Is President Biden a closet immigration restrictionist? It seems implausible given his campaign rhetoric, but then his border policies in practice are doing more for the restrictionist cause than Donald Trump or his former aide Stephen Miller.
The latest fiasco is his decision to rescind a Trump-era policy known as Title 42 on May 23. The law lets the federal government deport border crossers who claim asylum during a public-health emergency. Since March 2020 some two million migrants have been turned away under Title 42 authority, and President Biden has no backup plan.
The decision comes amid a record migrant surge during his Administration that is about to get worse. Border Patrol apprehensions (the government euphemism is “encounters”) in February were 63% higher than at the same time last year.
The official numbers for March haven’t been released, but according to a filing Friday in Texas federal court, apprehensions reached 221,303 in the month. That’s the most in 22 years. Some 109,549 were deported under Title 42, while 65,771 were admitted into the U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz told a reporter in March that he expects up to 8,000 crossings a day in coming months.
If Mr. Biden wanted to undermine public confidence in the pro-immigration cause, he couldn’t do better. His Administration is also conducting nighttime flights of migrant minors into the U.S. interior, where they supposedly will meet up with relatives. If Title 42 is reversed, most adults who claim asylum will also be allowed to remain in the U.S. until their cases are heard by an immigration judge. That can take years, and many never show up for the hearing.
This is an invitation for migrants to keep coming for any reason. Americans can be forgiven for concluding that Mr. Biden’s de facto policy is to allow unchecked immigration without admitting it. How else to explain his Administration’s failure, 15 months after taking office, to do anything to stop it?
The imminent end of Title 42 is producing a political revolt, notably among Democrats. Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema told reporters recently that “plans for the end of Title 42 aren’t adequate.” She’s enlisted five Democratic co-sponsors on a bipartisan bill requiring the Administration to announce a replacement policy before ending Title 42. Co-sponsors include Sens. Mark Kelly (Ariz.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.), who are up for re-election this fall.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, who represents a Texas border district, recently became the sixth House Democrat to declare support for a bipartisan bill to block the end of Title 42 without some other border enforcement in place. Speaker Nancy Pelosi won’t let that bill come to the House floor for a vote, but it’s a sign of how damaging the border mess is becoming for Democrats.
It’s reasonable to drop a Covid emergency power by now, but President Biden is also working to end a separate policy that could be a substitute. The Trump-era Remain in Mexico policy, begun in 2019, requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico until their claims are heard, under an agreement with Mexico.
Mr. Biden suspended Remain in Mexico on his first day in office. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated it after states sued, but the Biden Administration has appealed to the Supreme Court to let its suspension stand.
The Administration’s alternative seems to be a new policy that would let federal asylum officers grant residence to most claimants, rather than wait in the queue for Justice Department immigration judges. The asylum officers approve claims at a higher rate than judges, who weigh more seriously whether a claimant is fleeing genuine danger. That message will spread throughout Latin America as further incentive to make the trek and cross the border seeking asylum.
All of this is playing into the hands of those who want to reduce all immigration, including those who want to come legally. Even Republicans who favor immigration will find it harder to support reform if the party takes Congress next year. Yet the U.S. needs workers amid a record labor shortage.
The political backlash may force Mr. Biden to continue Title 42. But if he won’t do that, he ought to drop his attempt to kill Remain and Mexico and negotiate an updated accord with Mexico to continue it. The alternative is more border chaos and more fuel for the debacle that Democrats are facing in November.
Opinion piece from The Wall Street Journal.
