Unlike the debate around the origins of COVID-19, the origins of the border crisis are unmistakably clear to reasonable Americans. Communities across this country are overwhelmed from the human trafficking and fentanyl crisis because of the reckless policies of the Biden administration. This isn’t difficult or complicated.
When you tear down proven and effective border policies, fail to hold individuals accountable for breaking the law, and direct law enforcement officers to selectively enforce the law, the result is what we are witnessing today.
Unfortunately, this logic appears to be lost on Biden administration officials. Instead of owning up to a failed border strategy, this administration has developed a disturbing pattern of behavior – lie, deflect and obfuscate – to explain its way through this historic crisis.
The latest example of this behavior is the reported request from the White House to the mayor of El Paso, Texas, to not declare a state of emergency in his city. By any evaluation, the city of El Paso is overrun by the huge numbers of illegal migrants crossing the border. El Paso has even created a data portal that tracks the "Migrant Crisis"—their words, but I echo the assessment.
BORDER GOVERNORS TAKING ACTION ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BECAUSE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION CAUSED CRISIS
Of course, such a public pronouncement from a border city would cut against the narrative from the Biden administration that there is no crisis. Unfortunately, pressuring a mayor to lie to his constituents about the reality of their situation fits the playbook of this administration.
Let’s remember, the lies have been a staple for the past 21 months. They began almost immediately, with Biden administration officials refusing to call the situation at the border a "crisis" even though it was – and continues to be – a catastrophe by every measurable metric.
Emboldened by a complicit media, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have repeatedly lied to the American people, telling them that the "border is secure, the border is closed" despite DHS releasing more than 1.5 million illegal aliens into the country and another 1 million "gotaways" who evaded the Border Patrol to sneak into the country.
Perhaps the most shameful lie of all was perpetuating the White House’s hoax that Border Patrol agents on horseback had whipped Haitian migrants attempting to cross the border unlawfully last summer. It’s been recently revealed that Secretary Mayorkas was briefed that the whipping narrative was false, yet he made serious and damaging remarks regarding the agents regardless. And to add insult to injury, DHS punished the exonerated agents for dubious technical violations to justify its actions.
But the Biden administration’s border deception doesn’t end with these blatant lies. It simultaneously deflects responsibility onto others to avoid accountability for its policy failures.
When border governors transported a few thousand illegal aliens to sanctuary cities to force the media to finally cover the crisis, the vice president accused them of "dereliction of duty." Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Chris Magnus also ridiculously blamed the actions of the border governors for the border crisis even though a record number of illegal aliens were apprehended at the southern border before the first ones were bussed to the interior of the country.
Just within the past several days, Secretary Mayorkas claimed the "political cry" and criticism of the administration’s border strategy empowers the smugglers and traffickers. And the White House press secretary has repeatedly blamed Republicans in Congress for "their obstruction" despite the GOP being the minority party in both chambers.
BIDENVILLES MAY BE PRESIDENT'S LASTING LEGACY THANKS TO HIS REFUSAL TO CONTROL THE BORDER
But these tactics alone aren’t enough. The administration looks to confuse the American people by instituting programs that look to be addressing the crisis but, in fact, are designed to do very little.
The recent policy change toward Venezuelan migrants is a perfect example. In an attempt to remove the politically damaging visual of illegal aliens crossing the border, DHS said it will immediately expel Venezuelans but will allow 24,000 illegal alien Venezuelans as long as they arrive by plane.
And don’t forget the Biden administration’s decision to allow U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum officers to hear asylum claims instead of immigration judges. The political calculation here is that asylum officers are more sympathetic to migrants regardless of the merits of their claims. This will only make the crisis worse as word gets out that it has never been easier to get asylum.
Again, the Biden administration is not trying to solve the problem; it is trying to obscure it from public scrutiny.
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In other words, the Biden administration’s pattern is as follows: Step 1, deny there is a crisis; Step 2, blame someone else for the crisis; Step 3, confuse the American people.
The reason for the border crisis is straightforward – the Biden administration does not believe in deterring illegal immigration but instead prefers to simply process them into the country and out of DHS custody. As a result of this fundamentally flawed perspective, the administration is unable to offer workable solutions. Instead, the Biden administration only takes action at the border when necessary to mitigate political problems.
When I left DHS in January 2021, the border was the most secure it had been in my lifetime because of the work of career law enforcement professionals. The quick deterioration is intentional, driven by political leaders who have sidelined career Border Patrol agents in the decision-making process. Congress is complicit in this crisis by its failure to utilize its oversight responsibilities over the executive branch.
The American people deserve transparency, and the next Congress must hold this administration accountable. Proper oversight must include scrutinizing officials on their failure to use the authority available to them under current immigration laws to secure the border, end human trafficking, and defeat the cartels.
If left unchecked by Congress, the Biden administration will continue to deflect and deceive the public on the border crisis, instead of taking proactive steps to solve it.
