Date: December 27, 2022
Host: Jim Schneider
Guest: Mark Krikorian
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As we approached Christmas, unprecedented numbers of immigrants were making their way toward the southwest border of the U.S. for the anticipation of the lifting of Title 42. Yuma county declared a state of emergency, not only for health reasons, but also regarding the vast number of illegal immigrants using the key word, “asylum,” to gain entrance.
The numbers are off the charts and the courts have stopped the lifting of Title 42, but for how long? Will the turnstile into the U.S. continue to operate unhindered as we enter the new year?
Back on Crosstalk to discuss this critical issue was Mark Krikorian. Mark is a nationally recognized expert on immigration issues serving as the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. They are an independent, non-partisan research organization examining and critiquing the impact of immigration on the United States. He’s testified numerous times before Congress and has published articles in many outlets.
How would Mark describe President Biden’s border plan? The Biden administration doesn’t see the masses coming across as a problem. They believe these individuals have a right to cross. In fact, he indicated that Biden’s plan is to spend money to move immigrants even faster into the U.S. His administration sees immigrants backing up into border communities, sleeping on the streets in cities like El Paso, burdening them and other towns. So for them, the solution is to move immigrants out of those towns and into the interior of the country.
The president should be doing everything necessary to stop all illegal border crossings because that’s what the law says, but his administration is simply ignoring it. They know that, but they consider immigration law to be immoral, something akin to Jim Crow. So if the law requires them to turn illegal immigrants away, they see themselves as heroic in their subversion of what they see as an immoral law. They may do something cosmetic to limit the public relations fallout, but other than that, Mark doesn’t believe they’re going to do anything else.
While there are those who are caught or turn themselves in, what about the thousands who don’t want to be caught? After all, last year alone we caught 98 people that were on the terrorist watch list. Mark wondered how many they missed.
Then there’s the issue of drugs and the diversions that smugglers can create. They do this by telling groups of people to swarm the border at certain times. This requires border patrol agents to move away from their patrolled areas to help out, leaving openings for drugs to be taken across the border.
How do the numbers look? In fiscal 2021, there were about 1.6 million border patrol apprehensions. In fiscal year 2022, that ended September 30, that involved about 2.2 million apprehensions. Although some were sent back under Title 42, overall, Mark noted that this administration has let in approximately 1.5 million illegal aliens since taking office.
This is just some of what was discussed during the first quarter hour. It was an information-packed program about a critical issue. So get the details and hear what listeners had to say in response as well.
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