Illegal immigration numbers remain too high to accommodate or to claim we have anything close to a credible system. The entire system is in overshoot with real solutions still waiting for a hearing.
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Mark Krikorian reports from the border:
I saw an Angolan family who'd crossed in daylight waiting under a canopy for their taxpayer-funded ride. (They'd lived in Brazil for years, meaning any asylum claim would be a lie.) I myself spoke with half a dozen give-ups from Georgia (Tbilisi, not Atlanta) preparing to board the Border Patrol bus. I later found a print-out of one of their e-tickets outside the fence; the round-trip fare from Paris to Cancun was undoubtedly intended to support the lie told to Mexican visa officials that they came only for a vacation. Any asylum claim, if they even bother to make one, would be transparently bogus. One of the Georgians all but admitted to me they were coming in response to Biden's lax policies, not any sort of persecution."
Demoralized agents are retiring early, Krikorian says, rather than "actively facilitating" illegal immigration any longer.
Mexico Detention Fire
At least 39 people have died from a fire in a Mexican detention center. Investigations are ongoing but it has been reported that the disaster involved reckless behavior on the part of one of the detainees, as well as a dereliction of duty of some of the personnel who worked at the center.
Whether the U.S. government continues to release increasing numbers of unauthorized migrants into the United States, or apply safe-third-country rules to discourage asylum fraud and illegal immigration, some number of people will always be detained in the process. It is incumbent on the governments of Mexico and the U.S. to provide safe, humane conditions, even as the rules of our immigration systems are applied.
There have been a record number of border deaths over the past two years as the overall numbers of people attempting illegal entry have risen. A truly humanitarian policy will provide clarity to people around the world that it is not worth putting their lives into the hands of human smugglers in the first place.
Echoes from the border
Joe Guzzardi shares a blast from the past:
During the Secure Fence Act of 2006's signing ceremony, President George W. Bush acknowledged that "millions of illegal immigrants are already here" and that "the U.S. has not been in complete control of its borders for decades and, therefore, illegal immigration has been on the rise....Biden said that his vote was cast primarily with the hope that a fence would impede drug trafficking."
Loose Borders or Worker Power?
Oren Cass throws cold water on all the talk of labor shortages:
Cass also reflects back on the Great Leveling of the mid-20th Century that stalled out after Congress raised immigration to the new, record levels that continue to this day.
Ruy Teixeira ruminations of the political migration of working-class voters, reminds me of Angela Nagle's evergreen ""The Left Case Against Open Borders". She writes:
Immigration policies should be designed to ensure that the bargaining power of workers is not significantly imperiled. This is especially true in times of wage stagnation, weak unions, and massive inequality.
With respect to illegal immigration, the Left should support efforts to make E-Verify mandatory and push for stiff penalties on employers who fail to comply. Employers, not immigrants, should be the primary focus of enforcement efforts. These employers take advantage of immigrants who lack ordinary legal protections in order to perpetuate a race to the bottom in wages while also evading payroll taxes and the provision of other benefits. Such incentives must be eliminated if any workers are to be treated fairly."
There's a bill for that. The Legal Workforce Act (the bi-partisan H.R. 319):
- Requires all employers to screen all new hires through E-Verify within 2 ½ years
- Gives safe harbor to employers that rely on E-Verify in good faith
- Increases penalties for knowingly hiring illegal aliens
How about we get it passed?
JEREMY BECK is a V.P., Deputy Director for NumbersUSA
