Michael Goodwin: Gall Out in the “Open” at the U.S. Border

Conservative News DailyDecember 19, 2022

Decades of writing about politicians has taught me that the successful ones generally do not make big decisions on the fly. If you watch and listen, you can usually spot a deliberative process and defensible reasoning behind their positions.

But now comes a major exception: the decision by the Biden administration to throw open our southern border.

Two years into this national disaster, I don’t have a clue about why the president and his team are still doing this. What started as a foolish bid to undo everything Donald Trump did has become a permanent policy that undercuts national security and defies decency.

The White House has never explained itself, and the plausible reasons — importing future Democrats, cheap farm labor, or humanitarian concerns — make zero sense when measured against the human suffering involved on both sides of the border.

Yet the surge continues without a hint of remorse and is about to get even worse with the likely end of the pandemic-era Title 42 rule, which made expulsions easier.

The damage done already is mind-boggling. More than 5 million mostly unvetted people have entered the United States in the last two years. It is certain that among them are potential terrorists and many members of drug cartels, human traffickers and murderous gangs.

The Border Patrol reports that more than 275,000 unaccompanied minors arrived since Biden took office — a number comparable to the entire population of Buffalo.

Michael Goodwin: Gall Out in the “Open” at the U.S. Border — The Biden administration claims that the US is prepared for the next surge of migrants.

WH plays by own rules

For generations, immigrants from around the world played by the rules, but now on a presidential whim, there are no rules. Get here however you can and the door is wide open.

Most of the new arrivals were coached by American lawyers to claim asylum, even though the vast majority don’t meet the legal requirement of escaping religious or political persecution. Nonetheless, they can stay pending court hearings, which, because of backlogs, will not happen for five years or more.

Historically, many applicants skip the hearings and remain in the US illegally, and there’s no reason the same pattern won’t hold with millions of recent arrivals.

Apart from troublesome individuals mixed in with people simply desperate for a better life, the sheer size of the migrant flow is unlike anything our country has experienced.

Five million dwarfs the population of every city except New York, yet most have been allowed entry despite not being able to legally work and having no family here willing to accept responsibility for their welfare.

So they are drains on private charities and government largesse. Scattered across the nation, sometimes by stealth flights arranged by federal officials and sometimes by GOP border-state governors wanting to share their pain with blue-state governors, the migrants are showing up in schools and hospitals from coast to coast. Some are living in filthy encampments on streets and parks.

Numbers are expected to rise after the end of Title 42. — More than 5 million mostly unvetted people have entered the United States in the last two years.

The cost of caring for them, in dollars, manpower and time, inevitably reduces services to taxpaying citizens and needy residents.

Longer term, where are they going to live? New York is the only big city with an obligation to provide shelter, and its facilities are bursting at the seams.

The city would have to spend at least $600 million, or $34,000 annually to provide shelter, education, health care and legal aid for each of the thousands of asylum-seekers already here, the Independent Budget Office estimated.

That study, released more than a month ago, was based on 17,500 migrants then said to be living in shelters or city-funded hotels. But Mayor Adams last week put the number of migrants already here at 30,000, pushing the estimated annual cost to more than $1 billion.

Despite his numerous pleas for aid from Washington and Albany, Adams said “no one” from the federal or state government has helped.

Meanwhile, the city and state, bemoaning a shortage of affordable housing, announced plans to build 800,000 units over the next decade. Will the new migrants be eligible, and thus be competing with residents for the scarce units?

Much of the US drug supply comes across the southern border. — Tons of narcotics and fentanyl have crossed the border, leading to more than 100,000 overdose deaths.

Deadly stakes

Other consequences are also unprecedented. Tons of narcotics and fentanyl have crossed the border, leading to more than 100,000 overdose deaths.

And thousands of those who made the perilous trips from the violent, impoverished countries in Latin America died along the way, further shredding any claim the Biden policy is born of compassion.

Indeed, even the administration seems to know the situation is indefensible, as illustrated by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas insisting the border is “secure.” Yes, he actually said that to Congress, under oath, an obvious lie that is both ridiculous and insulting, making him a prime candidate for impeachment when the GOP takes over the House.

Mayorkas’ brazen lie illustrates how Dems’ control of both chambers protected the White House for the last two years from serious scrutiny or consequences. Thankfully, that is about to change.

Of course, there was a second ring of protection provided by the left-leaning media. If you only read The New York Times or Washington Post and watched CNN and MSNBC, you probably didn’t know anything about the nonstop caravans crossing the border or that the number of crossers exceeded 5 million people.

The only thing you would have been told was that “MAGA” Republicans and “right-wing media” outlets like Fox News and The Post were “bashing immigrants” who were simply looking for a better life.

So, in coming days, as Title 42 expires and the caravans multiply, remember the greater truth the whole episode has revealed: The mainstream media and the Biden White House are America’s largest sources of lies and misinformation.

El Paso is expected to receive thousands of migrants a day. — The El Paso mayor declared state of emergency ahead of Title 42 lifting.

Big tech, bigger coverup

A prediction: One of the biggest stories of 2023 will be how the FBI, Homeland Security and other federal law enforcement secretly worked for years with Big Tech to censor and spy on American citizens.

Thanks to Elon Musk’s opening the Twitter files, the first evidence is in plain sight. Emails show FBI agents directing employees to restrict certain tweets and accessing Twitter data to identify account holders. Did surveillance, without a court order, follow?

Given the agents’ boldness and the Twitter employees’ cooperation, it’s very likely similar schemes took place at Facebook and other social-media firms.

This is a big deal, and could be a case of history repeating itself. Nearly 50 years ago, the Senate Church Committee exposed illegal domestic spying by the CIA, FBI and IRS.

One difference: Today’s media is comfortable with spying and suppressing free speech as long as it’s directed at Republicans and conservatives.

Look what the ‘Kat’ followers dragged in

Reader Susan Cienfuegos is no fan of Gov. Hochul, writing: “If anyone is to blame for ‘Kondescending’ Kat’s continuously horrible leadership, it’s the New Yorkers who voted for her.

“Where were all these people? Were they not paying attention to why she had to go? The fact that she kept Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg on was a major red flag. Well, they got what they voted for — a crime denier!”