In a desperate effort to undo all of President Trump’s hard work to keep our country safe, Joe Biden signed a slew of executive actions that will welcome – and ultimately protect – illegal immigrants. First, Biden signed a proclamation cutting off all funding for the border wall that was arguably the biggest success of […]
In a desperate effort to undo all of President Trump’s hard work to keep our country safe, Joe Biden signed a slew of executive actions that will welcome - and ultimately protect - illegal immigrants.
First, Biden signed a proclamation cutting off all funding for the border wall that was arguably the biggest success of Trump’s presidency. The move revoked the emergency proclamation in place to speed up construction of the wall on the Mexican border.
In the “Proclamation on the Termination of Emergency With Respect To The Southern Border Of the United States And Redirection of Funds Diverted To Border Wall Construction" order, Biden made it clear that all construction will be stopped.
“Like every nation, the United States has a right and a duty to secure its borders and protect its people against threats,” the order reads. “But building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution. It is a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security...It shall be the policy of my Administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall. I am also directing a careful review of all resources appropriated or redirected to construct a southern border wall.”
But, the facts are clear.
The wall has proven to be extremely successful in protecting our borders.
In areas where the wall stands, illegal drug, border crossings, and human smuggling have dramatically decreased.
In a San Diego section, the wall reduced Customs and Border Patrol requirements by 150 agents, providing about a $28 million return on investment per year in salaries and benefits, the Department of Homeland Security reports.
In Yuma, illegal entries with the new wall “plummeted over 87% in FY 20 compared to FY19.” Family unit entries have also decreased over 95 percent: In fiscal year 19 there were 51,961 while in fiscal year 20, there were only 2,940.
El Paso has also experienced a significant reduction in drug and smuggling activities because of the wall. In Zones 20-23, apprehensions have decreased by 70 percent.
Biden also issued a memorandum to the Justice and Homeland Security Departments to strengthen the Obama-era DACA program. The memorandum allows the government to accept new applications for the DACA program and orders the two agencies to “take all actions...consistent with applicable law, to preserve and fortify DACA.”
The program protects immigrants brought to the country illegally as minors from deportation, The Hill reports.
Realistically, though, this just encourages more illegal immigration.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) once said: “the Dream Act will only encourage more illegal immigration. One only needs to look at history to see how amnesty has played out in the past. The 1986 amnesty legislation legalized about three million illegal immigrants. But rather than put an end to illegal immigration, the amnesty only encouraged more.”
Following implementation, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 legalized around three million illegal immigrants. Between 1990 and 2007 the population of illegal immigrants shot up to 500,000 per year, peaking at 12.2 million, Pro Con reports.
That’s not all.
Biden signed another executive order mandating undocumented immigrants be counted in the census.
Counting undocumented immigrants in the census undermines the principle of American representative democracy. If illegal immigrants are counted in the census, states with large populations of illegal immigrants will gain members in the House of Representatives disproportionately.
Additionally, an inflated population count from illegal immigrants would increase the number of electoral college votes in the heavily populated states.
