Of course many in the Biden administration were perplexed by Vice President Kamala Harris’ performance during her recent trip to Guatemala and Mexico. They must have been watching the same NBC News interview the rest of the nation watched, in which a clearly frustrated Lester Holt pressed the vice president on why she was visiting Guatemala without having been to this nation’s southern border, which is ground zero of the border crisis.
Harris responded with a combination of her trademark giggle-fest and twisted logic, pointing out that yes, she has not been to the southern border, but she also hasn’t “visited Europe” either. Gulp. Days after she returned, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that more than 180,000 illegal aliens were apprehended in May — a figure not seen in 21 years.
Let’s be crystal clear about this: This entire trip was an attempt to assign blame to specific countries in Central America – notably Guatemala – and Mexico for the sudden explosion in illegal aliens crossing the border. The Biden administration is trying to sell the narrative that this crisis is due to the “push factors” in those countries – like political corruption, poverty, climate change and gang violence – that have forced thousands to flee.
The main problem with that thesis is that it’s bass-ackwards on a number of levels. First, the “push factors” that the Biden administration is attempting to use as a scapegoat have been the status quo in Central America and Mexico for decades. Secondly, it’s not just illegal immigrants from Central America and Mexico that are flocking to the United States. Illegal aliens from more than 160 countries have been caught in recent months.
Harris’ trip to our southern neighbors and her refusal to visit our own border underscore the fact that the administration knows full well that it’s the “pull factors” that they’ve put in place that have actually triggered this crisis. The trouble is that nobody is willing to admit this. What are those pull factors, specifically?
- Joe Biden’s promise to back amnesty for the nation’s 14.5 million illegal aliens during the presidential debates. That promise was followed up by the passage of scaled-down bills in the House that would provide amnesty to 2.5 million “DREAMERS,” or those illegal aliens (some of whom are closely approaching their 40thbirthdays by now) who came to the U.S. as minors along with roughly 1.5 million farm workers.
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Mayorkas’ complete dismantling of nearly every enforcement tool put in place during the Trump administration. Mayorkas, who worked for the Obama administration, has reinstated “catch and release”, ended most interior immigration enforcement, terminated the “Remain in Mexico” policy and has removed effective agreements between local police and immigration enforcement officials that helped ensure the removal of criminal aliens.
- President Biden’s offer of free health care to illegal aliens. In March, President Biden even sweetened that deal, expanding his offer of taxpayer funded benefits to illegal aliens to include transportation, healthcare and mental health services as well as legal, career and educational services.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge’s promise to open up taxpayer funded public housing to illegal aliens. As part of the “America Rescue Plan,” passed in March, it’s now much easier for illegal aliens to receive housing benefits.
- The administration’s announcement that children arriving in the U.S. will no longer be returned to their families in their home countries. As the president of Guatemala recently pointed out, once that announcement was made, the streets were full of child traffickers soliciting kids to smuggle northward.
Illegal alien apprehensions have shot up dramatically since Biden was elected president, rising by two and a half fold from roughly 72,000 before the election to more than 180,000 today. If current rates continue for the next four months, Fiscal Year 2021 could hit or surpass 1.8 million apprehensions in a single year, giving 2021 the distinction of shouldering the largest wave of illegal alien apprehensions in U.S. history.
This wasn’t caused by push factors across the globe. This surge was caused by unpopular and dangerous policy changes that took place right here at home and right on our own border.
Sadly, things could get much, much worse before they get better. The one vestige of the Trump enforcement portfolio that remains in place – although it’s expected to end soon – is Title 42, a law that allows immigration enforcement officials to turn back nearly all illegal aliens due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Activated in March, 2020, this enforcement tool pushed illegal alien apprehensions down to roughly 17,000 the following month.
The irony of Harris travelling to Guatemala to lecture their leaders on methods for tamping down on gang violence without first stopping in Chicago to share that same advice with beleaguered Mayor Lori Lightfoot simply defies gravity. Sadly, as long as the administration looks abroad for reasons to explain this massive upsurge in illegal immigration that has happened under their watch, the further they’ll be from finding the truth. Look no further than DHS Secretary Mayorkas and his marching orders from the White House for the real reason behind this crisis.
Dave Ray is director of communications at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
