The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns border security and illegal immigration. Donald Trump campaigned on border security, and approximately five hundred miles of border fence/wall was built during his administration. There was better border security at the southern border during the Trump administration than any previous time or since Joe Biden entered the White House. Republicans in the House of Representatives promise to do something about border security.
Daniel Horwitz claims that the “most effective form of border security is not at the
border itself.” His idea is “based on observations of the ebb and flow of
illegal immigration” for the past fifty years. It is based on this truth: “If
you invite illegal aliens into the country and offer them jobs and benefits,
they will come.” The opposite is also true: “If you make it clear that they
will obtain zero benefits and, if caught, will be removed, they will not come.”
The bottom line is: “If you simply make illegal immigration illegal, they won’t
come.” He continued with these words:
The Border Patrol is double the size it
was during President Bush’s first term and has grown five-fold since 1993. We
have thrown endless funds and infrastructure t the border. But what good are
personnel and infrastructure if personnel are directed to coddle illegal aliens
and release them, and then they get jobs and benefits in the interior of the country?
Hence, just in the first 100 days of fiscal year 2023, there were a total of
718,000 encounters with illegal aliens, with 520,000 of them being released.
Also, total gotaways are averaging 2,670 per day. So we are averaging 1.9 million
aliens released (out of 2.6 million encounters) and another 1 million gotaways
for a year.
Why? Because most of them go through a
judicial process rather than being repatriated, and while they remain in the
country indefinitely, they get to achieve their objectives. An analysis from
Syracuse University found there are more than 2 million cases pending in
immigration court with just about 600 administrative judges to preside over
them. You can’t litigate our way out of an invasion, nor can you manpower or
infrastructure your way out of people coming for benefits. It’s possible we
could stop the problem with a military operation, but that is obviously
something this administration would not do.
Thus, the illegal immigration issue boils
down to two elements: banning all catch-and-release for all migrant
encounters at the border and banning all benefits in the interior of the United
States. Everything else fails to live up to the severity of the issue. This
would be true even with a conservative president, but it rings even truer today
with the Biden administration. You cannot simply declare, “There shall be
border security” and here is yet another tranche of billions of dollars for the
DHS that will likely be used more to target Americans than invaders. The Biden
administration will never secure the border and will just use the money for
more benefits rather than enforcement.
Horowitz
claimed that there is a “honey trap” in focusing on border security rather than
enforcement in the interior. A plan was put forward by Senator Kyrsten Sinema
that would trade “border security” for amnesty, but Horowitz said that
Republicans should not support it. Instead, House Republicans should push for
the following:
·
A
categorical ban on catch-and-release.
·
Both
states and Border Patrol agents (and ICE) can get standing in court to sue the
DHS for violating the INA to their detriment.
·
Ban
all federal benefits for illegal aliens, including K-12 education (to reverse Plyler
v. Doe).
·
Explicitly
deputize states to enforce immigration law (to reverse U.S. v. Arizona).
·
Accord
a private cause of action to citizens or families harmed by sanctuary cities or
the federal government’s lack of enforcement.
·
Dramatically
expand criminal penalties for identity theft, which is the lynchpin of the
illegal aliens’ ability to remain in the country. Allow states to enforce it.
There
have been four and a half million encounters at the border since Biden became
President two years ago. Horowitz insisted that illegal immigration continues
because it has not been made illegal. “Illegal migrants come and litigate
themselves into status.” The numbers of migrants will drop on their own if the
federal government makes it “clear that all illegal aliens will be returned
(not just under Title 42), that they will not get benefits if they evade Border
Patrol, and that red states will enforce the laws against them (including
criminal penalties).
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