Biden: Border Situation Improving Beyond Expectations.

President Biden Says Southern Border Situation “Much Better Than Expected”

President Joe Biden recently commented on the situation at the southern border, stating that it is “much better than you all expected.” While riding his bike near his vacation home in Rehoboth, Delaware, he also mentioned that he has no immediate plans to visit the border, as doing so would “just be disruptive.”

These comments came after Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated that the flood of illegal immigrants anticipated following the expiration of Title 42 on Thursday has not happened, and that the Biden administration has designed and put in place effective immigration regulations. Mayorkas also noted that the United States Border Patrol has experienced a 50 percent drop in the number of encounters versus what they were experiencing earlier in the week before Title 42 ended at midnight on Thursday.

Increased Influx of Immigrants

However, in the two days prior to Title 42 ending, U.S. border officials had already started reporting daily records of 10,000 encounters with illegal immigrants entering the United States each day. Mayorkas warned that “it is too early” to know whether the increased influx of immigrants has peaked.

Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), chair of the Committee on Homeland Security, noted in response to Mayorkas that “this week has seen more crossings than any week in our history.” Green continued, noting that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “said a 40 percent increase is expected with Title 42 gone. That’s another 9 million people in two years. I mean, they’ve already let 5.04 million encounters and 1.5 million got aways as they’ve tried to manage border security and not secure our border. So, no, I’m sorry. I disagree with the secretary.”

Federal Judge Blocks Biden’s New Parole Policy

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on Thursday night (May 11), against the Biden administration’s new parole policy that would have replaced Title 42. The policy titled “Policy on Parole with Conditions in Limited Circumstances Prior to the Issuance of a Charging Document” would release the illegal immigrants without a court date.

Judge T. Kent Wetherell II issued the order in a ruling in Florida v. United States (Case number: 23-cv-9962). Wetherell also blocked another U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) parole known as “Parole + Alternatives to Detention (ATD)” in a separate case, Florida v. United States (Case number: 21-cv-01066) in early March.

The Justice Department (DOJ) asked the judge to stay both orders and said they will appeal two rulings by the court by May 15 at the U.S. 11th Circuit Court.

Overcrowded Processing Centers

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) recently visited El Paso and recorded videos showing that the border situation is worse than it’s being portrayed. “In the El Paso sector, there’s over 6,000 people that are in custody in this particular facility. It’s meant to house 1,000 people, it’s housing over 3,000,” Gonzales said. “In one of these rooms … the max capacity is 90 people; there was over 400 in here, that’s a 450 percent capacity.”

Gonzales noted that another room, which was intended to hold 120 people, was holding over 700 people. He added that an unaccompanied minor had died while in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services last week.

“The president should surge immigration judges to the border and that person should get their case heard in days, not years,” he explained. “Right now, in El Paso, if you apply on the one app, I was at the port of entry, if you apply on the one app, your court date is 2031. I mean, that’s eight years from now.”