The day Joe Biden entered the White House, he signed a slew of executive orders.
Several marked a U-turn on border security, reversing Trump’s policies. Biden stopped construction of the border wall, ended the “Remain in Mexico” standard and rolled back immigration enforcement to Obama-era procedures.
While praised by many in January 2021, voters today aren’t thrilled with the results.
According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans rank immigration as the “most important problem facing this country.” This is the third straight month the issue has led the rankings, beating out the economy and the government in general.
With less than five months until Election Day, Biden wants to change the narrative. Badly. But not enough to actually enforce the immigration laws on the books.
On Tuesday, the President signed an executive order that purportedly prevents illegal border crossers from gaining asylum. His way of going about this is complex, to say the least.
The order will suspend the entry of non-citizens once the number of average border encounters exceeds 2,500 a day over a seven-day period. Once there has been 14 days showing a seven-day average of fewer than 1,500 border encounters, the policy will end.
And this only counts those people crossing the southern border by land, not those arriving by other means.
Biden does not address the 30,000 migrants per month flying into the U.S. Unaccompanied minors also are exempt from the order, raising concerns about child trafficking. Also, migrants can still claim fear in an attempt to avoid deportation.
In addition, since the end of Title 42 last year, asylum has already been banned for most migrants.
An average number of border encounters of 1,500 per day adds up to more than half a million undocumented migrants per year.
Not reflected in this number are the so-called “gotaways” who evaded the border patrol, a number estimated to be 1.7 million since Biden took office.
Keep in mind that Jeh Johnson, Obama’s Homeland Security secretary, said in 2019 that 1,000 illegal crossings would constitute a “bad day.”
Biden doesn’t want to enforce the nation’s laws, he just wants people to think he’s enforcing the nation’s laws.
Closing Arizona's border:Could be even more dangerous
Also curious is the president’s reversal on his former excuse for inaction: that he is forbidden to take any action until Congress passed major immigration reform legislation.
“Today, I’m moving past Republican obstruction and using executive authorities available as president to do what I can on my own to address the border,” the president said. “If the United States doesn’t secure our border, there’s no limit to the number of people who may try to come.”
You don’t say.
Border hawks have little faith in Biden’s plan.
According to Chris Clem, the former Yuma sector Border Patrol chief, “unless those arrested entering illegally are immediately detained and returned, there will be little change.”
Former acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan agreed.
“The border will never be ‘shut down’ under this executive action but rather serve to legalize an unjustified level of open borders that will further perpetuate the chaos and lawlessness we’ve experienced during the entirety of the Biden Administration,” he said.
Most Americans want effective border enforcement.
They also favor immigration; they just want newcomers to follow the rules. This shouldn’t be too much to ask of a president who loves saying, “no one is above the law.”
As Biden wrapped up his Tuesday press conference, he refused to answer any questions. One reporter loudly asked, “Why now?”
I think we all know why now.
Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. On X, formerly Twitter: @exjon.
Biden won't really enforce existing immigration law
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09.06.2024
The day Joe Biden entered the White House, he signed a slew of executive orders.
Several marked a U-turn on border security, reversing Trump’s policies. Biden stopped construction of the border wall, ended the “Remain in Mexico” standard and rolled back immigration enforcement to Obama-era procedures.
While praised by many in January 2021, voters today aren’t thrilled with the results.
According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans rank immigration as the “most important problem facing this country.” This is the third straight month the issue has led the rankings, beating out the economy and the government in general.
With less than five months until Election Day, Biden wants to change the narrative. Badly. But not enough to actually enforce the immigration laws on the books.
On Tuesday, the President signed an executive order that purportedly prevents illegal border crossers from gaining asylum. His way of going about this is complex, to say the........
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