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For the first time in his 50-year career in Washington, President Joe Biden finally visited the southern border. This was in addition to a previously scheduled trip to Mexico rather than a special standalone trip.
It wasn’t worth the wait.
Much like Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit in June 2021 was little more than border security tourism, Biden’s visit was about pushing the open-border agenda while trying to appear serious about border security.
Here are three reasons why Biden’s visit represents the worst kind of politics.
Biden left El Paso without seeing the most affected areas after a brief border visit, critics say
It distracts him from his reckless and dangerous policy failures.
From day one, Biden has pushed for a radical open-border agenda. Through his 90-plus executive orders, he has removed nearly every effective process, procedure, and tool available to Border Patrol, ICE, and others to secure borders and enforce laws. The results were disastrous.
Under his watch, more than 5.5 million individuals have entered or been allowed to enter illegally, including more than 1.2 million known fugitives, among them numerous gang members. members, violent criminals, and potential terrorists.
CBP has recorded more than 100,000 encounters each month during Biden’s tenure, and has recorded more than 200,000 encounters for 10 consecutive months. For context, former Obama DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson once said his 30,000 arrests in a month were considered a crisis.
As a result, up to 80% of Border Patrol agents have been taken off line to handle these record numbers of illegal aliens, allowing drugs, criminals, and potential national security threats to enter the United States. Borders are being left increasingly open to cartels pushing into the United States. Being the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to her 45 has flowed into our community.
Biden desperately wants to change the conversation. That’s why he gave a half-baked speech at the White House last Thursday announcing new immigration measures.
President Joe Biden walks with U.S. Border Patrol agents along the border in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, January 8, 2023.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnick)
It uses law enforcement as a shield from political criticism.
In a speech on Thursday, Mr. Biden repeatedly attacked Republicans for refusing to approve new funding for the Border Patrol. This was dishonest and misleading. First, a recent blanket bill (a disastrous appropriation bill pushed at Christmas) barred Border Patrol from spending new money on new physical border security improvements.
More importantly, while Joe Biden pretends to be dressed in green and gold, his push for “more funding” is helping government agencies get more illegal aliens faster. It is not a Border Patrol mission or signed by its agents.
Talk to them and they will tell you that walls work. This president stopped building the border wall system.
They tell us that Remain in Mexico worked to bring illegal immigration to the lowest level in 40 years. Biden ended it.
They tell us that secure third country agreements with all three countries in the Northern Triangle have reduced the exploitation of loopholes and rebuilt the integrity of the system. Biden canned them.
Biden every time says he supports the Border Patrol and takes action to undermine them.
Mr. Biden said Thursday that he will meet with Border Patrol agents and “publish what they conclude they don’t have but need.” This is blatantly dishonest. Current and former border security experts told Biden and his team during the transition exactly what they needed to do to secure the border. He keeps ignoring them all.
Never forget – Biden made it even more grotesque by defaming and threatening border agents mounted from the White House podium and using them as political pawns. Did it take you a few minutes to apologize to innocent American heroes who are just doing their job?
It aggressively gaslights Americans.
“Helicopter leadership” may lend itself to good photo ops that the corporate media will soon eat up, but in reality, Biden didn’t get his hands dirty on this trip. Attending choreographed dog and pony shows and visiting sterilization facilities away from the actual front line at the border, the visuals are much more controlled.
Most US corporate media refuse to cover the border crisis. Americans who rely on them for information don’t know exactly what’s going on at the border.
Meanwhile, Biden stood in the middle of the visit, praising his administration’s response to the very crisis he created. This is not leadership. Is a lie.
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Biden’s visit was long overdue. It was also the absolute minimum of his responsibilities as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.
The southern border has been engulfed in a devastating crisis since President Biden’s first day in office. That’s because of his open border policy. One visit doesn’t change that.
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But just as his disastrous policies have proven to be consistently unpopular among border agents, his absence holds him accountable for keeping the nation, especially the border, safe. It sent a signal that they simply didn’t care about the consequences of the crisis for men and women.
Sadly, his lack of leadership has ravaged the Border Patrol and thrown our border into chaos.A letter from Texas Governor Greg Abbott to the President lists his shortcomings and how to fix them. has been described in detail, making it even clearer.
Nothing will change until he admits his failure and changes course.
Mark Morgan, former Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, is a Visiting Fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
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