Washington Wednesday: Biden’s border changes

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s the 11th of January, 2023. Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. It’s time for Washington Wednesday.

After two years in office, President Biden made his first visit to the southern border on Sunday. He stopped briefly in El Paso, Texas on his way to Mexico City for meetings with other North American leaders about several issues, including immigration.

Last week, Biden announced changes to U.S. border policy.

EICHER: The new policy will allow legal entry by 30,000 people monthly from each of these four countries: Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. But to receive legal entry, migrants must apply from their home country, and Biden said anyone who crosses the border illegally will be disqualified and sent back across the border.

The United States has record-high traffic at the border and has for a long time now, raising the question: Will the new policy make much difference?

Here to help us answer that question and others is Mark Morgan. He served as acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection under President Trump. Before that, he was acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under President Obama.

REICHARD:

Mark, good morning!

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

REICHARD: Well, let’s start with Biden’s rule changes for migrants from those four countries I just mentioned. First of all, why just those four countries?

MORGAN: Yeah, Mary, that's the question. Look, in the last two years under President Biden, we've seen illegal aliens from 160 different countries, and the plan that he's talking about only impacts those four countries that you talked about. And let's keep in mind, while he's saying he's going to remove illegal aliens from those four countries, at the same time, as you said, he's going to "parole in" up to 30,000 aliens from those four countries every single month. And this is very important about parole because for those who pay attention to this and know the law, we think this is, one, an unlawful use of parole, and two, it's to really circumvent the illegality that's happening. They're really just shifting. They're playing a shell game here, because instead of them illegally entering our southern border, what they're going to do is they're just going to parole them in and send them directly into the United States. They're really erasing the illegal part of illegal immigration. It's just a shell game. So the proof is in the pudding. Everything that he said seemed more like a processing strategy than a border security strategy.

REICHARD: What do you think the president accomplished with his recent visit to the US-Mexico border?

MORGAN: Yeah, look, all indications, Mary, so far, no. Look, I was glad that he went to El Paso. It's currently the epicenter of the crisis at our southern border. Last December, just a couple of weeks ago, in a 30 day period, El Paso experienced 55,000 apprehensions and over 32,000 got-aways. That's over 2,000 illegal aliens every single day. So he went to the right place. The problem is that's where it stopped. He clearly received a sanitized version. How do I say that? Because the time that he was down there, he didn't see a single illegal alien at the border. He stood in front of a wall. But yet, if he would have just went a little bit to the right or left where he stopped building the wall, he would have seen illegal aliens entering the border. He went to one of the NGO shelters, one of among many in El Paso, that on an average day, they see between 500 to 1,000 illegal aliens on a daily basis. Yet, when he went there wasn't a single illegal alien there. And the city streets of El Paso, I talked to people that still live there, I was just there a couple of weeks ago, the streets of El Paso were littered with homeless illegal aliens, because literally they're overwhelmed. When he went there, the streets were clean. And the other issue that we don't know is did he actually present a forum where the Border Patrol agents, for example, could have an open and honest conversation? Because if the president had what he would have heard, Mary, a few things, one, he would have said, Mr. President, the borders are not secure. They are wide open. The cartels have operational control. He would have heard that walls work. That's just a few things he would have heard. I don't think he heard it.

REICHARD: I have seen some reports that President Biden has been talking to the Mexican president in Mexico City about accepting more migrants that may be expelled from the United States. What would that mean? Is that some kind of good news in terms of addressing the crisis?

MORGAN: It is, if it actually happens. As illegal immigration continues, what happens especially when we've seen almost 6 million in the past 24 months—I mean, that's just unconscionable—is that it pulls border patrol resources off the front line, off and away from their national security mission. That's what leaves our border wide open. That's what enables the cartels to exploit that and gain operational control. And that's exactly how drugs are coming across, criminal aliens, and potential national security threats. Our border security is diminished because of illegal immigration. So if you can apply consequences to those that are illegally entering, if you're telling them that we're not going to release you in the United States never to be heard from again, that's a consequence. You will see the flow of illegal aliens go down. The problem with this is, the law says that you should detain certain individuals while they're going through the immigration proceedings. And this administration isn't doing that. They're not enforcing the law. And they dismantled every effective tool, authority, policy we had that really allowed us to have the most secure border in our lifetime. So I'm skeptical. But yes, anytime that they apply consequence, ie removing those that are illegally entering, it's going to have a positive effect. It's going to get more agents back on the line and it's going to help us secure our borders. But keep in mind, he's talking about removing up to 30,000 but he's also talking about paroling in 30,000 each month as well of those four countries. So it's contradictory. And it doesn't make sense.

REICHARD: Let’s talk ground level here. How are border agents coping with all this? They’ve had to deal with unprecedented numbers of people, and very little support from our government.

MORGAN: Yeah. Mary, look, I really appreciate you asking that question. Because look, the Border Patrol right now, their morale is the lowest it's ever been since its inception in 1924. I talked to agents on a regular basis. Look, the fact that they're still getting up every single day, putting the badge on their chest, and going to the frontlines of this border, risking their lives, that's just the definition of heroes. Because as you said, look, every tool, authority has been taken away. Their own agency from their chief to their secretary, the President of the United States has vilified them, has scapegoated them, and they have not given them what they needed. Our borders are not secure.

REICHARD: If you were advising the White House on how to fix the border crisis humanely but effectively at the same time, what would you say?

MORGAN: Yeah, so, the most humane and safe and effective thing that we can do Mary for the migrants themselves is to stop illegal immigration, stop incentivizing and encouraging them to give their money and their potential lives in the hands of the cartels to take the dangerous journey. The cartels treat these migrants like trash, like a commodity. We know that there are untold amount of young women and children that are raped on the journey, that these migrants are oftentimes thrust into the life of trafficking and associated atrocities with it. Under this administration, in the first two years, there have been close to 1,700 dead migrants that have found at our border all because this president and this administration has told the entire world if you come to the border and you set one foot on American soil, we're going to release you never to be heard from again. That's what they want, and they're risking their lives. The most safe, orderly, and humane thing we can do for the migrants themselves is to stop illegal immigration and have discussions on how we can effectively improve legal immigration going forward. And as far as the policies, look, I'm not meaning to be flip, but all they have to do is reinstitute the Remain in Mexico program, reinstitute the Safe Third Countries agreements we had with all three Northern Triangle countries, end catch and release, remove the restrictions on ICE that prevent them from doing their job to remove and deport illegal aliens and start building the wall again.

REICHARD: Ok, I know we’re past time but I’ve got to ask this question. I mean, one of the enumerated duties of the federal government is to protect our borders. You’ve already mentioned the harms to illegals coming into the United States. What about danger to all Americans who are already here, legally?

MORGAN: Yeah, Mary, that's the question. Look, the truth and reality that a lot of Americans just don't understand is the threats coming across and they are vast and complex. Again, drugs coming across, killing Americans every single day. There are criminals. 1.2 million got-aways in the last 24 months. And the Constitution is clear under Article Four Section Four, the president of the United States, the federal government has the responsibility to do just what you said, to protect all states from threats outside its borders. And if they fail to do that, which this administration has, the states have a self-help remedy under Article One section 10 to protect themselves. And that's just what Governor Abbott has done by declaring invasion and putting troops and personnel on the southwest border.

REICHARD: Mark Morgan is a visiting fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation.

Mark Morgan is a visiting fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation. Mark, thanks so much!

MORGAN: You bet, Mary.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated the audio and transcript of this segment to note that the United States will allow 30,000 people to legally enter the country from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela each month.

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