Biden's Grasp on Illegal Immigration

 

As America and the rest of the world continue to deal with Covid and its latest variant, along with the aftermath of our less than valiant departure from Afghanistan, rising inflation, a potential crisis in Asia between an increasingly aggressive China and its neighbors (especially Taiwan), and growing tensions between the U.S. and Russia over whether the Russians will or will not invade the Ukraine (the Russians say no and U.S. intelligence agencies say yes), we've nearly forgotten our ongoing border crisis and influx of illegal immigrants.

Since Joe Biden took office in January 2021, there have been record levels of migrants attempting to cross illegally into the United States, especially after Biden announced cutting back or eliminating many of former President Trump's initiatives to bring the situation under control. Many of the migrants had hoped that Biden would adopt former President Barack Obama's policies which essentially left the border with Mexico virtually open. 

According to Biden's Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, by the end of 2021, the Border Patrol will have had some two million "encounters" with migrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally (that's an increase of 33% over the Trump Era high of 144,000). Bear in mind too that very few of these individuals have been immunized against rudimentary viruses and diseases such as the measles, TB, whooping cough, typhoid, chickenpox, let along Covid, which makes them a extreme health risk.   

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in August that the spread of Covid by "non-citizens" was a "serious danger", which came just as 4000 Haitians were caught in Del Rio Texas, making them yet another unvaccinated group attempting to illegally enter the U.S..

Speaking of Afghanistan, some of our intelligence agencies have projected that cells from ISIS or Al-Qaida may attempt to cross our southern border in retaliation, likely with the help of the major drug cartels who have been stepping up their own operations, including the smuggling of individuals across the border frontier using "coyotes" or guides at $10,000 a head, who are often passed off to one of the associated gangs on this side of border such as MS 13 or Latin Kings, who are known for their violence.

What's Biden to do? Mayorkas has informed the President as well as U.S. senators that the immigration system is "broken", which comes as no surprised given the decades it's been kicked around like a political football with no real direction.  Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands continue to march their way north. Why?

The situation in several of the countries in South and Central America, such as Venezuela, is desperate. However, in that particular case, it's economic implosion has been more the result of U.S. sanctions and embargoes than anything else, especially given its near singular dependence on oil exportation.

As a result, many Venezuelans had fled to neighboring countries, creating a greater strain on their economies. As an aside, several of these countries offer little to no public safety nets even for their own citizens, let alone migrants. The result is the continual shift northward (in some cases with the tacit encouragement of local and national governments).

Some migrants report being told by the police or military that the U.S. was encouraging immigrants to come. They're are told there are ample jobs and public support waiting for anyone crossing into the U.S. (all lies of course). Many of these same immigrants also report extreme abuse by some of these same police officers and military personnel including assault, rape, extortion, theft, arrest, and even murder.

As heinous as this may be, it's not surprising. Government authorities are often under orders to keeping the immigrants moving. However, that's no excuse for their behavior. It does, however, explain why a large number of migrants are scared of police or other "authority" figures. This is typically exploited by sweat shops and "boiler room operations" who employment illegals; paying them next to nothing, working them long hours in often unsafe conditions knowing they're unable run to the police.

 

So, what's being done? Well, after campaigning against many of Trump's policies on illegal immigration, the Biden Administration has quietly reinstated a few of Trump's programs such as encouraging immigrants to remain in Mexico or return home; returning "asylum seekers" to Mexico while their application is reviewed and processed. Meanwhile, asylum seekers are vaccinated against Covid and given a six month time limit to comply with any requests supporting their status.

It should be pointed out that neither the United States, the United Nations, or organizations such as Amnesty International recognize "economic asylum seekers". That's individuals leaving their home country looking for jobs. Additionally, those seeking asylum for political, racial, ethnic, cultural, or religious reasons (such as persecution) are required by international law to seek asylum in the next closest country.

So that means if their coming from Venezuela for instance, the next closest countries would be Columbia or Guyana. Perhaps, maybe, Ecuador or Panama.  But certainly not Mexico or the United States.  Thus, if they are coming for economic betterment they would be classified as a "migrant", and would have no have legal status to enter and remain in the country.

It should noted that the U.S. Border Patrol has reported that for the first time there are a significant number of  individuals coming from countries such as Ecuador, Brazil, Nicaragua, as well as Haiti and Cuba. The reasons again appear to be mainly economic, especially given the recent downturn in certain key commodity industries such as coffee, papaya, or banana exports, not to mention climatic disasters.

On his first official day in office, Present Biden ordered a stoppage to the border wall and cut all funding for the project. Biden also ended the national emergency declaration President Trump had previously issued regarding the border crisis. Biden has also transferred the care of unaccompanied children and minors to the Department of Health and Human Services for temporary settlement while they await a decision on the permanent status.

As for the separation of families, which Trump was accused of instituting by the media (although originally implemented under the Obama Administration), in which, in some cases, resulted in parents being deported without their children, has been stopped...mostly. Under Biden, most, but not all families, have been reunited while remaining in custody.

Previously, migrants or coyotes would send children ahead of their parents in the hopes they would granted at least temporary sanctuary in the United States. Meanwhile, the parents (or those claiming to be their parents or a close relative) who demand entry to be reunited with their children. Once they were allowed entry into the country, many of the children were simply abandoned by the faux parent or relative.

Another old "trick" was to smuggle pregnant women across the border (while others would come pretending to be a "tourist" or visiting family). Once they had their child on American soil, the child would be granted American citizenship in a deliberate misuse of the 14th Amendment.  

Obviously the mother would remain. She would then demand that her spouse be allowed in. Later, other family members such as brothers, sisters, grandparents (and in some cases even uncles and aunts) would be granted entry under the pretext of keeping their family unit intact. This was termed "anchor baby" (in Canada it's called "passport baby").  This same ploy has been used in other countries by those seeking to skirt existing immigration laws.

Lastly, the Biden Administration, in another reversal of  Trump policy, has decided to raise the ceiling on the number of refugees allowed in the U.S. from 15,000 under Trump to 125,000 for this fiscal year beginning in October (he had allowed 62,000 refugees from April through September 31).  Under President Obama, that number was 110,000.

The primary location of settlement for most of America's estimate 10.7 million illegal immigrants has been the southwest running from California to Texas. Most tend to live in one of 20 major metropolitan areas, especially San Diego, Las Angeles, San Jose, Ft. Worth, Dallas, and San Francisco.

However, other large metropolitan cities with growing Hispanic populations include Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Miami (mainly Cubans), Atlanta, Las Vegas/Reno, Phoenix, and along the northeast seaboard which takes in Washington D.C., New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia.  There are also small pockets in rural states such as Kentucky, Kansas, Iowa, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Nebraska which depend on seasonal farm help.

An interesting aside is that while Hispanics are now the largest minority block in America, surpassing blacks over a decade ago, and on track to be on par with whites in about two decades (or less), Asian presence in America is also growing dramatically.

While Asian immigrants tend to live in other Asian countries, about 15% of the 114.9 million Asian immigrants live in the U.S..  Almost half live in California, New York, or Texas. It's notable that while the largest group are Chinese, it's those from Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Indonesia) as well as Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines whose percentages have increased the most. Meanwhile, immigrants from India, Mongolia, and the former Soviet Union Republics of countries like Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, which are predominately Muslim, has risen sharply as well.

It's also worth nothing that, unlike many of the Hispanic immigrants,  Asian immigrants typically have a strong working knowledge of English. Some are not only proficient in English, but speak a third, fourth, or even fifth language with some degree of proficiency.  They also tend to be well educated, with many holding college degrees, especially those from India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Japan. 

America is changing. We are becoming with no clear cut majority. There is no stopping it. While we would, as a country, prefer the better educated Asians, we must accept that we also need the lesser educated field worker too. However, we cannot continue to allow illegal immigration to continue.

It creates a health concern with those entering the U.S. unvaccinated. It places a tremendous strain on our already deeply frayed social safety net with many paying little or nothing in taxes, leaving American Taxpayers to pick up the tab. However, Big Business likes the inflow of immigration since it increases competition for jobs and drives down wages and boost profits. It also allows the unscrupulous an opportunity to exploit workers for an even fatter profit.  

Uncontrolled immigration also creates a security crisis since we don't know who might be entering this country as friend or foe. We've already caught terrorists trying to sneak in. But for every one caught, how many made it in? The failure to speak English or conform to our laws and values destroys the fabric of the nation.  That reminds me of an old Irish saying which says that a land without a common language is a land without a soul.

Every country has the right and legal, as well as moral obligation to secure and protect its borders and its citizens. The U.S. is no different.  We need to stop playing political football with immigration. If we're going to end this partisan nonsense, stopping illegal immigration would be a good place to start.

 

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