Bordering on dishonesty
President Biden will address the flood of Central American immigrants to the U.S.-Mexico border, administration officials said over the weekend, by ramping up diplomatic efforts in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The attention to the supply side of the equation — to try helping violence- and poverty-stricken countries before their residents flee in desperation — is welcome after four years of abject neglect on that front by Donald Trump and his administration. Welcome, too, is Biden’s genuine dedication to answering the surge of immigrants, which by most measures is hitting a 20-year peak, with some standard of humanity and fealty to time-tested American principles rather than the intentional cruelty meted out by his predecessor.
What isn’t welcome is stonewalling and a series of intelligence-insulting statements by Team Biden.
Late last week, when asked when the media would have access to border detention facilities, the president demurred, “I don’t know,” while adding that he’d be happy to open things up once his policies were fully in place, whatever that means. Unacceptably, the
Department of Homeland Security has used the COVID pandemic as a rationale to shut out observers.
At that same news conference, Biden proclaimed, “They should all be going back...The only people we’re not going to let sitting there on the other side of the Rio Grande by themselves with no help are children.” The administration says its policy is to “expel” families to Mexico under a pandemic health order. But federal data shows that some 20% are being turned back. The rest are typically released into the United States with a notice to appear in court.
What, pray tell, distinguishes those released from those expelled? Damned if the administration can point to a consistent standard.
After Donald Trump, Americans yearn for a balanced immigration policy that takes more seriously the United States’ proud heritage as a beacon for the hungry and oppressed, but not one that essentially opens the borders. That calls for robust enforcement, consistent application of the law and clarity in messaging. Biden must do much better on all three counts.