2024 Rundown: The Border Gambit

Republicans are trying to walk a tightrope of campaigning on the border problems while directly refusing to solve them.

Migrants are crossing the Southern border in high numbers. Some days are even breaking records.

Republicans have made this their focal point issue for the 2024 election. They’re also determined not to do anything to improve the situation so that they can campaign on it. On top of that, they’re already creating the 2024 big lie that Democrats want migrants coming into the US in order to have them vote in the federal elections and therefore defeat Trump. 

Let’s look at how all of this has come together.

Biden came into office with the Covid pandemic in full swing and Title 42 enacted in regards to border crossings. Contrary to the narrative Republicans have used in the past, Biden never ended Title 42 at the border. He potentially could have when he took office but he decided to leave it in place while dealing with other issues.

Republicans ended Title 42 when they voted to end the Covid emergency. Title 42 was predicated on that emergency in order to be in effect. Republicans ended Title 42 with no plan and no legislation in place for new immigration or border laws.

In response to Title 42 ending, Biden enacted the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule which reenacted some of the features that Republicans liked most such as making it harder to claim asylum in the US if a person passed through a third nation before arriving in the US and did not both request asylum in that third nation.

If that sounds contrary to the “open border” narrative that Republicans have been using for the last two years, it’s because it is. Not only has Biden enacted strict measures like the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule, Biden has deported a greater percentage of migrants than Trump did during his Presidency.

The issue isn’t an open border, it is increased migration due to a much larger displaced population than we’ve seen in the past. There are many reasons for this increase in displaced population which also means there are multiple ways to tackle the border issue.

Trump enacted severe economic sanctions against Venezuela and strengthened economic sanctions against Cuba. In 2021 the US also enacted sanctions against Nicaragua.

These economic sanctions have not had the desired effect. Regimes and policies have not changed. Cuba has been continually under economic sanctions for over 60 years to no avail. But what these sanctions have caused is increased economic hardship for the citizens of those nations. And in turn that has increased the number of migrants fleeing those nations in hope of a better life.

Trump also reduced legal immigration pathways. Something that Biden largely undid when he took office but the system is so inefficient, underfunded and bogged down, that it takes time to get back to processing the higher amount of legal applications.

Then there is the work visa system that is outdated and not meeting the demands of either American companies nor migrants looking to work. And there is the asylum system which is so deeply underfunded and understaffed that asylum requests are taking years to get hearing dates. 

The Senate is attempting to tackle both of those issues along with some additional legal immigration options. A bipartisan group has worked out a deal that could make an actual substantive change to illegal border crossings, and yet the House of Representatives has said they refuse to even read the bill.

That is what is really going on with immigration. There is a problem, but Republicans are unwilling to solve it.

Recently, Speaker Johnson had said now was not the time for fundamental immigration reform because it is too complicated. Although he has since changed his tune on that statement as Johnson seemed to realize that gave away the game Republicans were playing. 

When asked about working on immigration policy, Republican Representative Troy Nehls said:

“I’m not willing to do too damn much right now to help a Democrat and to help Joe Biden’s approval rating.”

Johnson himself said in a GOP meeting that he wasn’t willing to work on any immigration bills until Trump was in office, as reported by Punchbowl News:

“Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team gave the clearest signal yet that the emerging Senate deal on border security and immigration is DOA in the House. On a House GOP conference call Sunday night, Johnson said Congress can’t solve the crisis at the border until Donald Trump or another Republican is in the White House.”

Before that statement, Johnson went on TV and declared that Biden should use executive orders to solve the border issues. When in reality, the legislative branch of government should do their job and legislate solutions.

Finally, Johnson said in a CNN interview that Border Patrol didn’t want the $14 billion that Republicans blocked which would have gone to hiring more agents and improving technology which would allow them to better secure the border.

Republicans simply do not want to solve the border issues because it is the only issue they have to campaign on.

They have no record to show from their time in the majority of the House. Trump’s record as President is no better, and he is facing numerous trials and 91 criminal charges. Republicans other core issues, such as banning abortion, is so unpopular that it is cited as the major reason they have been losing state elections all across the nation.

So Republicans have made a choice to complain loudly about the border, to fear monger about migrants, and to block any legislation that could address the issue.

Even worse, several Republicans are continually repeating that the people here illegally are going to vote for Joe Biden so that they have a narrative to say the 2024 election was stolen when Donald Trump loses once again.

With that in mind let’s be clear on some points:

• The border is not open

• The vast majority of Fentanyl comes through Ports of Entry and is smuggled in by American citizens

• There has been no terrorist activity or national security threats associated with border crossings

• Migrants here illegally commit crimes at a much lower rate than American citizens

• Non-legal US citizens cannot vote in federal elections

• Finally, Trump’s wall doesn’t work. Migrants walk through it daily and sections are simply blowing over from high winds. At over $20 million per mile to construct, it is a colossal failure.

We can, and should, reduce the high amount of illegal border crossings. But to do so requires taking the situation seriously and working on the root causes, not impulsively reacting based on fear and misunderstanding.

The US needs migrant workers to fill the jobs that Americans refuse to do, especially in a labor market as tight as we’ve had for over a year now. 

The US also needs immigrants to keep our population from shrinking. The US birth rate has been below the replacement rate since the 1970s and the only reason our nation still grows is because of immigration. A shrinking population destroys an economy. Japan is a well documented case study on that issue. 

And on top of all of that, the US was always a nation of immigrants. We used to welcome them and appreciate what they brought to our society, our culture, and how hard they worked.

Instead of using millions of human beings as political pawns because the Republican party has nothing else to campaign on, we need to treat migrants with the respect and empathy they deserve while improving our legal pathways for both citizenship and the right to work in America.

So as Republicans complain about the border for the next 10 months, remember that they also refuse to fix the problems so that they can complain.