AMAC Exclusive – by Seamus Brennan
When even his allies in the mainstream media and progressive acolytes in Congress begin publicly criticizing President Joe Biden for his handling of the crisis on the southern border, he must be in grave political trouble. As the Biden administration and Democrats continue to attempt to recover from the calamitous Afghanistan withdrawal in August, left-wing voices in the media and in Congress, in a rare step, are turning on Biden for his exceptionally poor handling of the ongoing immigration catastrophe—although unlike Republicans, most are condemning him for somehow being too tough on illegal immigrants.
From centrist-leaning Democrats to outspoken progressives, leftists of seemingly every political stripe have expressed concern or dissatisfaction with the President’s mismanagement of the country’s massive influx of illegal aliens. While some have conveyed frustration that the border crisis is emboldening Republican opposition—calling Biden’s response “bungled,” giving conservatives “ammo against Democrats,” and a “magnet” for illegal immigration—others have been much harsher in tone.
Following the release of the now-infamous images of U.S. Border Patrol agents in Del Rio, TX reining their horses in close proximity to illegal immigrants—which many members of the media have deliberately misrepresented as photos of the agents “whipping” migrants (a claim that the photographer of the images himself has refuted)—far-left immigration advocates have spoken out against the Biden administration with shockingly severe language. A NAACP spokesman, for instance, claimed that the situation “disgustingly mirrors some of the darkest moments in America’s history” and derided the government’s handling of the crisis as “utterly sickening.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the Biden administration’s asylum policy “defies common decency and what America is all about,” and former Obama HUD Secretary Julián Castro asserted that “Donald Trump’s policy approach is becoming the default approach under the Biden administration.” Even Biden’s own envoy to Haiti has resigned over the prospect of migrants being deported.
Predictably, Democrats are now using the images—whether they are real or not—as a means to rationalize even more lax border policies. Anger over the images has allowed the Biden team to forbid Border Patrol agents in Del Rio from using horses—a move that was promptly criticized by Border Patrol officials who said it will hinder their ability to apprehend migrants who have entered the U.S. illegally. Following the public outcry, Biden decried the images as “an embarrassment,” Vice President Kamala Harris claimed she was “deeply troubled” by them and stated they were reminiscent of “times of slavery,” and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki lamented them as “horrible and horrific.” Democrats have also exploited the political moment to include free community college for illegal immigrants in their $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill.
The measures undertaken by the Biden administration over last several weeks clearly demonstrate that the only actions they are willing to take on the border are those that will appease the far-left activists, journalists, and Members of Congress who have steered Biden’s policy platform since his inauguration in January. Rather than reinstating the effective immigration policies of the Trump administration such as the Remain in Mexico rule, continuation of border wall construction, and enforcement of deportation laws, Biden has remained largely silent, while Jen Psaki has disingenuously claimed that conservatives are failing to offer solutions to the crisis.
Meanwhile, Biden’s persistent refusal to substantively address the border crisis has notably clashed with his other political priorities. During a press briefing, Fox News’s Peter Doocy challenged Psaki on the administration’s decision not to require Covid-19 vaccinations for illegal immigrants seeking asylum in the country. In response, Psaki falsely maintained that asylum applicants are “not intending to stay here for a lengthy period of time”—a statement also seemingly contradicts Biden’s aggressive push for Americans and international travelers to receive vaccination.
Despite the Biden administration’s failure to curb the crisis, the American people are increasingly coming to see the border disaster for what it is: a recent Politico/Morning Consult poll found that voters trust congressional Republicans over congressional Democrats on immigration by a five-point margin. A Reuters/Ipsos poll similarly found that only 38 percent of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of immigration. As more and more Americans see the unsettling footage of illegal aliens crossing into the U.S. undeterred and the striking figures from Border Patrol—including as many as 12,000 illegal entries in a matter of days and nearly 210,000 encounters with illegal aliens in August—public opinion will only continue to turn against Biden and his open-border agenda.
By further perpetuating the problems that led to the border crisis in the first place, Democrats are likely unknowingly setting themselves up for defeats of historic proportions in next fall’s midterms and the 2024 presidential election. With plummeting approval numbers and pushback from both the centrist and progressive wings of the Democrat Party, Biden is in a political headlock. If he continues down the failed path of open-border extremism, political posturing, and dishonesty, the country—and perhaps his own political future—will pay for it.