The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created in response to the attacks of 9/11. Among its critical responsibilities is to secure the nation’s borders, enforce its immigration laws and protect the interests of Americans and migrants. But none of those priorities is likely to be achieved under the leadership of Alejandro Mayorkas, the man President-elect Joe Biden has nominated to serve as the next DHS secretary.
Late last week, in the middle of high-stakes COVID-19 relief negotiations, the Senate quietly attempted to bypass the normal legislative process and ram through a dangerous immigration giveaway. You heard that right—yet another immigration bill without the best interests of the American people in mind.
The bill, known as the Hong Kong People’s Freedom and Choice Act and already approved by the House, is a well-intentioned effort aimed at responding to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) increasingly repressive efforts to snuff out any remaining freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents. Fortunately, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) took a bold stand and blocked the bill, stopping it in its tracks for now. Unfortunately, the legislation will likely return in the 117th Congress.
The times they will be changing, come January 20. Joe Biden will bring a change in style, a change in tone and a change in temperament when he assumes office next month. And like any new president, he will bring a change in policies. Perhaps none will be more notable than his handling of immigration policy.
For the past four years, Donald Trump has approached immigration policy from the standpoint that, like any other public policy, its primary purpose was to serve the greater good of the American people. In pursuit of that objective, his administration made good faith efforts to secure our borders, cut down on asylum and other sorts of fraud, end abuses in guest worker programs that undermine the interests of U.S. workers (especially after the pandemic struck) and to ensure that people who immigrate legally have the wherewithal to be self-sufficient.
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.
This bill, while well-intentioned, falls short of doing anything to counter Chinese aggression. Even worse, it contains immigration provisions that raise serious economic and national security concerns, effectively undercutting any positive aspects of the legislation.
Check out the latest from Mark Morgan in The Washington Times:
This past week we all caught a glimpse into the magnitude of the fecklessness shown by Department of Homeland Security leadership as Border Patrol agents confronted them. While attending a “muster” in Yuma, Arizona, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was inundated with passionate, well-informed and legitimate concerns from the agents.
Their questions centered around the dramatic shift away from previous effective policies, resulting in the worst crisis along our southern border in modern history. Agents also voiced their dismay over their inability to safeguard the nation because they’re constantly being pulled off the front line to address the massive invasion of more than 3 million illegal immigrants who attempted to break into our country during the past 12 months.
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.