Inhumane, open borders

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: the record surge on the U.S. southern border.

In April, US border officials recorded more than 200-thousand apprehensions. That’s not happened in over two decades, and it’s the most recorded for a single month in U.S. history.

NICK EICHER, HOST: In that same month, authorities released into the country more than 100,000 border crossers.

That is drawing sharp criticism from many current and former border officials, including Mark Morgan, who is on the line now.

He is a former chief of the border patrol. And served as Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection from July 2019, until the Biden administration came into office.

REICHARD: Mark, good morning!

MARK MORGAN, GUEST: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

REICHARD: Mark, in your view, what policy changes by the Biden administration made the biggest difference last year as it pertains to the southern border?

MORGAN: Well, it’d actually be easier to say which ones haven't they touched. The only one, the vast network of tools, authorities, and policies we had to effectively secure the border and reduce the flow of illegal immigration, there was only one policy that remained, and that was Title 42, of which they've been trying to even stop that. But one of the largest policies of that vast network was the Remain in Mexico program. It was the most single handedly effective tool authority that we have. By February of 2020, we had reduced the flow of illegal immigration by over 75%, which allowed us to more effectively secure the border. And I've said this many times, this administration inherited the most secure border in our lifetime, and they have virtually destroyed it and handed it over to the cartels.

REICHARD: We hear about Title 42, that has to do with communicable diseases, and the effect its having on border crossings. The Biden administration had planned to halt Title 42 this week, but a federal judge blocked that and ruled Title 42 must remain in place for now. The administration is appealing that decision. Mark, describe more specifically what Title 42 is and what difference it’s made.

MORGAN: Well, it’s just as you described. It’s a public health policy, it's not an immigration policy. And the design behind that was to further reduce the introduction of COVID-19 into the United States. And here's where some people get confused. Look, this country has been doing what we've asked, right? We've been tested, we've been vaccinated, we've been boosted, we've worn a mask, the list goes on and on. In the United States, we're almost there where we can get COVID-19 in the rearview mirror. You can't say the same for over 160 countries of which we have apprehended illegal aliens on our Southwest border. Many countries do not have adequate testing availability or vaccine availability. Haiti, for example, has less than 1% of its population that are fully vaccinated. So at a time the United States is just almost there with COVID-19 behind us, this administration wants to open up Title 42 and open up our borders to. When it goes away, a family of four or five can tell the agents “Hurry up and process me. Oh, by the way, give me a free plane ticket to anywhere I want to go. Wait, hold on, before we go, our entire family has COVID.” The agents will say, “No problem. Come on in.” What planet does that make sense?

REICHARD: We have seen efforts by the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona to curb illegal immigration. What are they doing and what can those states accomplish without cooperation from the White House?

MORGAN: Yeah, those are very good questions and I’ll give an example. So there's multiple states that can and have been through their attorney generals filing lawsuits pushing back against this administration that are doing well. As you just mentioned, Title 42 was one. It was led by Louisiana, Arizona, and Missouri—as well as 21 other states and they won. And what was really important about that, just like the Remain in Mexico, is you have interior states that are participating, because like we said, for a very long time, what happens at our Southwest border doesn't stay there. It makes its way to every town, city and state. It’s why we say every state is a border state. Drugs is just one example of many of the threats that do not stay on the southwest border, and they make their way to every state. But also look, they are limited. Now U.S. v. Arizona—an old Supreme Court, United States Supreme Court case—says that states cannot enforce federal law, federal immigration law. So even though the state of Texas, for example, through Operation Lonestar has put about 10,000 National Guard and Texas troopers down there, and they're filling a void left by this administration, it's still not enough because at the end of the day, there's only so much they can do because they cannot enforce federal immigration law.

REICHARD: Mark, I think one of the most heartbreaking elements of the border debate is the human cost. From your experience, talk a little bit about the dangers to migrants, the things that they endure, the risks they take to get to the border and to cross it and the victimization of migrants there. What have you seen?

MORGAN: Yeah, I’m glad you asked that because this is something we do not talk enough about. And specifically this administration won't, by design. The most inhumane thing that this country can do is have the current open border policies for the migrants themselves. When you say our borders are open, when you do not enforce immigration law, you are sending a calling card to every country in this world, “Now's the time to give your finances to the cartels, risk your life, because if you get to our border, you will be released into the country and you will never be deported even though you remain here illegally.” No wonder, as you said, last month 234,000. The highest on record. The reality is more dead migrants have been found along our Southwest border under this administration than ever before. More women are being sexually abused and raped on the journey up here. The cost of human trafficking has skyrocketed because of this administration's open border policies. I could go on and on forever, but you're never going to hear these stats or this discussion from this administration.

REICHARD: Mark Morgan is a Visiting Fellow with the Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation. Mark, thanks so much!

MORGAN: You bet. Thank you for having me.

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