When it comes to the Biden administration's position on immigration enforcement, the message is clear: mixed messaging rules the day.
In response to a crisis-level crush of thousands of mostly Haitian migrants flooding the southern border in hopes of taking advantage of the administration's hands off immigration policies, the White House suddenly appeared to reverse course on Monday. "If you come to the United States illegally, you will be returned, your journey will not succeed, and you will be endangering your life and your family's life," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said during a press conference.
But by Tuesday, it was clear that Mayorkas was just kidding around. The AP reported that "thousands" of Haitian migrants were being freed into the country as the Biden administration continues to ignore U.S. immigration laws.
Congressman Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) joined "Washington Watch" to discuss what he saw at the border. "It is far worse than most people can imagine," he said. "I was getting intelligence reports from my friends on the ground in Del Rio; [it] started off with 2,000 [migrants] grew to 4,000 and eight and 10. And by the next day it was over 14, and the next morning over 15,000 people. There were no sanitation facilities. There was not enough food and not enough water. It was just a disaster. Then you've got the environmental disaster on top of that. There were rapes there. There was violence there. This is absolutely incredible." Biggs went on to note that the Biden administration knew "as early as June that they needed to do something in Del Rio because they were anticipating more. And right now ... there's been testimony saying that they're continuing to watch another 60 to 70,000 folks coming up toward our border as you and I speak."
As Biggs pointed out, it's clear why so many Haitians are at the border: Biden's immigration policies (or lack thereof) are open invitations to cross the border illegally, except when he says they're not, but chances are he probably doesn't mean it. "...Many of the individuals from Haiti ... they were in other places in South America as long ago as 2010 when there were natural disasters in Haiti and they came over to these other nations," he observed. "They will tell you that they came up because they believed President Joe Biden had told them that if they came up, he would let them into the country. That is what they believe. And why wouldn't they believe it? Because this administration has not taken a stance policy wise or even rhetorically wise, telling people to stay away until now. Now [they are] saying, 'Well, don't come.' The problem is, previously, when he said, 'Don't come' -- he said, 'Don't come now.' So everybody believed that they could still come."
Meanwhile, it's getting so bad at the border that Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has resorted to lining up walls of vehicles to keep migrants from crossing illegally, which has reportedly proven to be effective. It begs the question: what effective solutions are being offered by the Biden White House to handle the crisis? Apparently, the only thing "border czar" Vice President Kamala Harris can manage to offer are criticisms and demotions of Border Patrol agents who are valiantly doing their best to manage a crisis created by the White House.
It's certainly true that Haitian migrants deserve compassion. Their impoverished country has been hit with a seemingly never-ending series of crises over the last decade, with multiple catastrophic earthquakes and hurricanes killing hundreds of thousands and the recent assassination of their president. There's no doubt that many Haitians have compelling reasons to find a better life in a different country, including the U.S. That's why our immigration laws allow for potential migrants to apply for visas in order to obtain permanent residence in America, which can be granted for a variety of reasons. If the Biden administration wants to change our immigration laws, they are welcome to do so by working with Congress. But their current policy of catch and release is not only lawless, it's also a humanitarian disaster and part of an ongoing national security crisis of their own making. It's way past time for Biden to take decisive action and start enforcing the immigration laws of the United States.
