DHS Secretary Says Trump To Blame For Biden’s Border Crisis. Here’s Why. - Forbes

Topline

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday passed blame for a mounting crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border to former President Donald Trump, arguing that the previous administration’s disruptions to the immigration system is the reason why holding facilities are being overwhelmed by an influx of unaccompanied minors. 

Key Facts

Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning, Mayorkas—as other Democrats have recently insisted—argued that the reason the Biden administration is struggling with the surge in migrants is because the “entire system” was “dismantled” by the prior administration. 

“There was a system in place in both Republican and Democratic administrations that was torn down during the Trump administration,” Mayorkas said, pinpointing this as the reason the “challenge” at the border is so “acute.”

During his presidency, Trump did take unprecedented steps, diminishing legal immigration channels, cutting off regional funding, and blocking asylum seekers and refugees with Title 42 (an order he implemented, citing the Covid-19 pandemic). 

These policies led to a build up of tens of thousands of asylum seekers, as well as facilities that are woefully unprepared for processing migrants, Mayorkas has argued, previously claiming that President Biden has to “rebuild the entire system, including the policies and procedures required to administer the asylum laws that Congress passed long ago.”

Even before Biden took office, there was a steady increase in encounters at the border since April 2020, though that number increased dramatically—by 61%—from January to February (Biden began implementing his immigration agenda on his first day in office). 

Republicans, meanwhile, are painting the mounting humanitarian crisis as a consequence of overly lenient policies implemented by Biden, who has made a point of quickly reversing many of the Trump administration’s biggest immigration efforts—and, arguing for a more humane approach, is allowing unaccompanied minors to enter the U.S. 

Both the White House and people crossing the border themselves have acknowledged that more humane policies are contributing to the surge, but while critics argue the Biden administration shouldn’t have implemented policies it wasn’t prepared to execute, top Biden officials argue they are doing their best to prioritize their values with a decimated framework.

Chief Critic

“We are rebuilding the orderly systems that the Trump administration tore down to avoid the need for these children to actually take the perilous journey, and we are investing, we are investing in those countries,” said Mayorkas, explaining that the administration is working on partnerships to build in-country processing centers “to avoid the need for these children to take the perilous journey.” 

Crucial Quote

Experts have highlighted that a myriad of factors contribute to migration flows, making it difficult to immediately attribute surges to Biden’s policies. “The push factors are at the highest they’ve been in quite some time,” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, the policy counsel for the American Immigration Council, a group that advocates for immigrants, told The New York Times, citing heightened instability in Central America due to Covid-19 and devastating hurricanes. 

Key Background 

The number of migrants apprehended at the southwestern border is on track to reach a two-decade high. The Biden administration is scrambling to handle roughly 14,000 migrants now in federal custody, thousands of whom have been kept in border protection custody over the legal limit of three days. Republicans have been quick to seize on the situation and brand it as the first “crisis” of the Biden administration, despite staying silent about some of the Trump administration’s more controversial policies.  

Further Reading 

“Scoop: ICE securing hotel rooms to hold growing number of migrant families” (Axios)

“One Way Trump May Have Changed Immigration Forever” (Politico)

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DHS Secretary Says Trump To Blame For Biden’s Border Crisis. Here’s Why. - Forbes
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