R&I – FS
The president campaigned on easing immigration controls, including a moratorium on deportations, an end to former President Donald Trump’s “wait in Mexico” policy for asylum-seekers and halting construction of the border wall. That platform gave migrants good reason to believe it would be easier to get into the United States if he were elected.
Since taking office, Biden has also given them good reason to think they might be allowed to stay, as his immigration bill would offer legal status and a pathway to citizenship to much of the U.S. undocumented population.
Biden needs to admit that his eagerness to roll back Trump’s immigration policies without a meaningful plan to deal with the predictable migration increase has led to chaos at the border. While many voters wanted a kinder, gentler approach than Trump’s, Democrats cannot simply wish away the need for effective border security and immigration regulation short of declaring open borders — a deeply unpopular idea carrying numerous economic and security risks.
Playing to the wishes of the Democratic base while ignoring the need for more enforcement has merely exacerbated the problem at the border and is becoming impossible to deny, much as the Biden administration would like to. It’s not only a problem in terms of the United States being ill-equipped and under-resourced to handle the surge. It also leads migrants to take risks on dangerous terrain and increases the likelihood that unaccompanied minors will end up in perilous conditions.
The numbers are stark. More than 100,000 migrants attempted to enter the U.S. in February, more than three times the amount for February 2020 and the highest level for the month in five years. “Internal DHS/HHS reports show the crisis at the border is significantly worse than Biden admin has acknowledged,” Washington Post reporter Nick Miroff tweeted Wednesday. “There are now 3,500 unaccompanied minors in grim Border Patrol detention cells, a record.” And more than 1,000 minors have exceeded the amount of time they can be detained before being transferred to a shelter, according to the New York Times.
Mr. Sniff and Bad Touch
Article URL : https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/biden-immigration-policies-cause-predictable-border-crisis-why-didn-t-ncna1260992