The executive branch caused this border crisis. The legislative branch can end it.
President Biden pledged that we wouldn't see "2 million people on our border" on his watch. He was wrong. How we got here (hat tip, The Washington Post):
At the time he made his pledge, President Biden probably thought keeping border apprehensions below 2 million was a bar he could easily clear. After all, those numbers had never been reached before. But as the Post reports, his administration removed more "guardrails" than they put up. The results have been disastrous.
— Border Deaths: Fiscal Year 2021 set a new record for border deaths, as migrants from around the world calculated – correctly – that if they could get to the United States, they would likely be released.
— More Border Deaths: 2022 broke the previous year's record for border deaths.
— Lost Children: The government lowered its standards for placing unaccompanied minors with adults in the U.S., and record numbers have been lost.
The changes to border policy were supposed to usher in a more compassionate era, but the consequences have been dire for migrants and American citizens. Click the image below to watch Batya Ungar-Sargon.
The record border surge has undermined Biden's goals for equity and conservation, and produced:
— spikes in homelessness
— a "glam migration" industry with an extensive Uber network
— new national security risks
— child labor exploitation
It's not crazy to be concerned about the border.
Incentivizing A Crisis: By law, the government must detain illegal border crossers, but despite record apprehensions, detention facilities are empty. The "Alternatives to Detention" program that the administration prefers has failed to monitor 4 out of 5 migrants through the entire removal process. Over 2 million have been released into the country. Millions more will try. All of this has produced record profits for the human smuggling industry, enriched the cartels, and exacerbated the opioid crisis as the cartels use large groups of smuggled migrants to occupy border agents as the drugs slip through.
— The Biden-Harris "Root Causes" strategy has failed. People can simply make far more money in the United States than in their home countries. They look at the 2 million who have been released into the country and think "why not me?"
— The Biden administration's new proposals are to process migrants faster, which will further incentivize illegal immigration.
Wrong on Policy and Politics: Roughly 60 percent disapprove of President Biden's handling of immigration. Working class voters of all races disapprove (yes, despite over a decade of "conventional wisdom," Hispanic voters want border control).
Where is Congress? The Executive branch can do a lot to impact the border, but multiple Congresses – led by Democrats and Republicans – have failed to act. The solutions are there to be implemented, including:
— Raise the credible fear standard, so that migrants can no longer claim evidenceless fears to gain perfunctory release into the United States.
— End parole abuse (Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is releasing people en masse, with work permits, when parole is supposed to be a case-by-case basis).
— Mandate the Migration Protection Protocols ("Remain in Mexico") to end the incentive of falsely claiming asylum in order to be released into the U.S.
— Require the Department of Homeland Security to reject asylum claims from migrants who have already passed through a safe country on their way to the United States.
JEREMY BECK is a V.P., Deputy Director for NumbersUSA
