President Joe Biden reportedly overlooked early warnings from his advisers about the potential for a border crisis linked to his immigration platform. This comes as border crossings hit record highs.
Before Biden even took office as the 46th president, experts had cautioned the transition team that his immigration stance might lead to significant turmoil at the U.S.-Mexico border. Insiders shared that Biden and his team dismissed these concerns, fearing it might alienate Latino support, and misjudged the national sentiment regarding immigration issues.
In a memo prepared by several aides ahead of the 2020 election, they noted, “A potential surge could create chaos and a humanitarian crisis, overwhelming processing capacity and jeopardizing the new administration’s agenda.” This prediction proved accurate as Biden began to dismantle the border security measures established by the previous administration, which resulted in an unprecedented rise in illegal immigration.
During his first year, Biden took 296 executive actions related to immigration, with 89 of those reversing or starting the process to undo Donald Trump’s policies, as reported by the Migration Policy Institute. Key actions from Trump’s administration—including stopping border wall construction and ending the Remain in Mexico program—were overlooked, facilitating a significant influx of illegal immigrants.
Throughout Biden’s presidency, there were about 8.5 million encounters at the southern border, marking 2023 and 2024 as record-breaking years for migrant crossings. This surge overwhelmed federal immigration agencies and impacted local authorities, who found themselves pressed to enact stricter measures against illegal immigration.
As the border situation worsened, the Biden administration reportedly resisted proposals meant to address the crisis due to political implications. Cecilia Muñoz, who was part of Biden’s transitional team, mentioned they were overly cautious about potential backlash from the left.
The crisis altered public perception of immigration enforcement, with polls indicating that many Americans considered illegal immigration a top concern. Interestingly, a significant number of voters felt Trump would handle the situation more effectively than Biden. A February 2024 YouGov survey revealed only 31% thought Biden was better suited to improve border conditions, compared to 45% for Trump.
By the summer of 2024, most Latino voters favored mass deportations of illegal immigrants, countering the administration’s belief that tough border policies would push away voters.
In the latter part of his term, both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned for a Senate border bill they claimed could resolve the ongoing crisis. Biden criticized Trump for his lack of support for the bill, though reports indicated he had initially stayed out of those discussions.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy and Republican Senator James Lankford, both involved in pushing the bipartisan border bill, noted that Biden had shied away from negotiations at first. Lankford recounted White House officials stating, “We don’t want to leave our fingerprints on the negotiations.” Eventually, Biden’s team participated only after crossing numbers continued to rise. However, by that point, Trump had already solidified his position as the Republican presidential nominee and withdrew his potential support for the bill.
Ultimately, Biden enacted an executive order to limit border crossings by the summer of 2024, which somewhat eased the crisis—but voters had already formed their opinions, favoring Trump as the preferable candidate regarding immigration.
Scott Schuchart, who became a senior adviser to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2022, remarked that the Biden administration lacked a clear strategy and, fundamentally, a goal. “They just wanted the problem fixed so they could return their focus to what really mattered to them,” Schuchart noted.
