There is a crisis at our southern border. The number of migrant children in custody has tripled in the past two weeks, and Border Patrol agents are reporting an exponentially increasing number of apprehensions. If nothing is done (and I expect the Biden Administration to do exactly that), we’re on track to face an immigration crisis this summer the likes of which our country has never seen. All honest observers know why we’re seeing this spike: Biden and the Democrats have always been soft on illegal immigration, and that rhetoric is encouraging thousands of people from Mexico and central America to attempt the crossing. But Biden’s irresponsible rhetoric and policies doesn’t just overwork our Border Patrol agents and threaten border towns with crime and COVID. The President and his colleagues are also filling the coffers of Mexican drug cartels. “Illegal immigration along the southwest border is a big business, with revenue in the billions, and getting bigger every year,” reports John Daniel Davidson writing at The Federalist. SEE ALSO: Integrate the Church Into the State — Your Founding Fathers Will Thank You People hoping to get into the United States frequently hire the services of smugglers to help them get across the border. The smugglers work with whichever cartel controls that area of the border, and the cartel takes a cut of the fee. These fees are often in the thousands of dollars, and the pricing structure is based on nationality. Davidson reports that Mexican nationals must pay $2,500, Venezuelans, Peruvians, Ecuadorans, and Hondurans must pay $3,000, Chinese nationals pay $5,000, and Russians and migrants from the Middle East must pay $9,000. Most migrants cannot afford to pay this entire sum before gaining entry into the United States, but not to worry — your friendly neighborhood cartel gangster has a solution! The cartels and smugglers have instituted a wristband system to help keep track of who has paid and who hasn’t. Even when these immigrants are released into the United States, they’re in a form of debt-bondage to the cartel until they pay up. SEE ALSO: Hypocrisy Alert: DeBlasio’s Wife Encourages New Yorkers to Physically Intervene Against Criminals Make no mistake, Joe Biden’s reversion to Obama’s “catch-and-release” will add millions—if not billions—of dollars to the cartel coffers. Migrants know that as long as they can get into the U.S., Biden’s Border Patrol will eventually release them, and they’ll be free to go wherever they wish in the United States. I know, they’re supposed to show up at immigration hearings following their release. But according to a December 2020 report from the Justice Department, 49 percent of immigrants fail to appear for any subsequent hearings after they’re released into the United States. Joe Biden’s immigration policies are a disaster. They harm the American people by flooding our country with people who have not been vetted or cleared (and could be carrying COVID-19). They harm legal immigrants who spend years navigating our immigration system and obtaining legal entry. They harm illegal immigrants who trust their futures to the cartels. And they harm the world at large by funding some of the most brutal, dangerous, and destructive criminals on the face of the planet. I’m happy to welcome new Americans to our country. But looking the other way and refusing to enforce our immigration laws isn’t kind or humane. It does nothing but spawn more criminality, which is exactly what we’re seeing at the southern border crisis today.
