OPINION:
Actions have consequences. When Joe Biden took office, he immediately began undoing the progress that President Trump and Republicans had made in securing our southern border. The results have been predictable and devastating. Since Mr. Biden’s inauguration, over two million illegal immigrants have been encountered at our southern border, and that doesn’t include the at least 500,000 who successfully evaded Border Patrol and escaped into our country. This is an out-of-control problem that can be directly traced to Biden’s open border policies. This week, the RNC released a new video series featuring Sen. Ted Cruz, Rep. Tony Gonzales, Former ICE Director Ron Vitiello, and journalist Julio Rosas to bring attention to the crisis and hold Biden accountable for his failed policies.
The video series, “Unchecked,” shows the border crisis’s impact is not limited to a handful of border states. This is a humanitarian disaster that is affecting communities nationwide. By intentionally creating lawlessness and chaos at the border, Mr. Biden has allowed criminal elements to flourish and profit off human suffering. Sex trafficking and drug smuggling have become part of everyday life at the border; cartels are capitalizing on chaos to strengthen their illegal streams of revenue. Fentanyl – one of the deadliest drugs in the world – is flowing through the open border in waves and poisoning communities nationwide. More than11,000 pounds of the drug were seized in 2021. Fentanyl overdoses are now the leading cause of death among adults aged 18-45. Not cancer. Not car crashes. Fentanyl. This drug is a death sentence, and Joe Biden has allowed it to spread coast to coast.
This problem is gaining speed, not slowing down. Mr. Biden just oversaw the worst February at the border in 22 years and Border Patrol is preparing for a “record-breaking surge of migrants” this spring. The crisis that Biden and his administration once said was “seasonal” has become an ugly, permanent part of American life. Given the scale of the suffering on display, you’d expect Biden and his team to be on the ground meeting the problem head-on. You’d be wrong. Biden’s “border czar” Kamala Harris has made one trip to Texas to survey the crisis. One problem: she went to El Paso, hundreds of miles away from the crisis’s epicenter in the Rio Grande Valley, and only stayed for a few hours.
As for Mr. Biden? He hasn’t dared show up to see the impact of his disastrous policies. In fact, when asked if Mr. Biden had ever visited the border in his 50 years as a career politician, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki didn’t have an answer. It later came out that he once briefly drove through a town by the border in 2008. Inspiring leadership.
It’s one thing to create a humanitarian crisis. It’s another thing to pretend it doesn’t exist even as it spirals out of control. Sen. Ted Cruz notes in “Unchecked” that he’s “asked the Senate Democrats to Texas and see the border, not one of them is willing to do it. They are literally turning a blind eye.” This unwillingness to confront a generational border crisis starts with Biden and has trickled down through the entire Democrat Party.
Whenever Mr. Biden does make a border-related decision, it’s a bad one. He is reportedly planning to end the use of Title 42, an important tool to fight illegal immigration, even though administration officials privately say this will create a massive influx of illegal immigration and worsen the crisis. It appears that Biden’s only strategy – on the rare occasions when he acknowledges the scale of this crisis – is to actively make things worse.
The RNC’s “Unchecked” video series covers all this and more with the stunning testimonies of key figures highlighting the border crisis and filling Biden’s leadership vacuum. As we head into the warmer months of spring and summer, the border crisis will become more important – and more devastating — than ever.
- Ronna McDaniel is the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee
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