In the wake of the recent mid-term elections, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has announced a new push for amnesty for the “11 million or however many’’ unauthorized immigrants currently residing illegally in the United States.
In the context of the current chaos on our southern border Schumer’s demand, on the face of it, is plainly insane. Granting amnesty to untold millions of illegal aliens, including the upwards of 5 million who have breached our border under the Biden administration’s abject mismanagement, should not only immediately be seen as a non-starter, but also as downright dangerous.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection just reported that it encountered a record-shattering 98 terror watch suspects in Fiscal Year 2022, and that’s just the ones who were caught. Schumer, however, is now glibly and irresponsibly talking about putting everyone on a path to citizenship, which will only further incentivize and increase the already record-breaking flow of migrants entering the country illegally through our porous southern border. Because if a prospective migrant from anywhere in the world knows he or she can get in and be given amnesty after entering or remaining in the country illegally, why not do it? It’s certainly much easier and faster than trying to enter through the legal means.
The reality is that the vast majority of Americans are not and will never be on board with the left’s radical mass amnesty agenda. That is why the timing of this latest amnesty drive is so telling, in addition to signaling a missed opportunity for the GOP.
First, it is telling that Schumer waited until after the mid-terms to announce this drive for a mass amnesty. If this issue was so important to Sen. Schumer and the Senate Democrats, why didn’t they take action on it when Democrats held complete control of Congress and the White House? Depending on your experience with how nefarious lawmakers can be, the answer may not surprise you.
The answer is that the Democrats know what the sentiments of the American people are and did not want to put the issue of immigration or border security on center stage prior to the elections. Instead, they deliberately chose to wait until after the elections when they could trot out DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or President Obama’s “dreamers” executive action) without consequence during the lame duck session. Schumer obviously knew the polls that show Republicans hold a massive upper hand when it comes to handling border security and immigration, so for two years he did nothing on DACA and only held it as a political card to be played.
Because despite the façade of compassion, the left only sees the people they are encouraging to enter the U.S. illegally as political pawns. If those on the left cared, they wouldn’t be encouraging women and children to make a trek through countries where the drug cartels have asserted total control, one in three women are sexually assaulted or raped, and more deaths are occurring than ever before. And yet they do so, in the expectation that these migrants can be tied to the political left indefinitely. The fact that this narrative of false compassion is carried by a major political party and the corporate media is truly sickening and points to an opportunity conservatives and the GOP must seize. Securing the border is overwhelmingly popular among the American people and can be done with robust legislation.
Schumer and the Democrats waited until after the election was decided to even bring up DACA because they were scared of the crisis at our southern border. Similarly, Republicans did not take as much advantage as they could have on this issue and clearly suffered because of it.
The opportunity for redemption remains, however, by pursuing a strong border security agenda and shining a light on the nefarious actions of the Biden administration under Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. It is time for Republicans to demonstrate their capacity and commitment to properly managing the border and getting our country back on track.