In his most successful response to date to the illegal immigrant catastrophe, President Joe Biden traveled to El Paso on Sunday for his first visit to the border since assuming office and opening the floodgates.
Yes, it was empty symbolism (and a cynical ploy serving his plans to run for president in 2024) for barely three hours, but even setting the stage for the gesture had real-world consequences, as border agents and local police cleared El Paso’s streets of migrants who had camped out because the city’s shelters are overflowing.
They even returned thousands to Mexico, enforcing Biden’s new “get (kind of) tough on refugees from socialist catastrophes” policy.
Obviously, the expelled migrants will return as soon as Biden leaves town (hint: say you’re Columbia, not Venezuela, or simply avoid the Border Patrol as hundreds of thousands of others have). We are confident, however, that the residents of El Paso will value the respite.
Cynics may draw parallels to how DC police evicted the homeless from Union Station prior to the president’s “Republicans hate democracy” speech, and the videos of migrants pleading with police officers may break a few hearts, but it is still Biden’s most successful effort to halt the flood.
Seriously, the idea he abandoned last week is beyond pitiful; it is basically an acknowledgment that even Democratic politicians across the country find the influx overwhelming. Biden shows no indication of reconsidering his fundamental “wave ’em in” stance.
Nonetheless, we are confident that every border community hopes for a presidential visit. Nevertheless, it’s something.
»El Paso’s cynical housekeeping before Biden’s visit encapsulates his weak border strategy«