Little Steps: Biden’s Border Reversal

After months of denials and inaction, President Biden has taken one baby step away from the disastrous policies that brought the worst border crisis in decades.

In a deal strikingly similar to the one President Donald Trump orchestrated in 2019, Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries have agreed to better secure their own borders to curb the flow of migrants headed toward America. Mexico will maintain 10,000 troops at its southern border; Guatemala will add 12 checkpoints along the migration route there and put 1,500 more police on its border with Honduras, while Honduras will boost its border troops to a total of 7,000.

This comes after Biden unilaterally junked Trump’s accords with these nations, only to see US detention facilities overrun with thousands of unaccompanied children.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei have both attributed the crisis to the message Biden sent with his words of welcome and repeals of Trump policies.

Team Biden is even reconsidering its allout rejection of Trump’s “wall.” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is pondering Customs and Border Protection’s request to fill gaps that allow a constant stream of immigrants. (Mayorkas is already defending Immigration and Customs Enforcement and advocating for more deportations.)

Little steps for little feet: Maybe Biden will eventually start putting reality ahead of ideology on other fronts.