Makes me want to go back and look at the treaty and agreements made when the Republic of Texas agreed to be annexed by the United States. Still surprised that Abbott hasn't threatened to split into 4 states and further increase their political power with 6 extra Senators and at least 6 extra electoral votes.
I’d like to do a (fun?) project to determine how secession would work among various states. Would it be good for those breakaway citizens? I think not. Figuring ground rules. I discussed with Jay on our morning call. I might have an open forum to chat about it with readers who are interested in helping. Again, for fun.
Or? We could just pass the much needed, often talked about immigration legislation that would begin to solve some of these problems. While your column is filled with the nonsense Steve, there's little more illogical foolishness than the attempts to destroy the right leaning compromises on the table.
Shame on anyone and everyone who whines about immigration and then refuses to act on it.
True but democrats have no political will to move a little more toward the Republican point of view which might actually break the ice. It is becoming increasingly obvious that most of the illegals distributed around the country by Joe Biden and Greg Abbott are not here for asylum. Most are here for economic reasons, work and welfare. Many of them are here for criminal enterprises.
"On one hand, President Joe Biden does not want to crack down on illegal immigrants pouring in from Mexico, even though that means New York City and Boston are running out of places to shelter them."
Firstly, those claiming asylum are legal immigrants. Secondly, Biden asked for $14bil for more enforcement personnel, expanding detention centers, and asylum processing personnel - 'cause if you don't have to wait in line so long (which makes you vulnerable to attacks on the Mexico side) then you're more likely to go through a Port of Entry than not. Thirdly, he asked for the same thing Trump did - the ability to stop accepting asylum claims (though in Biden's case that involves a trigger as opposed to just "I feel like not accepting asylum claims").
Biden has stated he will sign a bill when it hits his desk.
You’re assuming: (1) All immigrants at the border are apprehended and accounted for by BP. In fact, 27% of total encounters are “gotaways.” (2) The sheer volume increase is 40% since FY21, and >100% since FY19. Even with Biden’s ask for more resources, it’s not enough or the right solution.
As for signing a bill, yes, Republicans are being babies and “not wanting to give Biden a win” in an election year. Trump had 2 years controlling both houses of Congress, and couldn’t get a wall authorized.
Biden doesn’t want to build a wall or fill the gaps in the existing wall.
A lot of the border is in the middle of a river, and by entering US waters they are officially "in" the US - and thus can make an asylum claim.
"27% of encounters are 'gotaways'" means that at some point they were apprehended.
A 2000mi border wall is an extraordinarily wasteful use of resources: use electronic surveillance means if anything.
And still: the reason why they cross where they can is because going through official processes is f'ing *terrible* - thus making crossing and claiming asylum better. We need to make legal migration much better to use, incentivizing their use and disincentivizing non-PoE crossings - which is part of the proposed bill too.
Over a million illegals spread across the nation each year is a far more serious waste of resources and is compounded by high birthrates and demands on society. False claims for asylum are not legal.
And, seriously, "gotaways" were apprehended? "Gotaways" are observed but not apprehended and the latest observational estimate for 2022 is about 600,000.
The USA is not obligated to take more immigrants than can be processed or to process more than available resources will allow. The "waiting in line takes too long" is pure BS.
Their incentives are not our problem. Unvetted immigrants are most likely not a benefit to our society. Only those immigrants who have skills we need are a net benefit. That can be determined only by vetting. And that is only them and their spouse and their children. No parents, cousins, uncles and aunts. We do not need unskilled labor and welfare sucklings. We have plenty of those already.
If they can travel to the USA, they can stop along the way and submit their applications. Since most of them are lying about the need for asylum, they could do it from their current homes. El Salvadorans submit several hundred thousand claims for asylum annually. My personal experience with El Salvadorans is that they still consider El Salvador their home and return there when the weather gets cold. We also have a congress critter who considers herself a Somalian above all else. MAKE SOMALIA GREAT AGAIN. And another who considers herself a Palestinian at heart.
Advisory Opinions recently did a great episode that details immigration law, and they pointed out that even Trump’s EOs weren’t all that successful. Some were enjoined and delayed and others were struck down entirely. There are other court decisions at play that have to be considered as well.
Aside from that immigration law is Congress’s job. It’s not appropriate to have the president legislating by EO, which is limited by its nature anyway.
The asylum system is badly broken and that incentivizes a lot of illegal crossings. Essentially illegal crossings are made legal simply by asking for asylum.
Congress also needs to act to fund some of the laws that it has already passed to provide detention space, immigration judges, etc.
This really isn’t a president problem. It’s a Congress problem, and a large part of Congress doesn’t to solve it because it will hurt their fundraising and soundbites.
Agreed that it wouldn’t be a permanent solution, but it could be used as a stop gap measure to help in the interim. Of course this can has been kicked down the road for years so not much faith that Congress (either party) really cares about a resolution.
i agree with David and frankly, while EO's have a long history of use, it's obviously not the best way to govern (irrespective of which party is in power). The very idea those on the right refuse to act and fix the problem screams volumes at every single voter in this country. I'd love to see some of the orange guy's supporters step up and defend such a foolish premise that we really don't need to get it done. And, no, enforcing the current laws aren't good enough, that's yet again a lame argument when you have legitimate politician's on the right trying to fix the mess.
Well Bill I’m no fan of the tired old used up insult “orange man” and as I said before, I also agree that EO’s aren’t the final answer, but your response implies that this is a brand new issue and the only thing holding back closing the border is those evil old republicans. There have been plenty of opportunities for each party to actually pass meaningful immigration reform and yet here we still are. People can point fingers til the cows come home, but the fact is neither party has the political will to act nor seems to have mastered the art of compromise.
Well Vicki, i'm more tired of living with a worthless con man than you are of hearing the term orange man. The cretin has taken the republican party hostage with the threats of physical violence against everyone that doesn't buy his song and dance routine. Worse yet, the pathetic rubes who are funding the charade is sadly pathetic.
Texas absolutely CAN secede from the union. It would most likely lead to civil war, depending on whether the feds have the resolve to put down the insurrection/rebellion. But make no mistake, if this festering situation continues unchecked, something as drastic as secession IS on the table, folks. And not only the state of Texas, but other border states could join Texas. I can honestly say without much reservation, America is falling apart, and, as someone else observed, Biden is fiddling while she burns.
I hope not. I can't see that happening. but states' rights are taking a beating. The Federal Government is using the power of the purse to turn the states into dependent subsidiaries. We elect Republicans who do it at a slow but steady rate. We elect democrats who want to speed up the process.
I agree that Biden would be able to federalize the Texas National Guard. What if Florida, Georgia and another half dozen states decided to send National Gard personnel to assist Texas in their resistance? I'm sure the President could federalize them also, but that would be a big story for weeks with a lot of hard feelings.
I followed up on the Alaska National Guard story. It involved training for maybe twenty guardsmen and two helicopters to assist in defense of the southern border. The training is at the request of the DOD - not Gov. Abbot
Thanks. I was aware of Florida's plans. I think I saw a headline about Alaska (???) sending National Guard assistance to Texas which seems pretty farfetched. Abbott does have a lot of support from Republican governors.
Great job on this piece.
Makes me want to go back and look at the treaty and agreements made when the Republic of Texas agreed to be annexed by the United States. Still surprised that Abbott hasn't threatened to split into 4 states and further increase their political power with 6 extra Senators and at least 6 extra electoral votes.
I’d like to do a (fun?) project to determine how secession would work among various states. Would it be good for those breakaway citizens? I think not. Figuring ground rules. I discussed with Jay on our morning call. I might have an open forum to chat about it with readers who are interested in helping. Again, for fun.
Could even be crafty and draw the new state lines through all the problematic Blue metro areas, Kansas City-style.
Or? We could just pass the much needed, often talked about immigration legislation that would begin to solve some of these problems. While your column is filled with the nonsense Steve, there's little more illogical foolishness than the attempts to destroy the right leaning compromises on the table.
Shame on anyone and everyone who whines about immigration and then refuses to act on it.
There’s little political will for Republicans to pass that bill right now. I agree it’s sad.
True but democrats have no political will to move a little more toward the Republican point of view which might actually break the ice. It is becoming increasingly obvious that most of the illegals distributed around the country by Joe Biden and Greg Abbott are not here for asylum. Most are here for economic reasons, work and welfare. Many of them are here for criminal enterprises.
Agreed, Steve's framing of what Biden wants to do was off-base.
How did I frame what Biden wants to do? I merely covered options.
"On one hand, President Joe Biden does not want to crack down on illegal immigrants pouring in from Mexico, even though that means New York City and Boston are running out of places to shelter them."
Firstly, those claiming asylum are legal immigrants. Secondly, Biden asked for $14bil for more enforcement personnel, expanding detention centers, and asylum processing personnel - 'cause if you don't have to wait in line so long (which makes you vulnerable to attacks on the Mexico side) then you're more likely to go through a Port of Entry than not. Thirdly, he asked for the same thing Trump did - the ability to stop accepting asylum claims (though in Biden's case that involves a trigger as opposed to just "I feel like not accepting asylum claims").
Biden has stated he will sign a bill when it hits his desk.
You’re assuming: (1) All immigrants at the border are apprehended and accounted for by BP. In fact, 27% of total encounters are “gotaways.” (2) The sheer volume increase is 40% since FY21, and >100% since FY19. Even with Biden’s ask for more resources, it’s not enough or the right solution.
As for signing a bill, yes, Republicans are being babies and “not wanting to give Biden a win” in an election year. Trump had 2 years controlling both houses of Congress, and couldn’t get a wall authorized.
Biden doesn’t want to build a wall or fill the gaps in the existing wall.
A lot of the border is in the middle of a river, and by entering US waters they are officially "in" the US - and thus can make an asylum claim.
"27% of encounters are 'gotaways'" means that at some point they were apprehended.
A 2000mi border wall is an extraordinarily wasteful use of resources: use electronic surveillance means if anything.
And still: the reason why they cross where they can is because going through official processes is f'ing *terrible* - thus making crossing and claiming asylum better. We need to make legal migration much better to use, incentivizing their use and disincentivizing non-PoE crossings - which is part of the proposed bill too.
Over a million illegals spread across the nation each year is a far more serious waste of resources and is compounded by high birthrates and demands on society. False claims for asylum are not legal.
And, seriously, "gotaways" were apprehended? "Gotaways" are observed but not apprehended and the latest observational estimate for 2022 is about 600,000.
The USA is not obligated to take more immigrants than can be processed or to process more than available resources will allow. The "waiting in line takes too long" is pure BS.
It is not: legal immigration takes too damn long. It provides incentive for crossing and claiming asylum.
Immigration is a net benefit for the US, and we need more.
Their incentives are not our problem. Unvetted immigrants are most likely not a benefit to our society. Only those immigrants who have skills we need are a net benefit. That can be determined only by vetting. And that is only them and their spouse and their children. No parents, cousins, uncles and aunts. We do not need unskilled labor and welfare sucklings. We have plenty of those already.
If they can travel to the USA, they can stop along the way and submit their applications. Since most of them are lying about the need for asylum, they could do it from their current homes. El Salvadorans submit several hundred thousand claims for asylum annually. My personal experience with El Salvadorans is that they still consider El Salvador their home and return there when the weather gets cold. We also have a congress critter who considers herself a Somalian above all else. MAKE SOMALIA GREAT AGAIN. And another who considers herself a Palestinian at heart.
There’s always executive action. Biden could do that at any point.
That probably wouldn’t go far.
Advisory Opinions recently did a great episode that details immigration law, and they pointed out that even Trump’s EOs weren’t all that successful. Some were enjoined and delayed and others were struck down entirely. There are other court decisions at play that have to be considered as well.
Aside from that immigration law is Congress’s job. It’s not appropriate to have the president legislating by EO, which is limited by its nature anyway.
The asylum system is badly broken and that incentivizes a lot of illegal crossings. Essentially illegal crossings are made legal simply by asking for asylum.
Congress also needs to act to fund some of the laws that it has already passed to provide detention space, immigration judges, etc.
This really isn’t a president problem. It’s a Congress problem, and a large part of Congress doesn’t to solve it because it will hurt their fundraising and soundbites.
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/why-our-border-is-broken/
Agreed that it wouldn’t be a permanent solution, but it could be used as a stop gap measure to help in the interim. Of course this can has been kicked down the road for years so not much faith that Congress (either party) really cares about a resolution.
i agree with David and frankly, while EO's have a long history of use, it's obviously not the best way to govern (irrespective of which party is in power). The very idea those on the right refuse to act and fix the problem screams volumes at every single voter in this country. I'd love to see some of the orange guy's supporters step up and defend such a foolish premise that we really don't need to get it done. And, no, enforcing the current laws aren't good enough, that's yet again a lame argument when you have legitimate politician's on the right trying to fix the mess.
Well Bill I’m no fan of the tired old used up insult “orange man” and as I said before, I also agree that EO’s aren’t the final answer, but your response implies that this is a brand new issue and the only thing holding back closing the border is those evil old republicans. There have been plenty of opportunities for each party to actually pass meaningful immigration reform and yet here we still are. People can point fingers til the cows come home, but the fact is neither party has the political will to act nor seems to have mastered the art of compromise.
Well Vicki, i'm more tired of living with a worthless con man than you are of hearing the term orange man. The cretin has taken the republican party hostage with the threats of physical violence against everyone that doesn't buy his song and dance routine. Worse yet, the pathetic rubes who are funding the charade is sadly pathetic.
Thank you Steve! Well said!
Texas absolutely CAN secede from the union. It would most likely lead to civil war, depending on whether the feds have the resolve to put down the insurrection/rebellion. But make no mistake, if this festering situation continues unchecked, something as drastic as secession IS on the table, folks. And not only the state of Texas, but other border states could join Texas. I can honestly say without much reservation, America is falling apart, and, as someone else observed, Biden is fiddling while she burns.
I hope not. I can't see that happening. but states' rights are taking a beating. The Federal Government is using the power of the purse to turn the states into dependent subsidiaries. We elect Republicans who do it at a slow but steady rate. We elect democrats who want to speed up the process.
This situation would make for a funny satirical movie if it wasn't so sad. President Biden playing the role of Nero, standing idly by as Rome burns.
I agree that Biden would be able to federalize the Texas National Guard. What if Florida, Georgia and another half dozen states decided to send National Gard personnel to assist Texas in their resistance? I'm sure the President could federalize them also, but that would be a big story for weeks with a lot of hard feelings.
Ripped from the headlines, as they say. https://www.flgov.com/2024/02/01/more-border-support-governor-ron-desantis-sends-additional-florida-national-guard-and-florida-state-guard-to-assist-texas/#:~:text=Florida%20is%20offering%20up%20to,about%20the%20announcement%2C%20click%20here.
I followed up on the Alaska National Guard story. It involved training for maybe twenty guardsmen and two helicopters to assist in defense of the southern border. The training is at the request of the DOD - not Gov. Abbot
Thanks. I was aware of Florida's plans. I think I saw a headline about Alaska (???) sending National Guard assistance to Texas which seems pretty farfetched. Abbott does have a lot of support from Republican governors.