By U.S. Senator Deb Fischer
Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime. An influx of illegal immigrants can drive down wages for working Americans, drive up drug and human trafficking, and strain government resources meant for American citizens.
But the negative effects of illegal immigration—and the unsecured border that allows it—do not seem to motivate the Biden administration. Throughout his time in office, and especially this election year, only one consideration seems to motivate President Biden’s border and immigration policies: politics.
On day one of his administration, President Biden rescinded all the Trump-era reforms that kept our southern border secure: Remain in Mexico, the wall, and much more. Immigration activists pressured him to get rid of basic security measures, and he quickly obliged. Political reaction, not good policy, motivated these changes. And ever since, illegal immigration has risen dramatically—approximately 10 million people have entered the country since President Biden took office.
The president’s low approval ratings reflect Americans’ dissatisfaction with his political handling of the border. One poll earlier this year found that 67 percent of Americans disapprove of President Biden’s handling of immigration. Surveys consistently find that voters see the crisis at our southern border as this administration’s biggest failure.
With the election looming, these trailing poll numbers pushed the president to tout his executive order earlier this month as a “border security” measure, a last-ditch effort to blunt criticism of his immigration record. But that order still allows thousands of illegal immigrants to enter our country daily, and it doesn’t implement any of the reforms we know work. Again, the administration made a decision based on politics, not good policy.
Toothless as it was, that “border security” executive order drew criticism from the left. To appease them, President Biden this week took executive action offering amnesty to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who are spouses or children of American citizens, as long as the spouses have been here for 10 years.
This offer of amnesty, of course, undermines any earlier attempted border security measure. It broadcasts the message that, if you enter our country illegally, and you stay here long enough, we’ll let you get away with it. The inevitable result is more illegal immigration.
To the Biden administration, the border crisis is a game of political calculations. But when political calculations drive policy, the result is bad policy. And bad policy has consequences.
Just look to Americans’ sons and daughters killed by illegals who should’ve been stopped at our southern border—young Americans like Laken Riley and Rachel Morin. Or consider that men with ties to ISIS have entered through our southern border and spread to big cities across the country. Since President Biden took office, the number of potential terrorists encountered at the southern border has risen from 16 in fiscal year (FY) 2021 to 172 in FY 2023.
Some may argue that, to some degree, politics always drives policy. But we should never allow political calculations to dominate decision-making, especially when public safety is at stake. Unfortunately, that’s what Joe Biden has done—political calculations, and the public is paying the price.
Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.