We knew that the Biden administration was attempting to end the successful Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy because they fought the issue all the way to the US Supreme Court (and won) last term. Sure enough, Team Biden has decided that the existing border crisis isn't quite bad enough yet, so they're formally canceling a program that has prevented countless illegal migrants with illegitimate asylum claims from being released into the American interior with their adjudications pending.
When migrants knew they'd have to wait in Mexican territory as the process played out, they were far less incentivized to travel illegally to the United States. But with a far higher likelihood of being allowed to stay indefinitely (a large percentage of these released migrants never show up for their court dates), the magnet is much more powerful. We've been witnessing the disastrous results of backward incentives play out throughout the Biden presidency – and now here's another step in exactly the wrong direction:
NEW: “Remain in Mexico” is over.
— Nick Miroff (@NickMiroff) August 9, 2022
In a statement late Monday, DHS said it would no longer send asylum seekers back to Mexico, and would take MPP enrollees out of the program when they enter for their U.S. court dates. https://t.co/uHcxTGmJ5W
Illegal migrants now officially know that they have a very good chance of being processed and released into the United States under this pivot away from an empirically succeeding policy. They also know that deportations have been very severely restricted by the anti-enforcement Biden/Mayorkas Department of Homeland Security. And yes, illegal immigrants – and especially their cartel coyotes – keep close tabs on US policy and adjust behaviors accordingly. The multi-billion-dollar "illegal immigration to the US" industry is absolutely booming. And that's not all. Title 42, one of the last remaining tools in the enforcement toolbox is being quietly shut down, too. It wasn't a splashy announcement, just deliberate attrition. Here's a border district congressman blasting what he says is the effective end of Title 42, on top of the demise of "Remain in Mexico":
Title 42 is being phased out quietly. This is the only tool keeping our BP agents above water right now. If the Biden Admin cancels it, we will see the floodgates open like never before.
— Tony Gonzales (@TonyGonzales4TX) August 7, 2022
Through legislation, I’m working hard to prevent that from happening. https://t.co/ugAYljx99P
They're silently phasing out one important enforcement mechanism while officially ceasing another. As we've mused in the past, it's hard to see all of this as anything other than intentional. Some vulnerable Democrats have issued press releases about Title 42 and feigned independence from Biden's crisis-fueling approach, but it's all talk. Senate Democrats have voted against enshrining the policy in the past, and given yet another opportunity to do so last weekend, they voted in lockstep to shoot it down:
Senate Democrats stuck together in floor votes over the weekend to stop immigration-related amendments to their budget reconciliation bill, sidestepping Republican efforts to exploit divisions in the Democratic caucus ahead of the midterm elections. Republicans failed to attract any Democratic votes on an amendment to extend border asylum restrictions under the public health directive Title 42
When the rubber meets the road, "moderate" and vulnerable Senate Democrats in battleground seats vote with Biden, Schumer, and the party. Their "independent" rhetoric and spin are hollow posturing. I'll leave you with another fresh example of that phenomenon, which we've written about this week:
Senate Democrats had a chance to give this assurance legal weight in their bill & they voted unanimously against doing so. This “very clear no” is absolutely meaningless. https://t.co/ts6TRbGCLp
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) August 9, 2022
Meanwhile down at the border, on and on it goes. We'll get the July border numbers (encounters and known got-aways) within the next few days, with August already well underway:
Live from Eagle Pass, TX this morning, where we had two separate huge groups of about 200 migrants each cross illegally just after sunrise. Almost all single adults. Some very pregnant women. A large majority of the migrants being bussed by TX to NYC & D.C. cross here. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/Urq8mxTZVs
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) August 9, 2022
