How Global Has Biden’s Border Fiasco Gone?
We can’t control events in Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan; it’s time for Biden to comply with Congress’ mandates at the Southwest border
By Andrew R. Arthur on February 1, 2023
In a recent post, I analyzed shifts in focus of the Biden administration’s migration policies, from targeting “root causes” for migration from the “Northern Triangle” countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to offering extra-legal bribes in the form of “parole” to nationals of Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Cuba. The problem with these strategies is that they focus exclusively on “push factors” that encourage migrants to leave home, while ignoring the more significant “pull factors” drawing them to the United States — the most significant being the administration’s refusal to impose consequences (like detention and prosecution) on illegal entrants and enticements in the form of lavish housing and welfare benefits in “sanctuary” jurisdictions for them here. The futility of this push factor strategy is best exemplified by the breathtaking sweep of nationals who are now arriving at our Southwest border.
The Admissions Process and the Grounds of Inadmissibility. The primary focus of every administration’s border strategy — prior to the current one — was on deterring migrants from entering the United States illegally.
In this, those administrations were taking their lead from Congress — the branch that, in our constitutional order, determines which foreign nationals are allowed to enter the country, and which are barred from entry and/or are required to leave. As the Supreme Court has explained:
https://cis.org/Arthur/How-Global-Has-Bidens-Border-Fiasco-Gone
