You need to watch this video. It shows that Biden and Harris actually secured the border. This is Cleyber. He’s an undocumented migrant trying to get into the U.S. He’s literally at the border, but he’s decided he’s not going to cross illegally. Instead, he’s just swinging in a hammock, telling other potential migrants they shouldn’t cross, either. I mean, it makes no sense. He’s traveled thousands of miles to get here. Why isn’t he crossing? It’s because Biden and Harris pulled off what Trump could only dream of. They built an invisible border wall. Harris got ridiculed for this interview three years ago. I want you to watch it closely. “Do you have any plans to visit the border?” “I’m here in Guatemala today. At some point — we’ve been to the border. We’ve been to the border.” “You haven’t been to the border.” “And I haven’t been to Europe. And I don’t understand the point that you’re making.” At the time, it seemed to make one thing very clear: The Biden-Harris administration was in denial. “Crisis at the southern border.” “Crisis at the border.” “Crisis at the southern border.” “Is there a crisis at our southern border.” “Senator, there is a very —” “That’s a yes or no question.” “It’s a very —” “Is there a crisis?” “I believe I’ve addressed that question, Senator.” “So you’re refusing to answer?” Over and over, Biden implied he just didn’t care about border enforcement. “As long as America is the land of freedom and opportunity, people are going to try to come here. We can’t stop people from making the journey.” So it’s no wonder that Biden and Harris have gotten hammered on immigration. “The invasion at our southern border — we will stop it, and we will stop it quickly. Four years ago, I handed this administration the strongest border in American history. But you can see on the chart — if you look at the arrow on the bottom, that’s the lowest level of illegal immigrants ever to come into our country in recorded history, right there. And that was my last week in office.” Look at this giant mountain of migration. It’s the highest level of illegal immigration in decades. “How long will we let this border invasion continue?” And it happened on Biden and Harris’s watch. “President Biden, stop ignoring the border crisis.” What in the world were they doing? I wanted to find out. So I dug through the data, read Homeland Security memorandum, combed through migrant social media feeds, trawled through hours of speeches. “Today, my administration is taking several steps to stiffen enforcement.” What I discovered actually surprised me. They weren’t ignoring the border crisis at all. This administration has conducted a campaign to secure the border since Day 1. Despite sounding pro-immigration in public — “Increasing pathways for legal migration as well as protections for refugees.” — behind closed doors they were fulfilling many conservative aspirations. I know that’s hard to believe. They’ve taken a softer tone than Trump, and that did contribute to the swell in migration. “I will seal the border. I will stop the invasion.” When Trump talks, it sounds like he’s found the silver bullet that’s going to solve all our problems. “Build the wall!” But getting stuff done in government is often far less exciting. It involves fine-tuning lots of little dials. It’s taken them some time and trial and error. But through many minor modifications, Biden and Harris have transformed the border. It used to indiscriminately allow millions in, but now it tightly controls who gets in. “You attempt to cross into the United States unlawfully, you will not be allowed to enter.” Let’s look at that Trump chart again. There’s a couple of things he got wrong. Trump didn’t leave office in 2020. He left in 2021. The numbers were going up while he was still president. He also conveniently left off 2024. Biden and Harris managed to get the numbers to come back down. Critics call this an election year flip-flop, but I found a steady drumbeat of policies that have gone largely unrecognized. I’m going to break these down into the three strategies they used to secure the border. First, a policy that was the responsibility of one person in particular — “This is America’s border czar.” “The appointed border czar.” “Again, she was the border czar.” “No citizen bears more personal individual responsibility than Vice President Harris.” It turns out that Harris has been trying to tell us about this strategy all along. “Do you have any plans to visit the border?” “I’m here in Guatemala today. At some point —” [VIDEO REWINDING] “I’m here in Guatemala today.” Why was she in Guatemala? For Trump and his supporters, the problem and the solution is always right here. It’s the epicenter of their obsession. Nothing else exists. Harris was down here. She was getting to know Guatemala’s president. She later went here and here and sent delegations here, here, and here and here and here. For her, the problem is at the border, but the solution lies much further south. You see, this region is a major migration corridor — “Thousands made their way first to Brazil, then north.” “— passing through multiple Central American countries.” — for migrants from all over the world — “— big increase in Chinese migrants.” “— migrants from Haiti.” “Indians.” “Africans.” “Afghans.” “Ukrainians seeking asylum.” — with one destination — “— reach the shores of America.” “— toward the U.S. border.” — America. Let me show you what this looks like through one migrant’s story. [UPBEAT MUSIC] Her name is Inna. That’s her daughter, Abby. They fled from an autocratic regime in Venezuela to Colombia. But seeking a better life, they continued north — — through a dangerous jungle in Panama. She posted videos on TikTok, becoming a guide for others. Inna became friends with Cleyber, and they traveled together. Videos like these helped fuel the giant mountain of migration. Her videos aren’t what I’d imagine from desperate migrants crossing a continent by foot. She often made the journey seem easy and even fun. [CELINE DION’S “MY HEART WILL GO ON”]: “You’re here —” How could Biden and Harris convince all these disparate countries to care about a problem that mostly matters to the U.S.? They did something you probably wouldn’t expect. They threw a giant party, the 2022 Summit of the Americas. [DANCE MUSIC] At the time, it seemed like a meaningless photo op. Leaders hobnobbed, issued a declaration that praised migration — “— increasing pathways for legal migration as well as protections for refugees.” OK, I read the declaration, and here’s the best way for me to explain what it does. Remember when Trump said he would get Mexico to pay for the wall? Well, with this declaration, Biden and Harris got Mexico and 19 other countries to essentially build walls for them. For example, Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador agreed to offer legal status to millions of Venezuelans. You see, this declaration does support migration, as long as the migrants are going somewhere mostly other than the U.S. “— make sure migrants can find opportunities to work so they don’t have to undertake the dangerous journey north.” That wasn’t the only wall these countries put up. Starting in 2022, the U.S. got Mexico, Belize and Costa Rica to place tighter restrictions on Venezuelan migrants trying to fly into their countries. The result of that policy was astonishing. This chart shows that it caused a huge drop in migration to the U.S. A minor policy tweak in another country stemmed the flow of migrants to America. When migration surged in 2023, the U.S. got Mexico to send troops to stop migrants, and again, migration plummeted. Let’s take a look at that Trump chart. See right here? That’s when the U.S. got Mexico to start its crackdown. And look at the impact it had on migration to the U.S. This illustrates Biden and Harris’s first strategy to secure the border: Delicate diplomacy. It’s a classic Joe Biden move. Foster relationships so others will get the job done for him. “I’m getting to like these people too much.” And it all started in Guatemala. “It is my firm belief that if we care about what’s happening at the border, we better care about the root causes and address them. And so that’s what I’m doing.” OK, so we just talked about what they did south of the border. Now let’s take a look at the border. You see, despite all of Biden and Harris’s successful diplomacy, millions of migrants still made it to the border, like Inna and Abby. They crossed, were briefly detained and then released into the U.S. [JAY-Z’S AND ALICIA KEYS’S “EMPIRE STATE OF MIND”]: “Baby, I’m from New York. Concrete jungle where dreams —” “The president’s border policies have allowed eight million people to come into our country illegally.” “— hosting a flashing sign: Come in. We’re open.” Let me make this very clear. Even if Trump had been president, Inna and Abby likely still would have made it in. Because the asylum system is so overwhelmed, it just lets many migrants in by default before it can determine if they qualify for asylum. Imagine if you were at the airport and it was so backed up that they just let a bunch of people skip security. That’s kind of like what happens at the border. Trump complained about the same problem when he was president. Here’s the issue. Only Congress has the power to fix the broken asylum system. It shouldn’t be called Biden’s open border. It should be called Congress’s. [OMINOUS MUSIC] Unable to fix the system, Biden and Harris were forced to change priorities. They decided it was more important to secure the border than protect the right to asylum. “Today, I’m announcing actions to bar migrants who cross our southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum.” Biden’s tone has shifted dramatically this year. He finally sounds like he’s taking the crisis seriously. “President Biden’s crackdown —” “President Biden shut down asylum processing.” But behind the scenes, he’d already been chipping away at asylum long before that, imposing restriction after restriction on how, when and which migrants qualify for asylum. “President Biden is to deport large numbers of migrants without processing their asylum claims.” Information about these asylum restrictions spread on social media. Tens of thousands of potential migrants saw that the asylum door had essentially been closed, so they decided not to come, like Jorge. He’s a Venezuelan migrant that was headed for the U.S. But when he heard about the asylum restrictions, he decided to turn around and head to Colombia to start a life there instead. Inna and Abby’s friend Cleyber tried to cross but was detained and deported. Let’s take a look at that Trump chart again. After Biden imposed the latest asylum restrictions, look at what happened to migration. It plunged. This is Biden and Harris’s second strategy for securing the border: Know the law. They found a bunch of small ways to restrict asylum without Congress’s help. And these added up to a major change to the overall asylum system. It’s still not fixed, but it has been transformed. Rather than default to letting migrants in because it’s broken, now the default is to say: Sorry, system broken. Try again later. Biden and Harris have fulfilled a Republican dream. “Democratic lawmakers blasted the new policies.” “Today’s executive order flies in the face of basic morality.” A federal judge said that Biden’s policies actually look like Trump’s had gotten together, had a baby and then dolled it up in a stylish, modern outfit, complete with a phone app. [WHIMSICAL MUSIC] If I’m going to be honest, a lot of this makes me pretty uncomfortable. I mean, listen to Biden. He sounds like an anti-migration conservative. “Today I’m announcing actions to bar migrants from receiving asylum.” The same goes for Harris. “She backed the toughest border control bill in decades. Fixing the border is tough. So is Kamala Harris.” The U.S. economy needs migrants. It seems like Biden and Harris have betrayed our economic, moral and legal obligations in order to secure the border. But the truth is, Biden and Harris did uphold American values. To prove it, I need to show you their third and most creative strategy for securing the border: They let some people in on purpose. Wait, they let migrants in on purpose? This would seem to contradict everything I’ve said so far. [DRUMS PLAYING] Not quite. Biden and Harris created more legal pathways. “Stay where you are and apply legally from there.” The idea is to let a few migrants in legally to deter many more from crossing illegally. “You need a lawful sponsor in the United States of America, and you need to undergo a rigorous background check.” TikTok is now full of videos encouraging migrants to come legally. [SPEAKING SPANISH] Conservative experts have actually praised one of these programs. This report found that by letting some migrants in through a legal door, hundreds of thousands of migrants don’t come in illegally. Look at this chart. It shows illegal Venezuelan migration. The program started, and then illegal crossings dropped. The videos Cleyber posted on TikTok show this strategy in action. After being deported, he quickly turned around and headed back toward the U.S. But when he got to the border, he didn’t cross. That’s what makes Biden and Harris’s policies like an invisible border wall. They didn’t have to physically build a wall, but they were still able to keep migrants out. [SENTIMENTAL MUSIC] After a year of waiting in Mexico, Cleyber was finally allowed into the U.S. These people waited in line and came in legally at airports, not at random spots on the border. They’ve undergone background checks. They have family or a sponsor in the U.S. that can financially support them. This is what it looks like to secure the border while upholding our values. Biden and Harris prioritize national security without compromising American ideals. Trump has never done that. “— greatest invasion in history is taking place right here in our country —” “— sending their murderers —” “— They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats.” Trump lacks the crucial skills that helped Biden and Harris secure the border. But what Trump does have is a clear message. “The invasion at our southern border —” Messaging matters. “And I haven’t been to Europe.” In politics, the narrative that takes hold is often more important than what actually happened. Even though Biden and Harris acted tough behind the scenes, it took them much too long to sound tough in public and too long for the results to show. Unfortunately, that might cost Harris the election. “Too late.” “You’re a liar.” “— political stunt.” “— sending their murderers.” [OMINOUS MUSIC]
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Publish date : 2024-10-30 15:01:00
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