The Biden administration’s self-inflicted crisis at the border has devastated America over the past three years, but the worst is still yet to come.
The border crisis has escalated even further in recent months as more than 300,000 illegal aliens crossed the southern border in December, shattering a new record for monthly border crossings. After setting records for illegal crossings in 2021 and 2022, the Biden Administration’s anti-border policies once again likely facilitated a record number of illegal crossings at the southern border in 2023, although the official numbers for last year have still not been released. Don’t expect the records set in 2023 to last very long either, because 2024 is likely to be an even worse year for border security.
The deteriorating situation at the southern border is primarily due to the lack of deterrent facing foreign nationals who cross the border illegally in order to file bogus asylum claims. The current administration is the first in U.S. history to announce publicly that there will be no consequences for those who cross the border illegally.
In his first year in office, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that residing in the country illegally was not a cause for deportation unless the alien has committed a serious crime. As the situation has worsened, Mayorkas has pivoted to telling aspiring migrants not to come to the U.S., but has continued to refuse to uphold the rule of law, instead blaming a “broken immigration system” for the crisis. This is nonsense.
The U.S. immigration system is not broken. The federal government has all the tools it needs to stop the border crisis, but simply refuses to use them. This is because the current administration wants the border to continue to be overrun, and desires a massive influx of illegal aliens into the country. Their only concern is defusing the political blowback that has resulted from their policies.
Mayorkas and “border czar” Kamala Harris can tell migrants publicly not to come all they want, but actions speak louder than words. Aspiring migrants and the bad actors who seek to exploit them are not stupid, and understand full well that the border is wide open. They know that if they are able to successfully cross the border illegally, this administration will not enforce the law against them. Not only do economic migrants understand this, but foreign nationals who wish to do America harm know this as well.
The administration may claim they are enforcing the law against criminal aliens and suspected terrorists, but lawlessness begets lawlessness, and the homeland has never been more vulnerable than it is now as a result of the White House’s anti-border policies.
Already this year, an illegal alien has been arrested at the U.S. Capitol carrying a machete and a knife after the Biden Administration released him into the country. A record number of suspected terrorists have entered the country illegally during Biden’s tenure, including one who was allowed to take a commercial flight after being flagged as an inconclusive terror watchlist match.
All of this demonstrates how farcical Mayorkas’ ham-fisted approach to immigration enforcement is. The administration can claim they are vetting illegal aliens, and keeping the dangerous ones out, but the evidence shows they are not. No matter how they attempt to spin it, the Biden Administration has put U.S. national security in grave peril, and their approach at the border will continue to increase the threat level America faces.
Another reason to expect a continued surge in the number of illegal aliens crossing the border is that the possibility of a change of administrations next year will encourage many foreign nationals to expedite their journeys to the U.S. There is precedent for this, as illegal border crossings exploded in 2000, during the last year of the Clinton Administration, in the midst of another contentious presidential election year.
All in all, there are ample reasons to believe the crisis at the border will get even worse in 2024, and very little reason to believe it will get better. This will lead to more human suffering for migrants being trafficked by the cartels and making the perilous journey to the U.S. It will lead to greater financial strain for American taxpayers, and increase the possibility of a national security calamity.
None of this is necessary. The public should understand that this can all be avoided if the administration decides to start upholding the rule of law, and Congress begins holding them accountable. The American people should understand that their government is failing them by refusing to uphold its most basic responsibilities to protect the nation’s sovereignty and security.
The U.S. has never faced a border crisis the likes of which it is currently facing, but the situation can always get worse, and barring dramatic changes it will, and 2024 will become the worst year for border security in American history.
William J. Davis is a communications associate for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.