For the last two years, the Biden administration dreaded the release of the monthly number of attempts by illegal aliens to cross the border. Their strategy varied in trying to hide the impact of the numbers as best they could. They’d wait until a Friday night in the middle of the month, or release the border crossing numbers along with other reports.
But try as they might, the Biden administration couldn’t hide the record-breaking numbers of illegal aliens coming into the United States.
In December 2021, more than 250,000 illegal alien encounters were registered at the border — the most ever. Then in January, the Biden administration switched gears and decided to put the hammer down and get tough at the border. They set strict limits on the number of people who could enter the United States seeking asylum from four countries: Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela. At the same time, the president authorized a “parole” system where illegals could enter the country if they have a U.S. sponsor and complete an online application.
The carrot and stick approach worked. January’s number of illegal border crossers dropped to about 150,000, according to the Customs and Border Patrol as well as three administration officials.
Washington Post:
Biden officials are offering up to 30,000 migrants per month a two-year permit to live and work in the United States under the terms of the program, and say such legal pathways are successfully steering migrants toward a safer and more orderly option than the one offered by predacious smugglers.
About 6,000 Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans have been allowed into the United States through the new parole program since Jan. 5, according to the latest figures. A similar program offered to Venezuelans has resulted in more than 15,000 entering the country since it was launched in October, data show.
The illegals are being refused entry by the administration using Title 42 — the rule that prevents illegals from coming into the country during a public health emergency. It’s a dubious justification, given that the Supreme Court may end the program when it rules sometime early this summer and the “public health emergency” it’s based on is ending. The president is expected to lift the emergency in May, at which point there will be nothing to stop the flood of illegals from entering the country.
Related: New Biden Admin Program Will Hide Numbers of Illegal Immigrants Entering the Country
“This is the model that this administration is committed to implementing to build safe and lawful pathways for individuals who are seeking humanitarian relief in the United States,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
Mayorkas’s remarks came after a Group of 20 states led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed suit in U.S. district court on Jan. 24 saying Biden’s expanded use of parole authority is unlawful. The plaintiffs say parole authority is meant to be used sparingly on a case-by-case basis, not as a way to an alternative visa system.
“This unlawful amnesty program, which will invite hundreds of thousands of aliens into the U.S. every year, will only make this immigration crisis drastically worse,” Paxton said in a statement.
Indeed, Biden is looking for an end run around Congress — again — and the courts are likely to slap him down — again. It’s a game Biden seems willing to play if only to get a few months’ respite from his major headache at the border.
