Not because Biden is letting them in, or Trump’s border wall wasn’t completed.
“The impact of the pandemic just imploded economies everywhere, especially in the really badly governed countries like Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua,” an administration official said. “People are a lot hungrier, and you layer on droughts and floods, storms and all the other things that are going on, there’s more reason to leave.” (Read story here.)
In short, they’re fleeing their home countries because life is intolerable there. Socialist governments, climate change, and drug violence are major contributing factors to their desperation.
Meanwhile the U.S. has a labor shortage that’s driving inflation, especially in the services sector (goods inflation is coming down). It makes sense to invite in immigrants to fill lower-wage jobs that are going unfilled. That helps employers, consumers, and the economy.
But Republicans have a different agenda. They’re unpopular, especially with minorities, and they see in the migrant hordes a new wave of voters against them. But it takes years to become a citizen and achieve voting rights, many never do, and the GOP bogeyman of “illegals voting” simply doesn’t exist.
Another reason they don’t like immigrants is because they contribute to making America less white, which throws more fuel on the fire of their insecurities about America’s changing demographics and increasing diversity. A significant number of illegals could be here legally if Congress reformed our dysfunctional immigration laws, but Republicans won’t allow that.,
One of the arguments they use against immigration is crime. Actually, illegals commit crimes at half the rate of citizens. So if you want to reduce crime, then deport citizens and keep illegals! Even without statistics debunking it, that argument makes no sense; illegals come here to work and earn money for their families, and the last thing they want is to attract attention to themselves and end up in jail or getting kicked out of the country.
But you can’t reason with people who embrace loony conspiracy theories, listen to hatemongers, and are racists not very far under their skin.
The deluge of migrants at the southern border is a real problem, and the U.S. shouldn’t let it flow unhindered. The Biden administration is doing what it can, but it isn’t enough. Previous administrations, including Trump’s, didn’t get a handle on the problem either. What’s needed is sufficient resources and effective strategies, and right now our southern border has neither. That’s something administration officials and members of Congress from both parties should work on. Together.
Photo: They can’t live on this
