Three reasons Biden won’t close the border

For more than three years, President Joe Biden’s critics have watched dumbfounded as he steadfastly refuses to close the southern border. Unfettered illegal immigration has led to deaths from fentanyl poisoning, outbreaks of once-rare diseases like measles and tuberculosis, spikes in crime in sanctuary cities, heightened national security concerns, and declining presidential approval ratings. I’m there.

Biden had the ability to reimpose it at any time, although he denies it. guardrail Enact the “Mexico Remain” clause enacted by former President Donald Trump, require Mexico to help slow the caravan heading north, end Obama-era “catch-and-release” practices, and improve border fencing. and introduced other measures that reduced illegal crossings. In his first few weeks in office, Biden undo More than a dozen Trump-era rules have been put in place and now allow more than 5 million people into the country.

Abdication of responsibility on the border has become Biden’s biggest political headache, but the president has not moved beyond blaming Republicans for failing to pass immigration legislation that they disingenuously claim will solve the problem. There wasn’t.

There are three possible reasons why he stubbornly supports policies that even his Democratic colleagues support. opposed A little while ago.

First, Biden remains dependent on the party’s far left wing, without which he would not have become president, and progressive Democrats support open borders. Let’s not forget the agreement that the so-called people made in 2020. “Unified Task Force” They included supporters of both the Biden and Bernie Sanders campaigns, and directed Joe Biden, who had campaigned as a moderate, to shift to the left. The joint platform praised the Green New Deal, raising the minimum wage, and — yes — tolerance toward illegal immigration. Biden’s support for Bernie fans has always been tentative and at risk. If he cracks down on illegal immigration, he will disappear overnight.

Second, admitting millions of illegal aliens into the country and drawing them to sanctuary cities in states like New York and Illinois helped to stem the Democratic Party’s threatening loss of political power. . As disastrous liberal policies on crime and taxes force hundreds of thousands of people to move to friendlier, more affordable “red” states, Democrats are losing Congressional seats and large federal sums. You are at risk of losing your funds. (In the 1940s, New York State had 45 members of Congress; today there are only 26.) However, the U.S. counts non-citizens and illegal aliens in its regular census. , the population of blue states doesn’t hurt Biden’s party as much as a loss would.

New York and California for sure lost seats But the decline would have been even worse had hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants not flown into both states.

Finally, another possible rationale for not closing the border is the impact on inflation, Biden’s biggest political vulnerability. Biden said a 37% rise in grocery prices since 2019, more than 20% increase in electricity bills, and soaring rent and car prices — millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet. s re-election is in jeopardy.

But the situation could be even worse, as the influx of millions of immigrants seeking work over the past three years has confirmed the cost of America’s labor shortage. As the country recovers from the pandemic, jobs have returned faster than workers, many of whom were pushed to the sidelines by massive coronavirus relief spending and benefits. Trillions of dollars were spent to keep the economy afloat, sending checks to nearly every adult, expanding or extending unemployment benefits, suspending student loan and rent payments, and more. A study showed “Nineteen states provide benefits equal to the annual salary of $100,000 for a family of four with unemployed parents.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Biden has embarked on a campaign to strengthen organized labor. Biden has vowed to be the most pro-union president in history, filling the National Labor Relations Board with former union leaders and activists and encouraging organizing at all levels. Workers who had tried unsuccessfully to unionize were encouraged to try again, buoyed by favorable rulings. When autoworkers went on strike and unionized to demand big pay increases, the president made a remarkable performance by showing up on the UAW picket line.Labor unions across the country were emboldened by this went on strike and I was demanded to heavy pay will increase.

All of this would have made the country’s inflation problem even worse, except for the arrival of millions of new workers, who helped keep wages in check. In recent months, the number of undocumented workers has increased, with employment concentrated in part-time jobs where employers are not required to provide benefits and are likely to require only minimal documentation.

at the same time, increase in employment From 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2023, the workforce shifted entirely to foreign-born workers, leaving native-born Americans out of work. During this period, 2.9 million immigrants (legal and illegal) found work and 183,000 American-born workers lost their jobs. Although the distinction between legal and illegal immigrants is unclear, it is no surprise that so many illegal aliens who enter the United States seeking work find work.

The effect of the arrival of millions of new workers in the United States is that wages, for the most part, have lagged behind inflation and are once again stagnant. Average real hourly wages were flat in March after falling 0.3% in February.Recently, like the Wall Street Journal report“After Biden took office in January 2021, average hourly wages have declined by 2.54% after inflation.”

Inflation may be hurting Joe Biden’s approval ratings, but tolerating unchecked illegal immigration and suppressing wage growth is a terrible way to attack the issue. It’s terrible for the country and terrible for low-income Americans.

Liz Peek is a former partner at Wall Street giant Wertheim & Company.