Date: February 1, 2023
Host: Jim Schneider
Guest: Mark Krikorian
MP3 | Order
We have now been through 2 years of the Biden administration immigration policies. The result? Last week it was reported by the Washington Times that the Department of Homeland Security released more than 1,100 illegal immigrants with criminal records from its detention facilities in December as it sought to make room for a border surge that never materialized. Now the Department of Homeland Security is declaring victory over the border crisis.
Joining Jim for an update on this issue was Mark Krikorian. Mark is a nationally recognized expert on immigration issues serving as the Executive Director of Center for Immigration Studies. They are an independent, non-partisan research organization examining and critiquing the impact of immigration on the United States. He has testified numerous times before Congress and has published articles in many outlets.
Mark described immigration as a federal government program like farm subsidies or small business loans. From time to time it needs to be revisited to see whether it needs to be shrunk, increased or changed in some way.
So what did President Biden do? When he was running for office he promised to undo everything the Trump administration did regarding immigration. Mark noted that when a different party comes in they have different goals. So even though the opposition was warned and were aware that if they undid Trump’s policies it would create a disaster at the border, Mark communicated that they basically “whistled past the graveyard,” took a “wishful thinking” approach, and things didn’t work out.
For example, they got rid of the “Remain in Mexico” program. This meant that people applying for asylum could submit their application if they came in illegally and through a port of entry, but they had to wait on the Mexico side of the border for their hearing date. The goal was to remove the incentive for people to make bogus asylum claims so they get let go and we never find them again. Overall, the policy worked well yet Biden undid it.
So not only are massive numbers of illegals crossing the border and being let go into the U.S., the Biden administration is paroling people in. This means that for emergency reasons a president can let in a small number of ineligible people for things like medical emergencies. President Biden has used this loophole to let in hundreds of thousands of people that have not been authorized by Congress to be here. In fact, Jim referred to a column written by Mark that describes this as the “silver bullet” to kill off what remains of our immigration system.
As the broadcast moved along, Mark commented on the following:
- The immigration benefits (status) given to immigrants.
- The latest on the border wall.
- Announcement of impeachment charges against the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
- Mayor Eric Adams of New York City, his visit to the border, and the statements he made.
- Governor Greg Abbott of Texas just announced his new border czar. Will this appointment have any meaningful impact?
- Challenges at the northern border.
For more analysis concerning the first two years of the Biden administration’s border policies, and the border situation at the present time, review this Crosstalk broadcast.
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