Tom Homan: Biden immigration flip-flops – let's separate facts from his campaign's fictions
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Presidential candidate Joe Biden is dangerous for our country when it comes to the rule of law and protecting our nation’s sovereignty. It is not only concerning that what he is saying now puts us at great peril, but equally troubling that he will disown what he has believed in for years to get the power of the presidency.
Why do I say that? Consider just one statement on his campaign website:
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“It is a moral failing and a national shame when a father and his baby daughter drown seeking our shores. When children are locked away in overcrowded detention centers and the government seeks to keep them there indefinitely. When our government argues in court against giving those children toothbrushes and soap.
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“When President Trump uses family separation as a weapon against desperate mothers, fathers and children seeking safety and a better life. When he threatens massive raids that would break up families who have been in this country for years and targets people at sensitive locations like hospitals and schools. When children die while in custody due to lack of adequate care.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Now, let’s compare those statements to the facts.
Nobody wants to see immigrants die, not the president and not the Border Patrol that saved over 4,000 immigrant lives last year.
If Biden wants to know why people who are trying to get to this country are dying all he needs to do is look in a mirror. Many come because of the endless enticements being offered up by him and his party, such as abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, end immigration detention, free health care for illegal aliens, drivers’ licenses and a pathway to citizenship for those that violated our laws and entered illegally, just to name a few.
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With those kinds of promises, folks will flee to the U.S. in droves. They will hire a cartel to smuggle them. That means 31 percent of women will be raped and more people will die making that journey while the criminal cartels continue to make millions.
The detention centers were not overcrowded. It was the Border Patrol stations that became overwhelmed. Why was that? Because the Democrat-controlled House refused the pleas for more funding for adequate facilities for women and children during the surge. They ignored it until it got so bad they had to act. That same party denied the existence of the caravans, saying it was all a manufactured crisis.
Yes, the inaction of these politicians caused the overcrowding. The Border Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security and the administration warned them and begged for funding, but they ignored the pleas for relief until it was too late.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nobody is asking to detain children or families indefinitely, and Biden should know that. ICE wants to do the exact same thing it did under the Obama-Biden administration: hold families in a residential center long enough to see a judge and plead their case, which takes about 40-45 days. We did it in FY15 while Biden was vice president and guess what? Ninety percent lost their case and were sent home. The result was a steep decline in illegal crossings.
Don’t vilify the men and women of the Border Patrol who are just enforcing the law as written. That is the oath they have taken.
The Border Patrol enforces the law as it is enacted by Congress. Entering this country illegally is a crime. People don’t have to break the law to claim asylum. They can appear at a port of entry and make that claim without violating the law, Instead, many choose to disrespect our laws and our country by entering illegally. The data on this has been clear for the last two years.
Almost 89 percent of Central Americans who claim asylum at our border never get relief from U.S. courts because they either don’t show up or they lose their case. They are using these loopholes to cheat the system. Parents are not separated out of hate. People are prosecuted and separated just as U.S. citizens get separated by U.S. law enforcement if they are arrested with their children.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Don’t vilify the men and women of the Border Patrol who are just enforcing the law as written. That is the oath they have taken. Biden was in the U.S. Senate for many years. If he didn’t like the laws, he had plenty of time to change them. But instead of taking responsibility for his own inaction, he attacks law enforcement officers who put their lives and safety on the line every day.
ICE does not arrest people at hospitals, schools or churches. ICE has a sensitive location policy that includes these locations. That policy was written under the Obama administration and Biden knows that. He can’t cite one example of this happening so the statement on his website is blatantly false.
No child has ever died in ICE custody and no child has ever died in Border Patrol custody from lack of adequate care. These kids were in bad shape when found and these agents did everything they could. They are American heroes that save many migrants lives. Remember, migrants died during the Obama-Biden administration also.
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But the real issue is not about care on this side of the border. It’s about the horrible journey they made from Central America and became ill during that journey. As I said, if you want to save lives, stop enticing them to come because of promises you are making.
Biden has said that one of his first acts as president would be to freeze all deportations. He also has said that only illegal aliens convicted of serious felonies should be deported. Those statements signal that it is OK for anyone to enter this country illegally. And he’s effectively promising the criminal cartels will make millions more on human smuggling. Will all that result in more illegal immigration? Of course.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As a senator, Biden voted for border barriers in the 2006 Secure Fence Act, which authorized 700 miles of fencing at a cost of $50 billion dollars, Now, he says we don’t need a wall. He supported a 1996 law that increased penalties for illegal immigration and expanded the government’s deportation authority. In 2008 he proposed jailing employers who hire illegal aliens and cracking down on sanctuary cities. Now he supports sanctuary cities and doesn’t want to deport any illegal alien unless they get convicted of a serious felony.
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The bottom line? Under a Biden administration, all the success President Trump has had on our border will be lost. The president has illegal crossings down over 80 percent from the high in May and he has done it without any help from Congress.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Trump deserves our thanks for keeping his promise to secure the border and protect America. Joe Biden has promised to undo all of it. That should scare every one of us.