It has been said that when Obama left office, border crossings were at a more than 3-decade low.
“In fiscal year 2017, the last year of the Obama administration and the first of Trump’s, 303,916 migrants were arrested by the Border Patrol. This was the lowest level in more than three decades. The Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations had worked hard to tackle the problem of illegal migration through substantial increases in border security staffing, improvements in technology, innovations in strategy and improved security coordination and assistance to Mexico. Coupled with improved economic conditions in Mexico, these administrations were hugely successful in deterring and breaking the cycle of illegal crossing: Unlawful Mexican economic immigration, which had historically been the primary immigration enforcement issue at the border, dropped nearly 90 percent between 2000 and 2016.”
“Despite the administration’s attempts to shift blame for the chaos, make no mistake: It is Donald Trump himself who is responsible. Through misguided policies, political stunts and a failure of leadership, the president has created the conditions that allowed the asylum problem at the border to explode into a crisis. The solution to our current border troubles lies in reforming the U.S. asylum system and immigration courts and helping Central America address its challenges—not in a “big beautiful” wall or shutting down the border. Yet effective action on these issues has been missing. And the president has now so poisoned the political well with his approach that there is little hope of meaningful congressional action until after the next election. Unless the administration changes course, the immigration crisis will only continue to worsen.”
These words were written nearly 2 years before Biden was sworn into office on January 20th, 2021. Donald Trump was warned in 2019 that he needed to change the focus of his immigration policy, but he did not.
Alan Bersin, Nate Bruggeman, Ben Rohrbaugh,
Yes, There’s a Crisis on the Border. And It’s Trump’s Fault. Politico, April 5, 2019
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/04/05/border-crisis-donald-trump-226573/
Illegal immigrants aren't driving our wages down. White racists have consistently underpaid blacks.
