An internal study for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) estimates that the agency would need one-to-two years to prepare for an amnesty that covers roughly four million people.
Biden's recently-released blueprint for immigration reform calls on Congress to use "reconciliation or other means" to pass an amnesty for more than 11 million.
What does any of this have to do with border control and the management of a credible immigration system?
Border encounters have topped one million this fiscal year, surpassing the 2019 border crisis, and making 2021 the worst year for illegal immigration in decades - while 45 million working-age Americans are currently without jobs.
The Border Patrol estimates another 270,000 migrants entered the country illegally without detection during the fiscal year.
The Biden administration released 50,000 migrants without a notice to appear in court. Instead, the administration advised the released migrants to report to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. Fewer than one-in-seven are showing up, however, despite Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' assurances of a "high rate" of compliance.
As The Washington Post reported in May, interior enforcement has been "functionally abolished," according to its agents (the story originally said "essentially abolished"), so any alien released into the country is unlikely to ever be asked to leave. Andrew R. Arthur describes the current state of interior enforcement as "decimated."
Four months after President Biden said a border surge like this "happens every year," the numbers continue to rise, even during the hot and deadly summer.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) says the preliminary numbers for July suggest there were more than 200,000 encounters and 35,000 got-aways last month. The number of unaccompanied minors encountered at the border is also expected to set a new record.
By almost any measure, the situation is getting worse.
In one sector alone - the Rio Grande Valley sector - agents apprehended 20,000 people and released more than 7,000 without a notice to appear — in just one week. More than seven thousand of them were released without a notice to appear.
Reports from the El Paso sector are also grim:
The El Paso Sector is on pace to meet or exceed the record numbers from the 'Migrant Crisis' in FY19. The top five nationalities encountered in the El Paso Sector in FY21 are Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Cuba.....Due to the historic pace of encounters in FY21, agents have been involved in 245 rescues, 20 migrant deaths and 36 El Paso Sector Border Patrol Agents have been assaulted."
Axios and The Washington Times report:
The Washington Post says Biden is struggling for a "clear plan," but Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) tells the paper that "the more 'open borders' vision is winning out at the White House."
As if to prove Cuellar's point, the White House released a "Blueprint for a Fair, Orderly and Humane Immigration System" on July 27, in which it calls on Congress to use reconciliation to create "a path to citizenship for those already living and working in the United States."
The editors at National Review explain why the amnesty gambit is bad on the merits, and Nolan Rappaport points out what is missing:
The White House blueprint doubles down on what it calls the "Migration Strategy" or "Root Causes." Stephen Dinan reports that the administration "vows to tackle most of the major issues" in the Northern Triangle Countries while also "promising new ways to reach other countries legally, including new work-based visas and humanitarian protection programs here in the U.S."
Whatever the goal is, the plan is not aimed at disrupting illegal immigration.
The best way to help the majority of people in the sending countries is to help them where they are. The best way to discourage illegal immigration is to remove the incentives, or "pull factors."
JEREMY BECK is the Director of the Sustainability Initiative for NumbersUSA
