By Jóse Niño
Since President Joe Biden was installed in office in January 2021, the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates that roughly 5 million illegal aliens have entered the country. Naturally, there has been significant backlash to this migration influx, particularly from those on the populist right, which correctly view this as an invasion.
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However, now many Democratic elected officials are growing uneasy with the tens of thousands of illegal aliens being transported to their cities and states by governors from red states. In an ironic move, Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) is currently opposing a plan to fly more illegal aliens to the Garden State, despite having previously declared that all of New Jersey will be a sanctuary state.
Even New York City Mayor Eric Adams, another Democrat, has been thoroughly overwhelmed by illegal immigration. He recently noted that his city has been “getting 10,000 migrants a month.” Exasperated by the inflow of migrants being bused into his city, Adams declared that the present rate of illegal immigration “will destroy New York City” and force “every service in this city” to be subjected to budget cuts so that migrants can be accommodated.
For his part, Biden is entertaining the idea of rolling out a plan to mandate illegal aliens with asylum claims stay in Texas. Should this plan come into fruition, Texas would have to deal with tens of thousands of illegal aliens flooding the state weekly.
This program would undo a large portion of the work that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has done—erecting makeshift border barriers, launching Operation Lone Star, and busing thousands of illegal aliens to sanctuary jurisdictions—to prevent the Lone Star State from being overwhelmed by mass migration. Over the past year, Texas has bused north of 19,000 migrants to Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC, per government figures.
The present migrant crisis is largely driven by a combination of push (violence and generalized poverty in Central America) and pull factors (America’s lax immigration enforcement policies and the political class’s desire to import as much cheap labor as possible). Many opportunistic migrants from Central American states take advantage of their home countries’ chaotic political climates to claim dubious asylum status.
The Trump administration started a “Remain in Mexico” program in 2019 which aimed to reduce asylum fraud and terminate the “Catch and Release” practice where border crossers and illegal immigrants are apprehended for a brief period prior to being let loose into the American interior as they wait for future asylum hearings. Under this program, border crossers and illegal aliens were compelled to wait in Mexico for their asylum hearings in the U.S. after arriving at the southern border.
In a similar vein, the Biden regime has allowed for the expiration of Title 42—a Trump-era regulation that was enforced to halt the spread of contagious diseases throughout the U.S. during the Covid-19 pandemic. This regulation was used over 2.5 million times to block asylum claims and expel countless other migrants who posed a threat to public health.
The Biden regime’s present commitment to open borders can no longer be ignored by average voters. In fact, voters in deep blue jurisdictions such as New York City are fed up with the recent deluge of immigrants into the city. According to a recent Siena College Research Institute poll, 46% of respondents believe that recent arrivals are a “burden” to the Big Apple.
Indeed, there is perhaps a growing base of the Democratic Party that has some moderate immigration restriction sentiments. This growing discontent among Democratic voters could propel party leaders to act, albeit in a manner that would lead to the passage of amnesty.
For example, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has already responded to this crisis by rolling out a jobs program to integrate tens of thousands of immigrants—irrespective of their legal status— into the workforce. Hochul is pushing this program as roughly 380,000 New Yorkers are staring down the barrel of unemployment.
It’s up in the air how Democrats will ultimately handle this matter. Undoubtedly, to paraphrase Democratic operative Rahm Emanuel, they will not let this migration crisis go to waste. They will use it to demand some form of amnesty.
The passage of another mass amnesty program will fundamentally alter America’s demographic fabric in a way that would make the country unrecognizable to the founding generation.
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin. Contact him via Facebook and Twitter. Get his e-book The 10 Myths of Gun Control at josealbertonino.gumroad.com. Subscribe to his “Substack” newsletter by visiting “Jose Nino Unfiltered” on Substack.com.
