The U.S.-Mexico Southern border is one of the main points of debate in the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Within the GOP, many Republicans blame the crisis at the border on Biden, Kamala Harris (“The Border Czar”) and the Democratic party.
This is both unfair and untrue.
While it is true that the first three years of the Biden administration have seen skyrocketing numbers of illegal border crossings, Biden’s policies regarding the border have not contributed to that trend.
Global migration has been up due to circumstances out of the United States' control. Venezuela saw a collapsing economy, which resulted in a large outflow of the population. Similarly, Haiti and Nicaragua have seen degrading conditions that have forced many out of their home countries.
When looking at the statistics, the majority of migrants have historically come from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but recent years have seen upticks in migrants from other countries; around 50% of illegal migrant incidents have come from countries not among those four. As of late 2022, migrants from Venezuela made up the third-largest share of migrants.
It's also important to note that the reason migrations were low towards the end of Trump's term, and so high during Biden's, is due to the coronavirus pandemic. While Trump saw a record-low migration; mainly due to Title 42, a Trump-era policy of quickly expelling migrants for health reasons; Biden's term saw the end of the pandemic lockdown and the subsequent surge of migrants, who waited until after the shutdown.
These are the reasons why the number of illegal crossings at the border has increased, not because of Biden’s policy.
Moreover, Biden’s policy has been harsher on immigration than almost any president, including Trump. Under Biden, Title 42 was expanded. Biden has already enacted more than 500 executive actions regarding the border, more than during Trump’s four-year presidency. Biden even tried to restrict asylum through federal rule, although the policy is under legal battle.
Most notably, however, was the proposed bipartisan bill that the Biden Administration fought to pass. With support from both congressional Republicans and Democrats, the bill would have overhauled the broken asylum system, provided tougher and faster enforcement, given the president the power to expel migrants should authorities get overwhelmed, supplied border authorities with $20 billion in aid and more. It was even supported by the Border Patrol Union.
Still, the bill was tanked by the Republican bloc and never made it past Congress. Why? Because Trump and the Republicans refused to give Biden a win on immigration. If the bill had passed, the Trump campaign would have lost its number one talking point and another thing to blame Biden and Harris for. In Biden's own words, “Republicans have to decide. Who do they serve? Donald Trump or the American people?” They chose Trump.
After the bill tanked, many Republicans spouted the lie that Biden could simply enact the policies set in place by the bill without congressional approval. That’s just not true. Biden couldn’t send more funding to the border without congressional approval, and without funding, there aren’t enough asylum officers to make the policies in the bill a reality. Biden is also unable to reenact Trump-era policies, even if he wanted to. Title 42 would need approval by the CDC and a “Remain In Mexico” policy or a continuation of building the border wall would be immediately tied up in losing litigation.
So, next time you hear a Republican call the crisis “Biden’s Border Crisis” or blame the uptick in migration on Harris as “The Border Czar,” think twice. Had Trump and the Republican Party actually wanted the best for the American people, the border bill would have been passed and America would be safer.
Acknowledgment: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author.
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