Why the Border Crisis Is All Biden’s Fault

The numbers don’t lie: Team Biden’s failure is demonstrable and undeniable — and the American people see it. By Aaron Kliegman The crisis at the southern border is getting worse, and the Biden administration is to blame. In December, President Trump’s last full month in office, 74,019 people crossed the border illegally. In February, President Biden’s first full month in the White House, that figure rose to 101,095. Since then, the number of border crossings (which doesn’t include those who avoided all contact with the government) has grown every month. In June, for example, U.S. authorities encountered 188,829 people crossing. Just last month, an astounding 210,000 tried to cross illegally. What makes these figures especially striking is that, normally, illegal immigration decreases with the summer heat, which can be lethal for those making the journey to the border. But not this year. Not with Biden in the White House. Indeed, in the first seven months of Biden’s presidency, well over a million illegal migrants traversed the southern border. And those are just the ones who the government knows of and recorded. The real number is no doubt substantially higher. By comparison, there were only about 550,000 border crossings over all 12 months of 2020 — half the amount in nearly twice the time. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or an immigration expert) to understand what’s going on. President Trump turned back the tide of illegal immigration through specific measures. He of course tried to build a border wall. But perhaps most importantly, his administration implemented the Remain in Mexico policy, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols, to address the rampant abuses of America’s asylum system. Asylum seekers from Central American had to stay in Mexico during their immigration proceedings. The Trump administration also made agreements with many Central American countries — including Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador — to curtail asylum fraud. These countries were required to take back any migrants who had sought asylum in the U.S. without first seeking protection in a safe third country through which they had passed on their way to the U.S. President Trump’s asylum policies were in keeping with how political asylum works under U.S. law and has been accepted internationally. These measures were the primary factor in securing America’s southern border and dramatically reducing illegal immigration under his administration. Yet President Biden ripped up these policies immediately upon entering the White House. On his first day in office, he halted and then formally ended the Remain in Mexico Policy, launching the highest surge in illegal border crossings in decades. The Biden administration also stopped construction on the border wall, ended many deportations, and proposed amnesty for the millions of people currently in America illegally. But above all, the administration has actively encouraged illegal immigration — especially for illegitimate asylum seekers from Central America to come to the US and not stay in the first safe countries they reach. In June, for example, Vice President Kamala Harris said she is “committed to making sure we provide a safe haven for those seeking asylum, period.” A few days later, the administration greatly expanded the number of Central American children eligible to apply for asylum in the U.S. while still in their home countries. All this invites people to cross the border illegally. The numbers don’t lie: Team Biden’s failure is demonstrable and undeniable — and the American people see it. The polling continues to show the public overwhelmingly disapproves of Biden’s handling of the border. In fact, according to a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll, only 37 percent of Americans approve of Biden’s immigration policy. For months this has been the case: The American people know there’s a crisis at the border and blame Biden for it. The White House recognizes this reality and knows immigration is a huge political liability for the president. Hence their unwillingness to discuss the border crisis unless pressed to do so. Even the liberal Washington Post editorial board is calling out Biden, describing the border crisis as “out of control” and the administration’s response as a “failure.” Faced with such a blatant disaster, Biden has actually revived a couple of his predecessors supposedly “inhumane” immigration policies. (Was Trump right on immigration after all?) But with the Biden administration continuing to maintain its basic posture toward the border, nothing will change. The situation will continue to worsen. Yet Democrats in Congress want to use their massive proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2022 to provide legal status to people in the country illegally. This week, Senate Democrats unveiled a plan to devote $107 billion to providing "lawful permanent status for qualified immigrants" and "investments in smart and effective border security measures." No doubt most of the Democrats’ energies will go to the former, with the latter being more for PR than actual substantive action. Democrats know immigration is a politically toxic issue for them yet are determined to continue down the same path. The American people will have the chance to make their disapproval loudly known in 2022. More from Aaron Kliegman: