News on the US southern border is not improving. As we experience a 20-year high in border crossings, Biden and Harris are oblivious – or worse. They have issued new rules reducing immigration law enforcement, arrests, detentions, deportations, “reorienting” ICE personnel, even banning the term “illegal alien.” They show an odd indifference. See, e.g., https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/may/18/harris-ignores-border-crisis-goes-56-days-without-/.
ICE is under intense fire; enforcement actions cut down as never before. Even liberal news outlets record the new reality. “Under new Biden administration rules curtailing immigration enforcement, ICE carried out fewer than 3,000 deportations last month, the lowest level on record,” reported the Washington Post last week, adding “the agency’s 6,000 officers currently average one arrest every two months.” See, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ice-street-arrests-immigrants-fall-biden/2021/05/25/58681782-b972-11eb-bb84-6b92dedcd8ed_story.html; see also, https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/05/05/report-monthly-deportations-illegal-aliens-hits-lowest-level-in-history/.
Six consequences are predictable, as Biden abdicates US border protection. Americans should prepare for these events, and in some cases, maybe be swept into them.
First, more illegal aliens, or undocumented foreigners illegally crossing the border, will find their way to the interior. The Biden White House is privately pushing churches and other civic groups – often in hard-hitting letters – to accept them. Local officials are becoming anxious, in some places declaring a local state of emergency. See, e.g., https://www.rt.com/usa/518934-arizona-migrants-bus-emergency/; https://www.immigrationreform.com/2021/05/11/border-crisis-to-continue-into-summer-immigrationreform-com/.
The influx of non-legal, non-English speaking, non-assimilating foreigners will necessarily raise local costs – from social services and education to crime and public health – for an ever-widening number of communities affected.
Making this even worse, Biden-Harris has directed no arrest and deportation for most criminal aliens – unless charged with an aggravated felony, gang membership, or terrorism. The result has been the release and influx of criminal aliens, regularly given a pass. See, e.g., https://www.visiontimes.com/2021/05/06/thousands-of-criminal-illegal-immigrants-flown-into-america-without-covid-testing-no-more-border-wall-funding-biden-dipping-in-polls.html.
Second, since news travels fast – more foreigners from around the world will arrive at the border. Nothing suggests deterrence. Accordingly, the rate of influx can be expected to increase, not decrease. Deterrence is critical. Without it, human traffickers proliferate. The widening cone of nationalities is already occurring. See, https://thepoliticalinsider.com/illegal-immigrants-from-eastern-europe-and-asia-now-coming-across-u-s-southern-border/.
Third, a major states’ rights versus federal rights battle loom. Adversely affected states – on the border and “dump zones” for human deposits – are headed for courts. States assert a right to control their own destiny, demanding federal enforcement of federal laws, while the Biden Administration continues to conveniently look away.
Fourth, as numbers mount, illegal immigration will become an even bigger political issue – if that is possible – affecting 2022 US House, Senate, and local political races. See, e.g., https://www.foxnews.com/politics/buddy-carter-bill-bar-federal-funds-states-illegal-immigrants; https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-states-ramp-up-legal-battles-against-bidens-immigration-policies.
Fifth, ICE morale – including recruiting and retention – is falling, potentially creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. The agency will shrink, moving the needle closer to a radical Democrat solution, the end of immigration law enforcement. See, e.g., https://cis.org/Arthur/Bidens-ICE-NonEnforcement-Policies-Will-Make-Border-Crisis-Worse; https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dhs-chief-significant-changes-ice-deportations-arrests-plunge.
Already, law enforcement at every level – municipal, State, and Federal – has been vilified to the point where academies are languishing, seats unfilled, recruitment down, retirement up. In some cities, recruitment is down 50 percent. See, e.g., https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/local-police-recruitment-numbers-down-officials-say-due-to-growing-animosity-towards-law-enforcement/ar-BB1gf1JE; https://dailycaller.com/2021/05/19/police-recruitment-down-crime-up/.
Sixth, if the burden of mass illegal immigration continues to weigh on frontline states – overwhelming health, education, and safety resources – expect citizens to get active. If history is any guide, some will get political, and others think self-policing and vigilantism.
Bottom line: The net effect of Biden’s anti-law enforcement – and anti-border protection – policies is predictable, divisive, and troubling. With deterrence down, border states overwhelmed, unannounced illegals, global migration, states and cities frustrated, political races afoot, ICE – and law enforcement – morale low, and self-policing possible, this could be a long, hot summer. Call that consequences seven.