Media: Biden’s Southern Border Closure Backfires
America’s Southern Border Crisis Continues to Escalate
A few months ago, the media declared that President Joe Biden had gotten the crisis at America’s southern border under control.
They may have declared victory a bit prematurely.
Every day, Customs and Border Protection agents intercept record numbers of migrants trying to cross the border, and scores more manage to evade detection. Even veteran border agents are shocked at the sheer scope of these crossings, calling the present border surge the worst they’ve ever seen.
BREAKING: Per CBP sources, there were more than 12,600 migrants encountered at the southern border in the last 24 hours, the highest single day total ever recorded. The true number is *significantly* higher because there are thousands still waiting to be processed in Eagle Pass…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) December 19, 2023
Today, even members of Biden’s own party are declaring a crisis at the southern border:
More and more Democrat leaders are also acknowledging the Border is a humanitarian disaster and a crisis. President Biden and Chuck Schumer need to work with the GOP and fix the asylum laws and processes. We need policy changes, not just money, to secure our border. https://t.co/2gDcxCD48n
— Don Bacon 🇺🇸 🥓 ✈️ 🏍️ (@DonJBacon) December 21, 2023
Democrat senator sounds alarm on ‘crisis’ at southern border, urges negotiators to strike a deal https://t.co/3vXcUyQ1cv
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 21, 2023
Flashback: This must all come as a shock to the mainstream media, who claimed just a few months ago that Biden had the border under control.
The press worked to explain how the Biden administration was “ready” for the coming surge, with the New York Times pointing to an “arsenal of strategies to help avoid a chaotic situation on the border.” Other outlets parroted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who declared “the border was closed.”
CNN, May 11: “Harris Faces Critical Test on Migration Effort When Title 42 Ends”:
As President Joe Biden’s approach to migration at the US-Mexico border confronts its most critical test yet when Title 42 expires, his No. 2, Kamala Harris, will face what’s likely to be her own perception problem. …
But Harris’ staff and allies counter that the real work she and her office are doing in the Northern Triangle countries – and not the border – is making a difference. …
Publicly, the vice president’s office has called the current downward trend [of migrant encounters] “encouraging,” and privately, aides cite investments in the region under Harris’ guidance as one of many factors for the drop.
ABC News, May 10: “Biden Administration Officials Preview Plans For End of Title 42”:
Amid concerns over a looming immigration surge at the southern U.S. border, Biden administration officials have revealed what they described as a “comprehensive, multi-agency, multi-country plan” to “humanely manage the border” when a Trump-era policy known as Title 42 lifts this week. …
Stating that they had been preparing for the end of Title 42 for over a year, the officials sought to showcase that readiness with statistics.
Axios, Apr. 6: “Biden’s Immigration Policies to be Tested When Title 42 Ends Next Month”:
• Still, some of Biden’s short-term efforts to slow illegal border crossings have worked. Border Patrol arrests fell drastically in the first two months of the year after new policies were rolled out providing temporary, legal pathways into the U.S. coupled with rapid expulsion for Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Cubans and Haitians who illegally cross the border.
• It’s a trend that officials and proponents have pointed to as proof that offering more legal pathways works — that people only cross the border illegally when they feel it is their only option.
When crossings temporarily dipped in September, the press spiked the football. In a segment headlined “Crisis Averted?” CNN’s Abby Phillip said the situation at the border was “Calm, not chaos” because of “tougher immigration policies now than before.” Her colleague at the border, Polo Sandoval, agreed, adding that “those policies could be a factor in all this.”
Even when the Biden administration claimed it wasn’t taking a victory lap, Politico was there to celebrate the “fiasco that never happened.”
As border crossings dip, Biden admin crows about the fiasco that never happened https://t.co/QGCh12TWp5
— POLITICO (@politico) June 6, 2023
Other outlets followed suit:
Migrant crossings at the US-Mexico border have unexpectedly fallen, not risen, since Title 42 curbs expired and reinstating criminal penalties for illegal entry is likely the biggest reason, the Biden administration said https://t.co/S2R3feqi5a pic.twitter.com/UP14Y6oiru
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 15, 2023
The U.S. deported or returned over 11,000 migrants to Mexico and more than 30 other countries in a week as part of a Biden administration effort to increase and publicize deportations following the expiration of Title 42 border restrictions, officials said https://t.co/ulKtcSOLNv pic.twitter.com/Ie4bXeMC2A
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 19, 2023
Roll Call, June 21: “Decrease in Border Crossings Hasn’t Slowed Republican Criticism”:
A reported decline in unauthorized border crossings in the month since pandemic-era asylum restrictions expired has done little to shield the Biden administration from Republican attacks over its border policies. …
John Sandweg, who previously served as top lawyer at DHS and acting chief of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the Obama administration, described the current landscape at the border as a “success story” for the Biden administration.
NBC News, June 20: “Biden Administration Says New Immigration Policy Has Slashed The Number of Migrants Who Can Claim Asylum at The Border”:
The Biden administration’s new immigration policy has drastically reduced the number of migrants allowed to apply for asylum at the southern border, according to a recent court filing by the administration, sparking backlash from advocates.
Washington Monthly. May 18: “Republicans Want to Impeach Mayorkas. How About Giving Him a Medal?”
And yet when “Title 42″—the Trump administration policy that used the COVID-19 pandemic to allow the immediate removal of asylum-seekers from American soil without due process—ended last week, the surge Sinema and others dreaded did not materialize. Why? Because Mayorkas, backed up by President Joe Biden, executed a multi-faceted strategy, developed for months, to both dissuade haphazard border-crossings and encourage orderly migration.
Reuters, May 15: “Migrant Crossings Drop at U.S.-Mexico Border After Title 42 Expires”:
Migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border have unexpectedly fallen, not risen, since Title 42 curbs expired and reinstating criminal penalties for illegal entry is likely the biggest reason, the Biden administration said on Sunday.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said border patrol agents have seen a 50% drop in the number of migrants crossing the border since Thursday, when President Joe Biden’s administration shifted to a sweeping new asylum regulation meant to deter illegal crossings.
As the border surge reaches new heights, the media have made one adjustment to their coverage. Now, rather than cheering Biden’s victory, they’re simply blaming Republicans for his problems:
Senate Republicans say no Christmas deal for the war in Ukraine and enacting new border security reforms https://t.co/O1wsP3yUms
— The Hill (@thehill) December 19, 2023
How has Mayorkas managed to bring about a remarkable turnaround in the face of a major border crisis?
, May 18: “Republicans Want to Impeach Mayorkas. How About Giving Him a Medal?”:
In the face of a major border crisis—with thousands of unaccompanied children arriving each month, crowded border patrol facilities, and images of desperate migrants making dangerous journeys to the U.S.—Mayorkas has managed to bring about a remarkable turnaround. …
But let’s be clear: Republicans do not want — and have never wanted — these problems addressed. They have wanted the border to be a crisis, and they have wanted it to be Biden’s crisis. They have wanted Mayorkas to fail. That is why they are trying to impeach him. But if he was a Republican, they’d be naming streets after him. And if the outcome of his tireless efforts to address this issue is that the border is more secure, immigration is more orderly, and more people throughout the hemisphere are safer and have greater economic opportunities, then maybe they should consider impeaching him.
Flashback over.
The crisis at America’s southern border continues to escalate, despite previous claims by the media and the Biden administration that it was under control. Record numbers of migrants are trying to cross the border every day, with many managing to evade detection. Border agents, who have seen it all, are shocked at the scale of these crossings, calling it the worst surge they’ve ever witnessed.
Even members of Biden’s own party are now acknowledging the crisis at the southern border and calling for policy changes, not just money, to secure the border and fix the asylum laws and processes. The situation has clearly reached a point where it can no longer be ignored or downplayed.
It is important to remember the previous assurances given by the mainstream media and the Biden administration that the border was under control. They claimed to have a plan and were ready for the surge, but the reality on the ground tells a different story. The press and administration officials pointed to various strategies and investments as the reasons for the decrease in migrant encounters, only to be proven wrong as the crisis continued to escalate.
This crisis at America’s southern border is not a political game. It is a humanitarian disaster that needs immediate attention and action. The Biden administration must work with both sides of the aisle to fix the broken asylum laws and processes, and secure the border to prevent further suffering and chaos. It is time for real solutions, not empty promises and misleading narratives. The escalating crisis at America’s southern border demands our attention and decisive action.
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