The Biden administration is set to take executive action to reduce the number of illegal crossings at the southern border, but the move provides far too little and comes far too late.
The executive order would invoke Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to shut down the border once the number of illegal crossings reached 2,500 a day. If implemented without a menu of carveouts and exceptions—which is no safe bet—it would be a significant departure from the status quo given that illegal crossings have exceeded as many as 10,000 a day under this administration’s watch, but there is still reason to be skeptical. The main problem with this executive order is that 2,500 daily illegal crossings is still far too high and should not be normalized as an acceptable status quo. Jeh Johnson, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary during the Obama administration, famously said that 1,000 illegal crossings in a single day was a “bad day.”
Our government should not be okay with thousands of illegal aliens entering the country on a daily basis. The federal government has a responsibility to strive for zero illegal crossings. However, even if the Biden administration were to completely shut down the border, it would still be inadequate. Since this administration took office, some 10 million illegal aliens have entered the country. While we do not know the official number of illegal aliens currently residing in the U.S., given past estimates, it is fair to assume that the number is around 30-40 million. Closing the border after this many illegal aliens have already entered the country is the equivalent of closing the barn door after all the horses have gotten out. For the U.S., the problem has grown much larger than simply curtailing new entries at the border.
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Of course, closing the border is a necessary condition for the U.S. to regain control of its sovereignty, but given the staggering number of illegal aliens who have already resettled in the U.S., border security alone simply isn’t good enough. The cornerstone of U.S. immigration policy going forward must be mass deportations. Even as this administration seeks to toughen its public posture towards illegal immigration, they are doing exactly the opposite of what needs to be done. The White House has closed more than 350,000 asylum cases filed by illegal aliens since 2022, essentially creating a mass amnesty by executive fiat, according to a recent report from The New York Post. This is evidence that the administration’s recent heel-turn on immigration is mere politically-motivated bluster rather than a genuine attempt to restore American sovereignty.
Mass deportations are the first step necessary to restoring the rule of law in the U.S. Aspiring migrants considering crossing the border illegally must see that there are consequences for those who have already successfully penetrated the U.S. border. If the administration is serious about protecting American sovereignty and security, they must begin by removing the people who are already here illegally. But, does anyone believe this administration has the desire or fortitude necessary to begin mass deportations?
Since its first day in office, it has been the stated policy of the Biden administration to grant amnesty to every illegal alien residing in the country. If the tens of millions of illegal aliens in the country are allowed to be legalized—or even allowed to remain in the country at all—there is no amount of border security that could overcome that. The U.S., as we know it, would be finished. Even without a pathway to citizenship, illegal immigration has already begun to reshape the U.S. culturally and politically.
Since citizenship is not a requirement for U.S. residents to be counted in the census, illegal aliens will have a significant effect on the makeup of the electoral college and the House of Representatives in the ensuing decades unless there are mass deportations. The mass influx of illegal aliens has also drained resources from American citizens. Hospitals are being forced to turn away patients. Housing prices are skyrocketing, and Americans in need of jobs are losing opportunities to those in the country illegally. Right now, the U.S. has tens of millions of people in the country illegally, who are not assimilating, and who are depriving Americans of opportunity. The only solution to this problem is to remove these people and return them to their home countries so America can begin the process of restoring law and order to its immigration system.
The mass resettlement of illegal aliens into the U.S. is the biggest political, security, and cultural threat facing the country today. The only way out is through mass deportations.
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.
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