Immigration

Re “What border?” (Your Views, March 5): The writer says the border issue must not be much of a problem to House Republicans because they rejected the bipartisan plan from the Senate. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The proposals in the Senate plan do nothing to stop illegal immigration, instead they focus on providing more resources to deal with the crossings at the southern border.

In fact, the parts of the bill that do address the sheer numbers of migrants with asylum claims reaching the border don’t even kick in until a seven-day average of 5,000 or more is reached. For reference, 7.5 million border encounters have occurred at the southern border since President Joe Biden took office. One woman was given a court date to argue her case for asylum in 2031.

Many who support open borders say that Biden can do nothing — Congress needs to step in. That’s only partially correct. Biden canceled former President Donald Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy, a policy that required migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to remain outside the country until their cases were heard.

While not a Trump fan, I admit that this policy worked. If Biden were serious about fixing the border, he could reinstate Trump’s policy and leave it in effect until Congress finally does something. The truth of the border issue is this — Democrats see a future where people who enter the country illegally will be given the right to vote. They are counting on a grateful bloc to vote Democratic, keeping that party in power, regardless of what illegal immigration does to this nation and its legal citizens.

— Bill Wallace, Gloucester