What Biden Can Do After Another Failed Border Deal
illegally, but that it doesn’t block enough legal migration. Using the parole authority granted by Congress, Mr. Biden has created processes for some immigrants to fly legally to the United States, and Republicans want him to put an end to that practice.
This poor excuse only reinforces the impression that Republicans are not aiming to reduce border chaos. The new processes that allow U.S. citizens to sponsor immigrants for entry are greatly reducing illegal immigration. Any effort to gut legal entry would cause even more problems for the Border Patrol.
It seems that some Republicans would just as well let the crisis at the border persist. In response, Mr. Biden must not merely blame Republicans for blowing up the deal and then leave the issue alone. The president will always receive the bulk of the blame whenever there is lawlessness and chaos — no matter how inadequate are the resources and laws provided by Congress.
The politics here are frustrating policy reform, but better policy could help the politics. Mr. Biden can double down on expanding parole sponsorship programs that allow people lawful and orderly ways to enter the United States.
Letting people in through private sponsorship programs negates the need to expand resources because they’ll have the opportunity to line up jobs and housing in advance of getting here. If all else fails, they will have U.S. sponsors to help them out if necessary.
Some Republicans may not like immigrants coming in — legally or otherwise — but American voters don’t buy invasion rhetoric to describe people getting vetted to travel here legally. Fearmongering about drug smugglers and terrorists can work when people enter illegally.
Right now, Mr. Biden has only created legal processes for five countries — Ukraine, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela — and he has set a cap far below demand. These processes are legal and orderly. Expanding these procedures into other major origin countries and letting more people enter legally will reduce the flows to more manageable levels.
Without chaos to exploit, the Republican advantage on this issue will fall, making it less clear that it’s in the party’s interest to oppose any deal. Mr. Biden might feel that he has already won politically. But he should bet on policy, not politics, to neuter the apocalyptic border rhetoric. Allowing immigrants to arrive legally is his only chance to break out of a decade of failed immigration deals.
David J. Bier is Associate Director, Immigration Studies, at the CATO Institute. This article, originally posted to the Cato Institute website, is published courtesy of the Cato Institute.
