Is the border open or closed?

The Biden administration says it’s not a “crisis” along our southern border. And the president insists he hasn’t sent a signal that if you get here you can stay. Unfortunately, the message being sent is not the same as the one being received.

Sensing the United States has become more welcoming, Central American migrants are streaming north in the largest numbers in two decades, The New York Times reported Monday. We have holding facilities overflowing with children and teens who entered the country without parents. Not wanting a repeat of the detention center debacle that occurred under Donald Trump, the Biden administration is scrambling to deal with the worsening situation.

The Biden administration says it is still turning away adults at the border but isn’t going to release children into the desert. And it shouldn’t. But whether he intended to or not, the president sent the signal that led to the current influx.

He now needs to articulate a clear policy on immigration beyond “humane” treatment, legislation to legalize “Dreamers” and a path for citizenship for others. These are important, but this country deserves to know where the administration stands on the broader questions. As the Times reported, there is a strong sentiment for humane and generous treatment for undocumented people living here who have abided by our laws — and a strong sentiment for rigorous border security. The latter isn’t just a Republican talking point. Historically, many Democrats have supported immigration restrictions as a way to keep U.S. wages high. That’s especially pertinent in a country that still has more than 10 million people unemployed.

During the campaign, Biden said he would sharply limit deportations. Meanwhile, the administration has done away with Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy for asylum-seekers and is processing tens of thousands of minors who can legally stay permanently only if they are granted asylum, which in most cases is unlikely. So then what happens?

It’s a message that says “open.”

But exactly what is Biden’s policy? Does he agree with his former boss, Barack Obama, when he said, “We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States, undetected, undocumented and unchecked”?

The Times raises the question of whether the new administration’s version of “humane” treatment coupled with virtually no deportation would be to allow anyone who manages to enter the U.S. to stay. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas made the rounds of Sunday news talk shows and insisted the Mexican border is “closed.”

But immigrants and the traffickers who shepherd them north don’t pay much attention to Sunday news shows. If Biden hopes to stem the flow, he needs to be crystal clear in both actions and words on the immigration policies he is implementing by executive authority and what he wants Congress to adopt in terms of a long-term fix.

—