OPINION:
President Biden seems more upset about using the term “illegal” to describe the illegal immigrant who is accused of killing Laken Riley than he is over her death. Truly stunning and outrageous.
Legal immigration is good. More than 1 million people legally immigrate to the United States each year. Our country has four times as many foreign-born citizens as the next closest country. We love immigrants who follow a legal path to America.
In contrast, 2023 was the worst year for illegal immigration in our recorded history. The 2.45 million illegal aliens encountered at the border in fiscal 2023 outpaced the previous record high of 2.37 million in fiscal 2022.
In December, the Border Patrol had nearly 250,000 encounters with immigrants crossing the southern border illegally. The previous high was 224,000 in May 2022.
In fiscal 2023, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 170,590 illegal immigrants in the United States. Almost half of them had criminal records. Those that did averaged four charges and convictions. This included 33,209 charges or convictions for assault, 7,520 for weapons offenses, 1,615 for kidnapping and 1,713 for homicide-related crimes.
Authorities in Georgia recently charged Jose Ibarra with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the death of another, according to official reports. He crossed into the United States illegally on Sept. 8, 2022, after traveling from Venezuela.
Mr. Biden’s border czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, declared, “We have a secure border in that, that is a priority for any nation, including ours and our administration.” Her comments came in an interview on NBC News on Sept. 12, 2022, four days after Mr. Ibarra illegally crossed the border with Mexico.
Mr. Biden told a reporter on Sept. 20, 2022: “What’s on my watch now is Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. And the ability to send them back to those states is not rational. You could send them back and have them — we’re working with Mexico and other countries to see if we can stop the flow. But that’s the difference.”
All of this was happening during a rise in illegal border crossings that started after Mr. Biden took office in 2021.
Around the same time, President Biden was complaining about Republican governors sending illegal aliens to Northern cities. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott proudly announced that his state has transported over 12,500 immigrants to Washington, over 38,300 to New York City, over 31,700 to Chicago, over 3,400 to Philadelphia, over 16,400 to Denver and over 1,500 to Los Angeles.
Residents of these cities are upset. They see crime going up and budgets being devastated by the rising costs.
During the Biden era, the Border Patrol has had some 8.5 million illegal immigrant “encounters,” according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. On top of that, there were an estimated 1.7 million “gotaways” over the past three years. These are people who entered the United States illegally with the express intent of avoiding detection.
That means that more migrants entered our country illegally during Mr. Biden’s time in office than all the people who live in New York City. In fact, that is larger than the population of 40 of the 50 states.
The vicious killing of 22-year-old Laken Riley is one tragic example of failed Biden policies. There are countless other stories of young people dying from overdoses because of drugs smuggled across the southern border. This is why the border crisis has become a national security crisis.
Claims that the border is secure fall on deaf ears as Americans can see the facts for themselves. Count this as one of the few benefits of social media. Corporate media cannot protect those on the left from themselves.
A new Gallup Poll shows a record high number believe that “large numbers of immigrants entering the United States illegally” is a “critical threat” to the nation. Mr. Biden and his supporters are trying to blame the crisis on the failure to act on a bill in Congress. The truth is that the Biden administration reversed many of the effective measures taken during the Trump administration to fight illegal immigration.
The solution is simple: Send the military to the border to stop the invasion. Finish building a wall. Allow people to enter the country only through a legal entrance. Track people who want to legally work in the country. If Amazon, UPS and FedEx can track packages to the block, we should be able to ensure that legal immigrants are working. Immediately deport immigrants who commit crimes. Make sure we never have another tragic case like that of Laken Riley.
• Scott Walker is president of Young America’s Foundation and served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin.
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