OPINION:
President Biden has now done what he had never dared: Appear at the southwest border to survey the ongoing battle to transform America through immigration. No one should mistake the president for a modern-day Horatius at the bridge, though. It was not heroism that prompted his arrival at the front line two years late, but rather old-fashioned fear of political damage.
Near the Bridge of the Americas connecting El Paso, Texas, to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Mr. Biden gazed Sunday upon the artery across the Rio Grande that daily channels thousands of immigrants into the U.S. In contrast to the general who saved ancient Rome by holding off an invading horde at the sole span over Tiber River, Mr. Biden simply allowed: “They need a lot of resources. We’re going to get it for them.”
Nor do America’s invaders come to pillage, but rather to find a better life. They do so in a manner, though, that sows chaos in U.S. communities and violates U.S. law. Sadly, the costs that citizens bear matter little to illegal immigrants and, until now, to the president.
Finally, on Thursday, Mr. Biden took aim at the immigration influx. He announced a total of 30,000 immigrants from four repressive nations — Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti — would be granted asylum each month and given two-year visas. Compared with the inflow from those countries that numbered 82,000 in November, the Biden plan would constitute a sizable reduction in numbers from those nations. However, compared with the flood exceeding 718,000 from around the globe that has already swept over the border in fiscal 2023, the president’s cutbacks would barely represent a drop in the bucket.
In addition, Mr. Biden plans to restrict the rush of illegal border crossers with Title 42, an emergency power employed to expel arriving immigrants during the COVID-19 health crisis. Since his administration is simultaneously urging the Supreme Court to strike down the measure, its use would be halfhearted at best.
The president possesses another potentially useful immigration-control implement: Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which grant authority to return immigrants to Mexico while their petitions for entry are adjudicated. It is a tool barely touched: In November, MPP was wielded to turn back less than 5% of applicable cases, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.
Instead, Mr. Biden is banking on immigration regulation through innovation. There is an app for everything these days, including immigration, and “CBP One” will allow newcomers to schedule an appointment for an asylum claim prior to setting foot on U.S. soil.
For two years, Mr. Biden has essentially invited illegal immigration and 5 million — not including “gotaways” — have enthusiastically accepted. Why would northbound travelers honor his new rules now and risk being turned away when entry is as simple as wading across the Rio Grande?
A Gallup Poll published in December ranked immigration as the second-most important noneconomic problem facing the nation. Accordingly, “Horatius” Biden’s appearance at the bridge in El Paso was hardly a display of heroism, but rather fear of the consequences flowing from his disregard of the nation-transforming effects of illegal immigration.
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