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GOP Digs in On Border Enforcement

By Joe Guzzardi

Finally, after the first three GOP primary debates wherein the moderators scrupulously dodged asking questions about the southern border invasion, immigration surfaced in the fourth. As part of his response to a query about the open border, candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis included in his answer an insightful observation about why the Biden administration has allowed millions of illegal immigrants to cross, and disappear into the interior: “I know the elites in D.C. They don’t care.”

In a nutshell, DeSantis summed up the challenge that Americans face. President Biden, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Cabinet are at best indifferent to and tolerant of open borders’ consequences or, at worst, content and pleased to remake the U.S. into a nation unrecognizable to its citizens.

The human and fiscal costs that the invasion has wrought are devastating. The list is long, ugly, and tragic. Included are drug trafficking that’s brought about an all-time high death total among mostly young Americans—106, 669 in 2021, up 14% from 2020; each day, 150 people die from synthetic drug overdoses. Human smuggling is rampant, and multiple federal agencies share the blame. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) identified Health and Human Services, the State and Justice Departments as complicit through their silence and indifference in the booming $13 billion human smuggling business. Thirteen years old is the average age at which a child is sold for sex. Blackburn introduced The Stopping the Abuse, Victimization and Exploitation of Girls (SAVE Girls) Act which she hopes will garner bipartisan support. Mayors of Democratic stronghold cities New York, Chicago, Boston, and the District of Columbia are on their knees begging for more federal funding to cope with the migrant surge that’s destroying their communities. Big cities aren’t the only victims. The alien surge converted tiny Lukeville, Aziz. into a “toilet.” A group of 900+ aliens, mostly from mostly from Senegal, Guinea, Liberia, and Mauritania recently overwhelmed Lukeville. Since the border patrol doesn’t have the capacity to accommodate the migrants, they roam, and  while waiting to be processed and released, they’re defecating and urinating in the open spaces. 

As a result of the lawlessness at the overwhelmed border, U.S. officials temporarily closed the Lukeville crossing, and released a statement which said that port of entry was temporarily closed “in response to increased levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest Border, fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals.” Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema and Gov. Katie Hobbs made a joint statement criticizing the decision to temporarily close the border and called upon the federal government to act. Kelly and Sinema have consistently voted with Biden for less border and internal immigration enforcement. Lukeville is the latest evidence that illegal aliens use border crossing sites as a dumpster. Center for Immigration Studies’ Senior National Security Fellow Todd Bensman reported from Brownsville that the Texas National Guardsmen who patrol the area call it “the mattress because the layers of discarded clothing and personal belongings here [are] so thick and rubbery.” Their trash will kill everything beneath it and destroy the area for wildlife.

Falling onto the so-called mattress could be fatal. Syringes, diapers, animal droppings, food, personal sanitation products full of chemicals, non-biodegradable trash, and human waste are left behind. Personal documents and identifications discarded, lest they tell a different story than the aliens will present to officials. 

Ironically, in September, the Government Accountability Office issued a report that the 458 miles of border barrier erected between 2017 and 2021 damaged flora, fauna, water flow, and Indians’ sacred sites. The official GAO position is consistent with the Biden administration’s: the wall is bad; open borders, however, go full speed ahead. The invasion continues, proving DeSantis correct in his evaluation that establishment Washington doesn’t care.

A faint glimmer of hope has arisen. The Republicans, under House Speaker Mike Johnson, and with the assistance of right-minded GOP Senators have been able to get a squishy enforcement commitment from Biden. In exchange for another Ukraine funding transfusion, he would be willing to expel migrants without asylum screenings, expand the credible fear guideline to a more provable level, and restart immigration detention and deportations. The major pitfalls are that Biden is untrustworthy, and that many House Republicans have drawn the line on Ukraine—no more money. Without Ukraine in the package, no deal seems likely.

The House should remain firm on its insistence on immigration enforcement. Before authorizing more money for Ukraine and Israel, the House must demand that the immigration provisions included in HR-2, which it passed in May, be included. Key among those provisions is mandatory E-Verify which would end the jobs magnet that lure thousands of foreign nationals to the U.S. with employment expectations and curbing the administration’s parole abuse. Parole is intended for extraordinary circumstances, usually granted to one individual, and not intended to be given out en masse. 

The road ahead to a fair and just immigration system is long, rocky, and uncertain. To begin the journey, with its destination protecting the sovereign American nation, the House must remain firm.

Joe Guzzardi is a Project for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@ifspp.org

GOP Digs in On Border Enforcement GOP Digs in On Border Enforcement