Note: The views and opinions expressed in blog/editorial posts are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the views or opinions of Misbar.
When Trump was president, the media focused largely on border issues. Multiple mainstream news outlets made it seem like they were simply shedding light on an issue the people needed to know about, but the truth is that circumstances at the border had changed very little since the Obama Administration.
One of the most memorable lines from the 2020 debates happened in an October of 2020 debate in which Biden accused Trump of “putting kids in cages,” and Trump responded, “Who built the cages, Joe?”
In reality, those “cages” are makeshift facilities which were used under the Obama Administration in very similar ways in which they were used under the Trump Administration. There is little difference between the “facilities” in which migrants are housed under the Obama and Biden Administrations and the “cages” in which kids were kept under the Trump Administration. The only difference is the terminology, and the terminology the media decides to use depends on which political party is in office.
In the past month, Project Veritas finally got into the facilities at the border and released pictures which revealed over-crowded facilities and conditions that are far worse than what was going on under the Trump Administration. Shortly thereafter, Ted Cruz travelled to the border and published photos and footage of what he called the “Biden Cages.”
Meanwhile, the media has been creating a narrative around Texas opening up restaurants and businesses. If COVID-19 numbers skyrocket, they have already preemptively blamed Texas's reopening. However, thousands of migrants are coming across the border every day and staying in close quarters with one another before being released into the U.S. This is largely happening in Texas. The thousands of migrants coming into Texas is a much more likely source of rising COVID-19 numbers than the opening of indoor dining and other businesses, but the mainstream media does not seem to think so.
Aside from COVID-19 numbers, the conditions at the border are continuing to worsen as more and more migrants view the Biden Administration as their ticket to America. The Biden Administration continues to claim that it wants to handle this situation differently than the Trump Administration. White House Press Secretary Jenn Psaki continues to claim that the administration is handling the migrants humanely and with dignity. And yet, their policies are creating ever-worsening conditions for migrants.
When footage was released of coyotes throwing very young children over the border wall, there was justified outrage. The fact is, the Biden Administrations policies on the border have encouraged more people to come, resulted in a surge at the border. This has also created a high demand for coyotes who will smuggle children across the border. While some families will come to the border together, this is not always the case. In many cases, human traffickers have brought children to the border. In other cases, coyotes have charged families thousands of dollars to take their children to the border. This is the most likely scenario for the children who were thrown over the border wall and left to fend for themselves.
As the Biden Administration claims, this is a humanitarian crisis. However, the most compassionate thing to do is to re-instate the policies which discouraged people from coming to the border in the first place. The Trump Administration’s policies did this. Fewer and fewer migrants were coming to the border because they did not stand as much of a chance of being released into the interior of the United States.
When the Biden Administration changed the policies, migrants began to come to the border by the thousands. This has resulted in overly crowded facilities, more children separated from their parents, more children who arrived with traffickers, and children who were brought to the border and left alone by coyotes. It has become painfully obvious that the Biden Administration’s policies are anything but compassionate. Good intentions aside, these “compassionate” policies are not working, and immense human suffering is the direct result of them.
It is obvious that people want to come to America. And clearly, families would not be trying so hard to cross the border if they did not genuinely believe that their children stood a better chance in the United States. America should be a place that is welcoming to immigrants, especially asylum seekers. There is no doubt that something needs to change so that American can allow more immigrants to have a chance at living the American dream.
The Biden Administration needs to prioritize making legal immigration a smoother process, and one that does not take years. This administration must focus on this issue at the border so that criminals and human traffickers are not able to make their way into the United States and make our country as dangerous as the ones they came from. Allowing just anyone to cross our border will destroy America. It will no longer be a safe place for migrants or Americans.
This is why the Biden Administration needs to change its current policies which allow illegal immigrants to cross over and be released into the interior of the U.S. Instead, the administration needs to focus on making it easier for asylum seekers to come here legally, and harder for people to come illegally. This is going to take a lot more work than just allowing illegal immigrants to storm our borders, but policies can be enacted to promote the legal immigration of hard-working, asylum seeking families who just want a safe place to live, while at the same time weeding out criminals, human traffickers, and cartel members so that we can keep America a safe place for current and future American citizens.
