Of course Biden’s policies are to blame for this migrant tragedy

“These deaths are on Biden. They are a result of his deadly open border policies.”

That’s what Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted Monday upon learning of a truck full of dead illegal immigrants being smuggled through San Antonio.

Was he right?

There’s certainly plenty of blame to go around. The smugglers bear the most direct responsibility for the tragedy. They fleece the migrants (derided as “chickens”), shoot competitors, rape little girls — truly the scum of the earth.

The corrupt and dysfunctional leadership of the countries these people are fleeing also bear responsibility, for making their countries the kinds of places people want to flee from.

The illegal immigrants themselves are adults, of course, and put children at risk by hiring criminals.

But there’s no getting around the fact that President Joe Biden shoulders a big part of the blame. Regardless of US policy, some foreigners are going to take foolish, often deadly, risks to come to America. But when Biden issued what smugglers call “La Invitación” to prospective illegal immigrants worldwide, what did he think was going to happen?

Even before a Democratic nominee for president was selected, the prospect of President Donald Trump’s electoral defeat was drawing illegal immigrants northward. One Central American woman in Mexico told us some two and half years ago, “I want Trump out. I’ll wait for that because it would make things easier to get in.”