Biden’s policy on immigration raises concerns

Biden’s message is clear: America is open to anyone who can make it across the Rio Grande. But if you own a small business or want to send your children to school in the United States, America is closed.

On his very first day in office, President Biden promised to unite Americans. Immediately after, he proposed a highly partisan immigration bill that will only further hurt our nation’s recovery from COVID-19.

That’s no way to unite the nation.

A president’s actions on the first day send a message about what his priorities are. During the twin health and economic crises resulting from COVID-19 and lockdowns, the president should be looking to help Americans get back on their feet.

Instead, on his first day in office, he used his first executive orders to loosen border security and sent a bill to Congress to give blanket amnesty to at least 11 million illegal immigrants.

Instead of uniting the American people as he promised in his inaugural address, his plan will divide them and move America backward. Biden instructed the Department of Homeland Security to immediately halt the construction of the border wall, increase funding for sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement, restrict arrests and deportations of illegal immigrants, and bolster the unconstitutional DACA program.

After effectively opening the border, Biden then sent a bill to Congress to grant green cards and citizenship to all illegal immigrants already in the country over the next eight years. The program would speed up the process for recipients of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), TPS (Temporary Protected Status), and farmworkers, who would immediately be eligible for green cards and for citizenship in three years.

These changes would prioritize illegal immigrants in the immigration system above those who have gone through the long legal process.

The bill would also send billions of dollars to Central American countries. Any specific plans for border security were conspicuously absent.

Biden’s message is clear: America is open to anyone who can make it across the Rio Grande.

But if you own a small business or want to send your children to school in the United States, America is closed.

These sweeping actions are also unprecedented.

President Obama, who had the widest Senate majority in modern times, didn’t even go this far. Obama at least promised some measure of border security and proposed limiting the scope of amnesty and green cards. Biden has the narrowest Senate majority ever, yet is still pushing the most radical immigration bill Congress has ever seen.

By giving illegal immigrants green cards and citizenship, the bill would make these new citizens eligible for a swath of additional social welfare programs, something our country cannot afford.

The Heritage Foundation estimates amnesty would cost trillions of dollars. That’s why last year, 56% of Americans polled by Harvard said immigrants likely to require public assistance should be prohibited from obtaining a green card. In Heritage Action 2019 polling, Americans’ greatest concern with illegal immigration was the overuse of social services.

These actions incentivize illegal crossings instead of deterring them.

By opening a path to citizenship, Biden’s proposal would encourage more people than ever to come to our borders illegally. And the speedy green-card process for childhood arrivals will encourage parents to bring their small children on a long, dangerous journey, where hundreds of migrants die every year. Just this month, a caravan of 7,000 migrants set out from Central America with the promise of amnesty.

Despite his call for “unity,” Biden’s first major bill will divide America.

Even Americans who want a pathway to citizenship for some illegal immigrants think we have to secure the border and fix the American economy first.

Opening the border and giving millions of illegal immigrants full access to America’s shaky job market and social welfare systems is the exact wrong move during a pandemic.

Biden’s priorities are backward, and it should be evident to both sides of the aisle. Americans want an open economy, not open borders.