01/17/2023
Our Washington, D.C. rulers celebrated the New Year by visiting the southern border, finally. President Biden came away unfazed. He just strolled along the (Trump-built) barriers, making it appear everything is fine [Biden makes tightly controlled visit to the southern border, his first as president, by Priscilla Alvarez and MJ Lee, CNN, January 9, 2023]. A bipartisan group of eight senators visited shortly after and found the border in much worse shape. But president and senators agree on the solution: Amnesty. This response shows how delusional the D.C. Establishment has become. The president and prominent senators all want to sell out America — it’s up to the GOP-controlled House not just to stop Amnesty, but also propose a package that repels the invasion.
Biden outlined his border plans during his visit to Mexico a few days later, and fervently defended his immigration policies during a press conference with Mexico’s president and Canada’s prime minister [Remarks by President Biden, Prime Minister Trudeau, and President López Obrador in Joint Press Conference, WhiteHouse.gov, January 10, 2023]. Biden tenaciously defended his proposal to parole 3,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela per month. The president insisted this crazy idea will somehow reduce illegal migration, pointing to an alleged decline in Venezuelan illegal immigration after paroling them in October (i.e., Venezuelans stopped coming illegally because he’s legalized them). America is a nation of immigrants, he said, stressing that “all of us in the United States are immigrants” (simply untrue, most are American-born). He reiterated his claim that the only solution to the border crisis is through his Amnesty, which would legalize all illegal aliens in the U.S., and he blamed Republicans for the countrys immigration woes for not supporting it. And border security, he strongly implied, won’t get more funding unless he gets his Amnesty.
Possibly by accident, Biden revealed his approach to immigration:
We’re trying to make it easier for people to get here, opening up the capacity to get here.
That line reprises what Homeland Security Chief Alejandro Mayorkas said about the parole program:
What we’re trying to do is … incentivize a safe and orderly way and cut out the smuggling organizations.
The president and Mayorkas are certainly doing that, but they probably shouldn’t say so publicly. Polls show the American people strongly disapprove of this approach [Poll: More Americans oppose Biden’s immigration policies than support them, by Bethany Blankley, The Center Square, January 6, 2023].
Biden did find one huge fan of his Open Borders policy: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He thanked Biden for not building the wall. “You, President Biden, you are the first president of the United States in a very long time that has not built, not even one meter, of wall,” AMLO said. “In that, we thank you for that sir. Although some might not like it, although the conservatives don’t like it” [Mexican President AMLO Praises Biden for Halting Border Wall: ‘Thank You,’ by John Binder, Breitbart, January 10, 2023]. The Mexican president also endorsed Biden’s Amnesty and urged Congress to pass it [Mexican President Celebrates ’40 Million’ Mexicans in the U.S., by Neil Munro, Breitbart, January 11, 2023].
That’s another message the White House probably doesn’t want to pitch to the American people. Biden’s flacks in DC quickly did damage control. Biden “has done more than any prior president to secure the border and build a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system,” said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, a Haitian immigrant [White House says Biden has ’done more than any prior president’ to secure border, by Haisten Willis, Washington Examiner, January 11, 2023]. It’s quite the claim to say the president who has witnessed record numbers of illegal aliens in both of his years in office has done more than anyone else to secure the border. Then again, it’s easy to peddle such lies when the leftist Mainstream Media is your de facto information ministry.
The gang of eight senators who visited the border were less ridiculous in their messaging, but equally committed to Amnesty. They included four Democrats (Mark Kelly, Chris Coons, Chris Murphy, and Kyrsten Sinema) and four Republicans (Thom Tillis, John Cornyn, Jerry Moran, and James Lankford). Three of the four Republicans are notorious immigration enthusiasts. Tillis and Cornyn have spent much of the past few years trying to craft some form of Amnesty that would pass Congress. Along with Sinema, Tillis recently proposed an Amnesty for illegal aliens who came to the U.S. as minors, fawningly called DREAMers by the Regime. Fortunately, all of their nefarious ideas failed, but it seems as if these eight senators haven’t given up. Lankford has been more low-key about his immigration enthusiasm, but he’s in the same category as Tillis and Cornyn. He led the opposition against Donald Trump’s refugee reductions and entertained Amnesty proposals in the past.
The senators struck a direr tone about the border than Biden. There were no delusions about a parole that would decrease illegal immigration numbers, or that the president has done a lot to secure the border. They admitted the border is a mess and that human smuggling is rampant. Yet, when pressed for solutions, they mostly stuck to platitudes. “We need an immigration system that is safe, orderly, humane and legal,” Cornyn said. But others indicated they just want to revive the Tillis-Sinema bill. Sinema herself claims it provides a framework within which Congress can make a deal [Bipartisan group of senators renew call for immigration reform during border trip, by Allison Pecorin, ABC News, January 9, 2023]. Coons said that the bill is a “good start” for crafting an Amnesty that will pass [The contours of the immigration debate take shape, by Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer, Washington Post, January 10, 2023].
Maine Sen. Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, did not visit the border, but he outlined a clearer framework on which the Senate could agree. “To me, there is an obvious deal on immigration,” King said on CBS’s Face The Nation. “The deal is increased border security, a path to citizenship for Dreamers… and we’ve got to work on legal immigration for [the] workforce” [Sen. Angus King: There is an ‘obvious’ deal to be made on immigration, by Stephen Neukam, The Hill, January 8, 2023].
King appeared to endorse the Tillis-Sinema bill, but added a third element. “Work on legal immigration for [the] workforce” is one way to say you want more guest-worker visas. This idea is equally popular among Democrats and squishy Republicans. They all believe the answer to America’s labor problems is to import low-wage foreigners. The Senate deal outlined by King would not only legalize illegals but also increase immigration and hurt American workers.
The president and the senators seem to agree that the only way to provide more funding for border security and immigration enforcement is to pair it with some form of Amnesty. The border invasion is a bargaining chip to get what they really want: the permanent legalization of illegals and more cheap foreign labor. The Republican senators (or their donors) seem unconcerned that they are supporting the importation of millions of new Democrat voters.
Good news is, the prospects for an Amnesty look even dimmer for this Congress. Republicans control the House, and new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has repeatedly promised that no Amnesty will pass his chamber. House conservatives now have a greater ability to ensure McCarthy sticks to that pledge. McCarthy made several concessions that would allow this faction to hold him accountable and block terrible legislation. Conservatives have more power over committees that would report out immigration legislation, and they can push McCarthy out of the Speakership if he betrays them. It only takes one member to call for a no-confidence vote for the current Speaker [House passes rules package that was at heart of McCarthy’s speaker battle, by Melissa Quinn, CBS News, January 10, 2023].
BREAKING: The House narrowly passed a rules package that was central in Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s contentious speakership battle. https://t.co/3zlNOHBYBM
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 10, 2023
All that makes passing any form of Amnesty through the House much harder. And even then, Amnesty needs 60 Senators to support it. That’s a tall order. In the last Congress, every Amnesty failed to gain that support. The Tillis-Sinema bill didn’t just have a tough time finding Republican support; it also faced critical Democratic opposition. Progressive Democrats want a straight Amnesty without any border enforcement. They refuse to support an Amnesty that increases funding for border security and immigration enforcement.
While Amnesty’s chances look slim, the question of how to get more border security remains. Considering that Biden and moderate Democrats will only agree to this in exchange for Amnesty, it’s up to Republicans to hold the government hostage, perhaps via the looming debt ceiling increase. This is the only way Republicans can get more resources to stem the invasion at the border without a Republican taking over the White House.
But if they try that tactic, they might as well push hard on items that Americans would surely support, meaning a package of legislation that would do the opposite what Traitor Joe Biden, the Democrats, and Donor-Class Republicans such as Tillis want: an immigration moratorium; a moratorium on asylum applications; the summary expulsion of all illegals caught at the border; the mass deportation of all illegals Biden “paroled” or released; and, perhaps most importantly, ending birthright citizenship.
Right now, only Rep. Andy Biggs seems to have an inkling:
All illegal aliens must be deported.
Period.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) January 16, 2023
Washington Watcher II is an anonymous DC insider.
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