration, but he did urge the legislature to pass his immigration bill. Ironically, in a speech that urged America to think big on practically every subject he addressed, Biden undersold just how radical his immigration expansion would be. Take a look here.
SAY IT AIN'T SO... Bob Casimiro says Joe Biden's immigration expansion would hurt hard-working Americans. Joe Guzzardi estimates Biden's immigration expansion would set the U.S. on a course to double our population within the lifetimes of many Americans alive today. Roy Beck says neither Biden's proposal nor the status quo are sustainable. Andrew Sullivan (1:08:35 into his conversation with Nick Miroff) argues that the low-immigration decades of the 20th century were "good times for American labor," and suggests that instead of increasing immigration, a pause would especially benefit Black Americans, Latino Americans, working-class Americans, and unskilled labor. FOR THE RECORD...
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that illegal border crossings began to level off in April, but remain near 20-year record highs. Nick Miroff details the multiple actions the Biden administration took that directly led to the surge of unaccompanied minors and family units, despite warnings. The result: a record number of teens and children in shelters. The Associated Press reports that the conditions in the sending countries haven't changed; U.S. policy has. And now people are once again using children as "passports" to get into the country. Byron York says the Border Patrol is "no longer really trying to prevent people from entering the U.S. illegally. Rather, they are attempting to humanely house and feed the thousands prior to releasing them into the country." Nolan Rappaport says "Biden is so focused on reversing the Trump administration's border security measures that he isn't thinking about the consequences of his actions." Andrew Sullivan says "It's as if Biden looked at Merkel's decision in 2015 to admit a million Syrian migrants, which helped tip an entire continent toward the far right, and thought: let's try that here." Immigration lawyer Matthew Kolken shared the view from his clients' perspective: "I represent asylum seekers. It is a large percentage of my practice. Universally, the motivating factor driving individuals to our southern border is Joe Biden's immigration statements. Immigrants believe that without Trump there will be amnesty. It really is that simple." Former USCIS senior official Joseph Edlow lays the blame on the introduction of Biden's immigration bill and the dismantling of the Migrant Protection Protocols (i.e. the "Remain In Mexico" policy). The message to Central America, Edlow says, is "Welcome, we have work authorization for everyone (even if we don't have enough jobs)." Nick Miroff appeared on Andrew Sullivan's podcast for one of the best conversations about the border that you'll hear this year, including: Keli Goff appeared on Left, Right & Center to say (30 minutes into the podcast): "We can't unfortunately allow everyone to come in. Refugees are one thing but someone who wants to simply come here to find a better life - god bless them but the Black unemployment rates are also really bad...so we can't unfortunately open our borders to everyone who wants to come here for the American dream because there are a lot of people who were born here who are not achieving the dream." While much of the nation is rightly attentive to ignominious records being broken at the border, less attention has been paid to President Biden's proposal to shatter all previous records for immigration expansion.
JEREMY BECK is the Director of the Sustainability Initiative for NumbersUSA
