OPINION:
No nation in the past century has been more responsible than the United States for the rapid pace of human progress. Yet many Americans find themselves disoriented when walking out the front door reveals a landscape that practically changed overnight.
President Biden’s open-borders policy is leaving citizens feeling like strangers in their own land.
A record-setting 260,000 encounters with citizens of other countries who crossed our southern border illegally were logged by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in September, bringing the total for the just-concluded fiscal year to more than 2.8 million. Since taking office, Mr. Biden has presided over a porous national boundary that has allowed more than 6 million unlawful entries.
With at least 4 million settling successfully in less than three years, illicit migration alone has added the equivalent of Oklahoma’s population to the United States.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement reports the new arrivals have fanned out to the far reaches of the nation. Rather than acting as border enforcement, though, the Biden administration has served as a travel agency, facilitating the northbound flow.
A snapshot of immigration data provided to a federal court indicates metropolitan centers have attracted the largest crowds of these uninvited guests. Americans observe the thousands sprawled on sidewalks, and in police stations and airport terminals. New York City and surrounding counties are the top destinations, receiving about 18% of the travelers. Other urban centers of choice include Chicago, Boston, Miami and San Francisco, together taking in 30%.
Other tracking systems show locales with differing concentrations of illegal immigrants, but even friendly sanctuary cities are unable to provide shelter and other basic social services given the unprecedented influx.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker are among Democratic Party leaders who have broken their silence on Mr. Biden’s border debacle, with Ms. Hochul demanding “a limit on who can come across.”
Stuck with a $12 billion bill to care for illegal immigrants, New York Mayor Eric Adams booked a four-day trip to Central and South America with hopes of souring potential asylum-seekers on the Big Apple as a destination. A more direct appeal would take him to the White House.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ admission Wednesday of an “immediate need” for a border wall cannot undo the damage from Mr. Biden’s reckless border policies.
Americans have noticed the impact of the human tsunami on their communities, even if the president has not. In a September Statistica survey, immigration was surpassed only by respondents’ concern over inflation and jobs as the most important issue.
Orderly immigration with cultural assimilation is an essential part of America’s story, but sudden invasion triggers cultural clashes that neither citizens nor immigrants welcome. For the president’s fellow Democrats craving radical change, upheaval is precisely the intent.
Among Mr. Biden’s Republican challengers, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vows to deport millions of illegals who accepted the president’s tacit invitation to resettle in the United States. Ditto former President Donald Trump, who has stands by his pledge to “make America great again.”
Feeling like strangers in their homeland, Americans would be thrilled if the next president would simply make America, America again.
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