Biden’s Policies Have Sent the Southern Border Spiraling Out of Control

As President Biden multiplied excuses, an April Washington Post/ABC News poll, showed that Americans believe he is bungling the growing crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. The results mirror other polls, like Quinnipiac and AP-NORC. According to Morning Consult, a majority of registered voters blame Biden, not “seasonal migration,” for the spike in illegal entries. 

President Biden created this chaos by ending Trump-era policies and programs that discouraged illegal immigration and by strongly signaling that his Administration would welcome any migrants who merely claimed asylum into the country. Now, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said the U.S. is on track to see the biggest surge of migrants in 20 years.

In March, President Biden tasked Vice President Kamala Harris with leading his Administration’s border response. But at the end of April, Harris was still AWOL at the border and blamed COVID-19 for the fact that she had still not announced plans to visit. Harris also only met virtually with leaders of Mexico and Guatemala, but she insists that she is working on the “root causes” that lead to immigration. 

COVID-19 has not kept Harris from other trips and it’s a far cry from her approach in 2018 when, to great publicity, she flew to the border to protest Trump’s immigration policies. 

This essentially leaves Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra with the task of housing, providing for and resettling the vast flood of children coming into the country—a task he cannot achieve. 

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) has called on Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to end the Biden Administration’s disastrous catch and release immigration policy after learning that DHS directed a Texas Sheriff’s Department to release migrants who were suspected of having committed crimes back onto the streets of Fallon’s district. “I cannot sit idly by while people in the Department of Homeland Security jeopardize the safety of my constituents,” Fallon said.

His concerns echo those of Mayor Don McLaughlin Jr., of Uvalde in south Texas, who told Fox News: “In Uvalde, Texas, we’re averaging 10 to 12 car chases a week. We never saw that before. This is something we’re seeing every day. Our local ranchers are having their fences cut, their houses are being broken into, they’re trying to steal their cars. It’s just gotten crazy.”

The lawlessness and chaos is affecting both sides of the border. To the south, the immigration crisis unfolding today is enriching international criminal cartels and the smugglers, known as coyotes, who charge migrants from Central America for the dangerous and illegal passage through Mexico and into the U.S. Often, the debts these migrants take on to make the journey will leave them vulnerable to human traffickers even after they enter the U.S.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blames President Biden’s policies

and rhetoric for the U.S.-Mexico border crisis, saying the Biden Administration has created expectations among potential migrants. Meanwhile, as border communities scramble to feed and house a growing flood of people with no end in sight, the much maligned Border Patrol Agents have their hands full rescuing adults and children alike. Some make the national news, like the 6-month old baby Border Patrol agents rescued from the Rio Grande River. According to KVEO-TV: 

The mother paid smugglers $3,500 to cross the Rio Grande River into the U.S. The mom was assaulted by the smugglers in Mexico, which resulted in a bro- ken leg, according to Olivarez.

The family of two crossed the river in rafts along with 67 adults and 150 children in Roma. While crossing the river, the 6-month-old baby was thrown out of the raft. 

We will never hear about most of the tragedies that are now unfolding as our immigration system, which had just recently been brought to order, descends into chaos once again. If the Biden Administration fails to get the situation under control, the American people and migrants will suffer.