Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Overview of our invasion
You may be as concerned as I am about the many millions of unknown citizens of other nations illegally entering ours, apparently without as much as a health check.
The Biden administration, for whatever unexplained reason, is not only allowing the wholesale invasion that began increasing greatly when he assumed office, it actually appears to be encouraging it by using many millions of our tax dollars to reward the invaders. And no one can explain to me (or America) the reason behind doing this to us, although I’ve asked many times.
Then I discovered the America First Policy Institute (AFPI). It’s a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research institute founded in 2020 that promotes a more conservative rule of law. That means AFPI exists to advance policies that dare to put the welfare of the individual American people and citizens first.
AFPI writes: “Our guiding principles are liberty, free enterprise, national greatness, American military superiority, foreign-policy engagement in the American interest, and the primacy of American workers, families, and communities in all we do.”
Preposterously radical stuff in 2024, eh?
AFPI’s Kristen Ziccarelli wrote an op-ed for the Center for American Security in October titled “How Our Open Border Leaves Us More Vulnerable to Terrorism.” The piece contains eight basic facts every American needs to be aware of if they still care about a sovereign United States of America, yet I’m sure won’t be told by an agenda-driven mainstream media.
The piece begins by highlighting key vulnerabilities:
“At least 1.7 million known ‘gotaways’ have come across our border unimpeded in the past 33 months. Under Biden Administration policies, millions of illegal aliens are surrendering themselves at the border, making fraudulent asylum claims, and being released into American communities,” Ziccarelli writes.
“Those who go to lengths to bypass Border Patrol agents instead of turning themselves in likely have a variety of nefarious reasons to do so. In September 2023, former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott testified before Congress that cartels and gang members use large groups of migrants to distract Border Patrol officers while they sneak drugs and bad actors into our country.
“Over the past two years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed they have apprehended 72,823 ‘special interest aliens’ (SIAs) from mostly Middle Eastern countries at the southern border. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), these SIAs ‘potentially pose a national security risk to the United States or its interests’ and are often ‘employing travel patterns known or evaluated to possibly have a nexus to terrorism.’ …
“At least 282 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) have been apprehended by Border Patrol while crossing into the U.S. illegally since the beginning of the Biden Administration. By comparison, the Trump Administration apprehended 12 KSTs over four years. More KSTs are attempting to cross the border because they are aware it is unsecured, and this is the easiest avenue to make it inside the U.S. These high apprehension numbers are key indicators of a failed border strategy, which has incentivized more attempted unlawful entry. Although more KSTs and SIAs are being caught, many more are likely getting through.
“There are reports of completely unattended ports of entry at our northern border, which spans more than 5,000 miles. This inadequate supervision in the north is a byproduct of the Biden Administration redeploying Border Patrol agents from their duties along the northern border to process illegal aliens at the southern border beginning in 2021. The northern border is so overwhelmed and understaffed that bad actors could enter our nation unlawfully without detection from law enforcement, leaving American communities more vulnerable to attack.
“Caravans of illegal migrants are surging to the border and show no signs of abating. In the past 33 months, more than 6 million illegal aliens have been apprehended at the southern border, with the Biden Administration allowing several million of these illegal aliens to be released into American communities.
“Concerningly, many are working and military-aged men, and some with gang affiliations have already committed brutal attacks against innocent Americans. With such a high volume of illegal aliens at the border, DHS cannot vet everyone completely before release, meaning that public safety threats are being allowed into the country.
“After the U.S. hastily withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, at least 100,000 unvetted, visa-less Afghans were allowed into our country. The Biden Administration did not follow procedures to screen and vet applicants for the Special Immigrant Visa, for which most of them likely did not qualify. A 2022 report by the Office of Inspector General at DHS stated that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) ‘allowed some evacuees who were not fully vetted to … enter the United States with derogatory information,’ meaning a background as a known or suspected terrorist, a criminal, or an immigration violator. Instead of removing these inadmissible aliens, the Biden Administration is allowing them to stay in the U.S. through immigration parole.
“The Mexican drug cartels have been financially enriched by the open border policies. In 2022, their profit from human trafficking and smuggling alone increased by 2,500 percent from 2018. These cartels, which are Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs), are responsible for smuggling millions of migrants and deadly fentanyl across the southern border. The cartels have also historically worked and currently work with Islamic terrorist groups to enhance their illicit activities, providing them a foothold to attack us. Any situation where the cartels are strong and empowered represents a significant national security concern to our country.
“CBP has released over 95 percent of all inadmissible aliens (266,846) who used the CBP One App to enter our country, including individuals from countries of concern. This includes Iran, a leading state sponsor of terror, and countries such as Afghanistan, Venezuela and Uzbekistan which harbor the Taliban, ISIS, and other terrorist groups.”
So there it is, valued readers. Make of it what you choose. As for me, I’m willing to bet the America First Policy Institute wouldn’t attach its name and credibility to anything it hadn’t triple-checked.
So now the questions: Can this flood of unknown humanity, many from dictatorial countries, even be rectified and, if not, what does it mean for the children of our citizens and theirs?
Funny, with all the grand-standing, political shouting and whispered rhetoric about preserving America’s democracy, I don’t recall voting on this invasion that will forever negatively impact our entire nation. Do you?
MORE RELEVANT FACTS
Staying with the subject of what’s reportedly been occurring in our economy under this administration, The latest Consumer Price Index report shows inflation has soared from 1.4 percent in 2021 when Biden took office to 3.4 percent today.
Ron Klain, Biden’s former chief of staff, was quoted by Politico saying, Biden “does two or three events a week where he’s cutting a ribbon on a bridge. And here’s a bridge. Like I tell you, if you go into the grocery store, you go to the grocery store and, you know, eggs and milk are expensive, the fact that there’s a f- - -ing bridge is not [inaudible].”
Since the price of eggs was broached, the latest data showed the price of eggs has increased 49.3 percent since Biden took office.
I’m not that sure about the difference in cost of bridges, but I’m betting there are construction engineers out there who are bound to be interested.
ABOUT THAT ECLIPSE
Look, I don’t mean to be some kind of crotchety old killjoy, but to me, the eclipse amounted in Harrison (with 98 percent totality) to an interesting but disappointing historic nothingburger.
It might have been better had I seen things around me become completely dark, but a glowing circle smaller than a BB in my special glasses being steadily shadowed until our lawn was cast into deep dusk for a couple of minutes just didn’t live up to expectations. Well, I did have a headache at the time.
I’d hate to think I’d driven hundreds of miles just to watch what I saw. I would, however, have been delighted to have been in the eclipse-glasses business over the past six weeks.
But different strokes for different folks. I hope the experience lived up to all you hoped it would be.
If you missed it, step outside about 10 tonight to witness your own totality.