Editor’s note: When it comes to immigration — illegal or otherwise — the American people have a right to be concerned. Liberty Nation author Kelli Ballard examines contentious issues related to today’s hottest topic.
It’s been two months since Joe Biden planted his derriere in the Oval Office and set to work signing a myriad of Executive Orders. He’s made it very clear that his goal is to undo everything former President Donald Trump accomplished over the previous four years, and one of the new commander-in-chief’s biggest projects is to overhaul the immigration system. Not only is Biden trying to return the nation to an Obama administration era, but he is essentially holding the doors wide open for migrants to cross into America. So, how has this been working out for the president? To some, it’s a challenge, to others it’s a crisis as the number of immigrants trying to cross over onto U.S. soil has increased significantly.
At the Border: Challenge or Crisis?
In Arizona, Cochise County Sheriff Mark Daniels warns the area is becoming less secure since the changing of the guards in D.C. Trump’s border wall project saw high-speed roads built to help the Border Patrol agents monitor the area. These roads have remained intact which Sheriff Daniels warned is just allowing drug cartels and smugglers to have easier access. “We just built the roads for the cartels,” he told the Washington Times.
The U.S. has again become a beacon for migrants everywhere, not just for those seeking asylum. Relaxed immigration laws and Biden’s goal of giving 11 million illegal aliens citizenship is essentially offering candy to a child – just too much temptation to resist. Even some Democrats are not sold on the idea and worry that the floodgates have been opened and we may just be heading towards an immigration crisis. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) told Fox News that: “The numbers have been increasing.” He added, “The number of unaccompanied kids, the number of families that are coming in are increasing every day. In my district, just a couple of days ago, 166 people [crossed the border] … So it’s not a crisis yet, but it’s going to get there very soon.”
Another Texan, Republican Rep. Mike McCaul said: “All the good we did in the last four years to stop illegal immigration is gonna be damaged within months.”
Comparing the numbers, approximately 80,000 migrants tried to cross into the United States in January. That’s about twice as many as January 2020 – and peak migration season is usually May and June. Border Patrol is releasing migrants into border U.S. towns, and Biden’s decision to scrap the Migrant Protection Protocols, also referred to as “Remain in Mexico,” has lured other immigrants with the expectation of being able to stay in America. Add to that, minors arriving per day is four times higher than it was in October.
Migrant Children Everywhere – and Nowhere to Put Them
One of Biden’s (and the left’s) biggest campaign sales pitches was Trump’s practice of putting kids in cages and separating them from their families – or so they claim. Even though Trump inherited the “cages” from the Obama administration. Now, with so many immigrants trying to cross into the U.S., the president has had to open more facilities to house them. In fact, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the shelter system is already at 94% capacity and is expected to be maxed out by this month.
In the first week of January, 47 migrant children entered the country per day. During the later part of January and early February, there is a weekly average of about 203 children crossing the border. Just two months later, during the week ending March 1, “the Border Patrol referred to HHS custody an average of 321 children per day,” according to Axios. The news outlet also said that the number of migrants being held for more than three days “has been rising nearly each day.”
Trump’s immigration reform had a rough start, but it did come together to help get a grip on so many migrants coming to and remaining in the U.S. illegally. Biden’s plan to do away with anything to do with the former president may well backfire as members of his own party have expressed the danger of relaxing so many restrictions. Numbers don’t lie and the number of illegals swarming to the U.S. is more than a challenge – it is a crisis that will likely only get worse if border protection isn’t strengthened and promises of citizenship not given out like free raffle tickets.
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Read more from Kelli Ballard.
