Despite the Democrats’ vacuous insistence that President Joe Biden did not cause the migrant crisis, it is becoming more and more clear that his administration is not serious about stemming the flow of individuals coming to the southern border. Recently, his administration made a decision that will almost certainly encourage even more migrants to try gaining entry into the country illegally.
On Thursday, the Biden administration ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to halt immigration raids on work sites. This means the agency will not apprehend illegal aliens at places of employment suspected of employing them.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a memo that read:
The deployment of mass worksite operations, sometimes resulting in the simultaneous arrest of hundreds of workers, was not focused on the most pernicious aspect of our country’s unauthorized employment challenge: exploitative employers.
He continued, insisting that these raids have allowed employers to take advantage of illegal immigrant employees:
These highly visible operations misallocated enforcement resources while chilling, and even serving as a tool of retaliation for, worker cooperation in workplace standards investigations.
The secretary explained that through future policies, the administration should issue “more severe consequences” to employers who knowingly hire illegals and “encourage workers to report violations,” according to CNN.
Finally, Mayorkas insisted the administration would not “tolerate unscrupulous employers who exploit unauthorized workers, conduct illegal activities, or impose unsafe working conditions,” and that “employers engaged in illegal acts compel the focus of our enforcement resources.”
Workplace raids were used frequently under former President Donald Trump. One of those noteworthy resulted in the apprehension of almost 700 illegal aliens at food processing plants in Mississippi. Fox News reported:
However, the Biden administration has dramatically narrowed ICE’s scope for enforcement, including rules that limit ICE officers to focusing on recent border crossers, aggravated felons and national security threats. That guidance coincided with a significant drop in arrests and deportations. Critics have accused the Biden administration of gutting ICE as part of a broader, more lax approach to illegal immigration that has encouraged an enormous migrant surge at the southern border.
RJ Hauman, who heads government relations for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) told Fox News:
After the issuance of today’s memorandum effectively ending worksite enforcement – on top of other radical policy changes that are getting hard to count – one thing is clear: Secretary Mayorkas is the biggest disaster for border security and immigration enforcement in American history.
This new policy is yet another open borders measure that will only attract more migrants – especially those seeking to enter the country illegally. If people know they are in no danger of being caught and deported while working, why wouldn’t they make the trip to the southern border?
Many migrants who have been interviewed said they decided to try to get into the United States because they believed President Biden would be more likely to allow them to stay in the country. This move is an indicator that these individuals are right.
This is only the latest in a series of actions Biden has taken that has prompted people to travel to the border. While Vice President Kamala Harris is supposedly seeking to address the “root causes” of the migrant crisis, her boss is busy being a root cause.
Of course, to be fair, Mayorkas did indicate in the memo that the agency should crackdown on employers to hire illegals. This is a solution that many who take immigration seriously have suggested. Mandatory E-Verify has also been floated as a way to remove the “pull factors” that motivate illegal immigrants to sneak across the border.
However, to be realistic, does anyone believe Mayorkas is serious about this? Is he actually going to push for measures that might discourage illegals from going to the border?
So far, the way this administration has handled the migrant crisis should make anyone doubt the contention that they truly seek to solve this problem. They have shown they are unable – or unwilling – to do what it takes to ensure that our border is protected. Unfortunately, the nation will continue to experience a mass influx of migrants until at least 2024.
