It wasn’t enough to start the migrant crisis. Now, President Joe Biden is poised to make the ongoing situation at the southern border even worse. Border Patrol is preparing for another surge after the White House announced it would be canceling the pandemic emergency and rolling out the red carpet for illegals and asylum seekers once again.
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) visited with Border Patrol agents last Friday after the White House made its announcement. The lawmaker said a “cloud of depression” came over the agents as they realized how more difficult their jobs were about to become. With arrests at the border rising to record levels at 8,000 per day, it could skyrocket to 18,000, according to The Washington Times.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced it would be ending Title 42, a policy that makes it easier for Border Patrol to remove migrants attempting to gain entry into the United States if they come from countries dealing with “communicable diseases” like COVID-19. Former President Donald Trump invoked the policy in March 2020, allowing Border Patrol to turn away people seeking to enter the country without processing asylum applications.
The Biden administration will lift the measure on May 23 to give the Department of Homeland Security a time window to prepare for the expected influx of immigrants coming to the southern border. The policy allowed agents to expel half of the individuals trying to cross the border illegally.
“The level of discouragement and depression is just unbelievable,” Sen. Hagerty told The Washington Times.
Lifting Title 42 will give migrants who were previously turned away another chance to make their case for admission into the country. This fact will undoubtedly contribute to the new swarm of migrants we can expect to see in the coming months.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed the administration is preparing for the new wave of legal and illegal migrants. “Nonetheless, we know that smugglers will spread misinformation to take advantage of vulnerable migrants. Let me be clear: those unable to establish a legal basis to remain in the United States will be removed,” he insisted.
Well, that’s reassuring coming from this administration, isn’t it?
Given the fact that the White House has returned to the catch and release policies of past presidents, it is difficult to trust Mayorkas’ assurances. Without Title 42, this administration is sure to release even more migrants into the country as part of its open borders agenda.
Since the program was implemented in 2020, over 1.7 million people have been turned away from the southern border. Most, if not all, of these folks will return to the southern border after the administration lifts Title 42, and it seems a significant percentage will be distributed across the nation as they await their court dates.
By way of contrast, the Trump administration expelled 85 percent of individuals that Border Patrol apprehended under Title 42. There were fewer than 48,000 apprehensions per month while the former president was in office.
Under President Joe Biden, Title 42 expulsions plummeted to 56 percent of arrests at the border. Far more were released into the U.S. “Agents averaged nearly 168,000 arrests a month under Mr. Biden, or three times the flow under President Trump,” according to The Washington Times.
It can be no wonder Border Patrol agents were dejected when the White House revealed its plan to jumpstart the migrant crisis. The agency is already stretched thin with trying to keep up with people crossing the border illegally while processing asylum claims. With Title 42 lifted, the situation will become even more untenable.
This seems like an odd move on the part of the White House. With the upcoming congressional elections around the corner, it doesn’t appear that exacerbating the ongoing migrant crisis would be a genius move. Democrats need images of new caravans coming from South America like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi needs another cocktail.
Americans are already concerned about the flood of migrants coming to the southern border. The fact that Biden and company are issuing a new invitation further reveals how out of touch they are with the will of the American people. Unfortunately, even after Democrats receive their shellacking in November, not much can be done about the immigration issue with an open borders president occupying the White House. America won’t see any positive momentum on this problem until after he is out of office.
