OPINION:
Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to a border region in Arizona last Friday takes political cynicism to a new low. It is like hoping to score political points by visiting the relative of someone who has been killed by a man your policies caused to be let out of jail despite his criminal record, which includes repeated offenses.
After being assigned the role of controlling the border by President Biden early in their term and then doing little to stem illegal immigration, Ms. Harris now wants us to believe she is serious and has seen the light. Her proposal is what you might expect from a liberal Democrat: Spend more money we don’t have to hire more agents and put them closer together.
This is about processing people who break laws to get here, not preventing their entry. For whatever reason (citizenship and votes), it appears the Biden-Harris administration wants to flood the country with people who don’t belong here, some of whom are dangerous criminals.
Former President Donald Trump has been criticized for stating that some countries have emptied their prisons of the mentally ill, drug smugglers and sex traffickers, sending them here. Startling new figures from Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirm his claims. They show that more than 600,000 migrants with criminal records are in American cities and towns. Among them are more than 15,000 who have been convicted or accused of homicide and nearly 16,000 who have been convicted of sexual assault.
Responding to these figures, Mr. Trump said, “I told you so.” He also said the media can no longer ignore what some have called an invasion, though they are likely to since they have ignored or played down the issue for nearly four years. Ms. Harris, Mr. Biden and Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas have been exposed as liars after claiming for their entire time in office that the border is secure.
ICE responded to a request for more information about the migrants from Rep. Tony Gonzales, Texas Republican. In addition to the figures cited above, Mr. Gonzales was told the migrants include 62,231 convicted of assault, 14,301 convicted of burglary and 56,533 convicted of drug offenses. And 2,521 others have been convicted of kidnapping. And that’s only the ones we know about. They don’t include “gotaways.”
Are we so lacking in our own criminals that we are now importing them? Isn’t the first job of government to protect its citizens? Every homicide, every sexual assault, every burglary, every death from smuggled fentanyl and every other violation of the law is a dereliction of that duty. If Democrats did not control the Senate, this would be grounds for impeachment of the president, vice president and Mr. Mayorkas.
Mr. Trump and all Republicans running for office should interview some of these crime victims, including relatives of those who have been killed, and have them tell their stories in political ads. This is Willie Horton times thousands.
Are we not threatened enough by Iran, Russia and China that we must also be threatened from within by criminal migrants?
The policies of the Biden-Harris administration have effectively erased our southern border. The administration is even flying migrants into the country at taxpayer expense.
Let’s coin a new acronym that perfectly describes the line that is supposed to separate the U.S. from Mexico. Call it a “BINO” — border in name only — for that is what it is. It should be an issue large enough to defeat Ms. Harris. If not, we will get more of this. Much more.
• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (Humanix Books).
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