Fool me once…

I am the undisputed immigration expert. In my house. As in: between me and my wife’s dog, George Harrison Burke. Only because I actually have practiced some immigration law, even handling removal cases in El Paso, Texas, of all places. I was a brief member of AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association), but their intolerance of conservatives sent me packing. So when I speak about the recently Senate-passed immigration bill, I know more than, say, the aforementioned dog.

The original play the national MSM threw out was that Trump (him again) wanted to submarine the Senate’s bill because he wants turmoil to reign, increasing his chances of reelection. So a wonderful, comprehensive immigration bill gets scuttled by ol’ orange man for political gain! Well, not exactly.

Congress hasn’t enacted comprehensive immigration reform since 1882. Every so often, Congress addresses quotas, limits, or adjustments, but there has been no major revamp in almost 150 years. Since then, automobiles, planes, and space shuttles have come along, but Congress has avoided immigration because there isn’t much political benefit to fixing it compared to the work involved. All this latest message from a “bipartisan” Senate brings us is some tinkering along the Southern border.

Let’s start with the false premise that the President needs Congress to tell him to do his job and protect the nation’s borders. President Biden: “The only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump.” Facts belie that statement. Illegal border encounters: 2023: 2,476,000, 2022: 2,379,000, 2021: 1,735,000, 2020: 400,000. Let me think: What happened in January 2021? 

During Biden’s first week as President:

1. He halted construction on the border wall.

2. He reinstated the disastrous policy of ‘catch and release.’

3. He pulled out of the unbelievably successful “remain in Mexico” agreement that caused this border assault explosion.

But now, all Evasive Joe needs is the authority to shut down the border! (Biden muttered off camera, “Er… if I wanted to do that, I’d do it.”) The proposed law says he COULD shut down the border if crossings exceed 4,000 a day. He’d HAVE to shut it down if encounters exceed 5,000 average a day over seven days. Or if encounters exceed 8,500 on a single day. 

My thoughts:

1. An administration that has woefully ignored the border—well, Biden did appoint Kamala Harris as the Border Czar—is suddenly going to do what? Follow this law?

2. How long is the “shutdown” for? 10 minutes?

3. How do you count “encounters” when you don’t have secure entry ports? Is Joltin’ Joe suddenly going to use a fence? Oh yeah, for the math deficient, allowing 4,999 immigrants a day for a year means 1,824,635 encounters. That’s progress?

A friend of mine has had an application pending for 15 years for his brother to emigrate to the U.S. Fifteen years! Joe Biden’s administration requested more information and extended the government’s time to decide by two more years. That government should never be in charge of anything.

Trump is not wrong to oppose this hogwash. The fact that the bipartisan Senate committee did their work in a dark back room is all you need to know. Couple that with the border agents’ union being in favor of this hot mess. You know it’s bad. The light of day reveals little reason to spend precious time on this garbage.

You may disagree. Tell my wife’s dog.

Kelly Burke, attorney, former district attorney, and magistrate judge, writes about the law, rock’n’roll, politics, or anything that strikes him. Contact Kelly at dakellyburke@gmail.com to comment on this article or suggest articles you’d like to see, and visit his website at www.kellyrburke.com to view prior columns.

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