“The border is secure, but we also have a broken immigration system, in particular over the last four years before we came in, and it needs to be fixed.”
— Sept. 11, 2021, on “Meet the Press”
Truth: The border was nowhere near secure in 2021, when encounters topped an all-time of 1.6 million. The Biden-Harris administration scrapped ex-President Donald Trump’s “remain in Mexico” program that forced asylum-seekers to wait outside the US while their court cases were heard. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris just let them in, and they were never going to leave. The system was not “broken,” they broke it.
“I have been asked to lead the issue of dealing with root causes in the Northern Triangle.”
— In April 2021 to a press conference
Truth: The vice president said she would solve the border crisis by making things better in Central and South America. What has she done? Nada. After one public visit, she never returned to the issue. Venezuela, a primary driver of illegal immigration, is still a complete disaster, and the Biden-Harris administration has taken no action as President Nicolás Maduro stole an election and keeps his people immiserated.
“As president, I will bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump killed, and I will sign it into law, and show Donald Trump what real leadership looks like.”
— Announcement in July 2024
Truth: After three years of doing absolutely nothing about the border, the administration belatedly introduced a bill that innumerated powers it already had, just so they could blame Republicans for shooting it down. Harris and Biden could reintroduce “remain in Mexico” tomorrow, stop the “amnesty flights” that were introduced illegally with no input from Congress, and turn back so-called “asylum claims” that should be made at the first safe haven, not the US border. But they haven’t — and won’t.