By Rich
Lowry
Tuesday,
September 20, 2022
The nation
is having a contentious debate over whether illegal migrants coming
over the southern border should be transported farther inland, and if so, where
and by whom.
Should
they stay in San Antonio or end up in New York City, get bused to a rural town
no one has heard of, or get flown to one of the most desirable summer spots in
the country?
Although
this debate has generated much heat and is of great interest to the local
authorities involved, it is really beside the point.
The crux
of the matter is that the Biden administration dismantled or downgraded every
policy that had established control over the southern border under his
predecessor and is directly responsible for the record number of illegal
immigrants flooding into the country. If the influx weren’t so large,
there’d be fewer migrants to sign up for the bus trips north and east to blue
cities sponsored by Texas and Arizona.
Everyone
should agree that it’d be much better if Biden reversed field and sought to
control the border. Texas and Arizona would no longer be getting inundated and
therefore would have less incentive to send the migrants farther inland. If
that were the case, places such as Washington, D.C., and New York City wouldn’t
be receiving thousands of new migrants and wouldn’t have to declare emergencies
and request the National Guard to help cope.
If the
border states are treating migrants as “pawns,” give them fewer pieces on the
board. If they are engaged in unworthy “stunts,” remove the incentive to make
theatrical gestures in the first place. Reduce the temperature by controlling
the problem at the source.
The
truth of the matter is that prior to Texas and Arizona undertaking their
programs — and DeSantis adding his attention-grabbing flights to Martha’s
Vineyard — illegal immigrants were already getting moved around the country,
with the assent of the Department of Homeland Security. The federal government
gives migrants permission to travel within the country, and then private
organizations get them on buses to go to their preferred destinations.
Does
anyone think this is how our immigration system should work?
Of
course, a Biden crackdown at the border is not in the offing. The
administration is steadfastly dishonest about the border. Vice President Kamala
Harris says the border is “secure,” and any problems only result from “a broken
immigration system.” Well, yes, the border is secure in the sense that the
Mexican equivalent of the 10th Mountain Division isn’t going to march over it
any day now, but there is no serious effort to exclude the historic tide of
migrants.
Democrats
are so invested in the “Big Lie” about the border, they don’t dare to
contradict it, even when they are yelping in pain about having to deal with
migrants.
On CNN
over the weekend, New York City mayor Eric Adams called the migrant situation
“a humanitarian crisis” yet refused to call out the maestro of this debacle.
Asked by Jake Tapper whether it’s a crisis that needs more attention from the
Biden administration, Adams knew he couldn’t go there. “No,” he said. “I
believe it’s a crisis that needs more coordination from our country.”
An
estimated 1.35 million illegal immigrants have entered the country since
Biden’s inauguration, and they aren’t leaving any time soon.
Biden
officials don’t want to stop the flow; they just want to manage it better.
Asked by Bret Baier of Fox News earlier this year whether the administration seeks
to reduce illegal immigration, DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said, “It is
the objective of the Biden administration to make sure that we have safe,
orderly, and legal pathways for individuals to be able to access our legal
system.”
In other
words, the Biden administration may not want migrants showing up in Martha’s
Vineyard, but there will be plenty of newcomers settling all over the United
States, in a never-ending flow.
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