Immigration policy, which was a defining issue in the 2016 campaign, finally got a mention in the final 2020 presidential debate. In that debate, much of the time devoted to discussion of immigration centered on the 545 minors who remain separated from their parents as a result of a 2018 policy intended to discourage people from using their kids to gain entry to the United States.
Joe Biden was elected to be the steady, competent hand to guide the nation through COVID-19 health and economic crises, and perhaps heal social divisions. The president-elect has yet to reveal his plan for getting the pandemic under control, but sources close to him have indicated that it could entail a lengthy national lockdown in addition to other stringent measures.
In many cases, the Biden administration has blatantly ignored those suggested and urgent reforms. The evidence for that is proven by the mounting crisis at the southern border, the wholesale gutting of interior immigration enforcement, and the inadequate vetting of Afghan refugees seeking resettlement. The administration’s reckless approach jeopardizes national security and it must reverse course in order to avoid another catastrophe like September 11, 2001.
A video showing an altercation between Border Patrol agents and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leadership in Laredo, Texas, is making rounds on social media. The interaction was seen as unprecedented, and the optics were disastrous for DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz. This video, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. Spats among frontline workers and Biden’s DHS leadership are a widespread, recurring pattern with no end in sight.
The latest video from Laredo reveals a major problem: The employees of the nation’s largest federal law enforcement agency do not have faith in its leaders.
To kick off the “Home Curfew” initiative, immigration authorities will immediately place 100-200 illegal aliens under house arrest in Houston and Baltimore with the goal of enrolling another 400,000 this year. Enrollees will generally be required to remain at home from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m., with the exception for those with work authorization or extraordinary circumstances.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) simply does not have the bandwidth to ensure that illegal aliens are complying with the program. It only has about 6,000 agents—many of whom are already assigned to different missions and responsibilities. Having every one of those agents (the best-case scenario) monitoring the whereabouts of potentially 400,000 illegal aliens is not only impossible, but downright dangerous.
Earlier this century, conventional political wisdom posited that Republicans would never be able to win a national election unless the party out-pandered the Democrats on the issue of amnesty for illegal aliens. Republican political “experts,” who spent too much time listening to other “experts” instead of actual voters, insisted that supporting massive amnesties for illegal aliens was the key to unlocking the Hispanic vote for the party.