The Democrat mayor of Sierra Vista, Arizona, told Fox News last night that “the border’s wide open. We need it closed.”
That we do, but closing the border at this point is going to be a trick.
Title 42, which had allowed (some) illegals to be quickly deported, was discontinued at 11:59 pm.
With an average of more than 10,000 would-be asylees coming across daily over the past several days, government shelters along the border are filled to overflowing.
The Biden administration had hoped to deal with the overcrowding by “paroling” many newcomers–ie, release them into the U.S. without giving them a “notice to appear”–but a federal judge in Florida put the kibosh on that.
Meanwhile, as detailed here yesterday, tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of migrants from all over the world are in Mexico now and are planning to cross into the United States.
Biden had hoped to replace Title 42 with some beefed-up provisions of the existing Title 8 policy, which at least specifies a five-year ban on migrants removed after being apprehended illegally crossing the border. Those provisions include requiring would-be asylees (1) to seek asylum in the first safe country they come to, (2) present themselves only at an official port of entry, and (3) to use a particular smart phone app to request an appointment with the Border Patrol.
All of these niceties overlook reality: migrants don’t want asylum in Mexico or points south, they want to get across the border anywhere they can, and relying on an app(!) in the chaos the administration has wrought is just downright silly.
So the day of reckoning is upon us. Biden, DHS Secretary Mayorkas, and the entire administration have brought it upon themselves and, unfortunately, upon us.