This Issue: This week President Biden was pressed on his Administration's role in causing the crisis at the U.S. border with Mexico. Biden failed to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation, but there are reports he may be taking action to stem it.

Yesterday, President Biden held his first press conference since taking office. Unsurprisingly, the situation at the border was one of topics covered, with the White House press corps raising it multiple times. Unfortunately, Pres. Biden failed to address the root causes of the problem, or to take any responsibility for what clearly is a crisis.

Most troubling about the President's response is that he claimed nothing unusual was going on at the border and, therefore, there's no need to take urgent action.

When the current surge of illegal immigration at the border began, the Biden Administration blamed policies put in place by Pres. Trump. DHS Secretary Alexandro Mayorkas said that Trump had dismantled "orderly and safe processes" for dealing with illegal aliens attempting to enter the United States.

What Mayorkas tacitly admitted is that polices put in place under the previous administration were effective in stemming illegal immigration, mostly through the Remain in Mexico policy that required asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims were adjudicated instead of being released into the interior of the U.S. with the hope they show up for a future court date. Biden rescinded those polices as one of his first acts as President, resulting in the inevitable rush to the border.

While the Biden Administration has instituted policies that are neither orderly or safe, they have created a system of incentives and rewards for illegal immigration, human smuggling, and child trafficking.

Pres. Biden made a big show of rescinding Pres. Trump's border security initiatives through a flurry of executive orders. This was on top of vowing to halt all deportations in his first 100 days and promising blanket amnesty to all illegal aliens in the United States, and the legislation since put forward by the White House would allow previously removed aliens, including criminal aliens, to reenter the country and obtain green cards.

The Administration apparently decided that the argument "It's all Trump's fault" was not working, so yesterday President Biden had this to say, as reported by Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times:

'The truth of the matter is nothing has changed,' the president said. Of the surge, he said, 'It happens every year.'

An "analysis" in The Washington Post on Tuesday took the same line, concluding "there's no migrant surge at the U.S. southern border." Expect to see other reports like this as defenders of open borders seek to dismiss the reality of what everyone can plainly see for themselves.

In response, the Center for Immigration Studies published two pieces, one by Steven Camarota and the other by Andrew Arthur. Both rightfully took issue with the claim made in the Post.

Camarota crunches the data and concludes:

All of the available evidence indicates that the number of children and families apprehended at the border has surged suddenly in a way that does not reflect seasonal variation. Rather, the surge occurred just as the new administration took office, a clear indication that the profound policy changes of the new president are the primary cause.

Arthur writes:

So, is there a "surge" at the Southwest border? Absolutely; a 15-year one. And if the UCSD authors of the Washington Post article are to be believed, it is just beginning, because there are 10 more months of Border Patrol apprehensions exceeding 95,000 migrants coming, with a huge peak in May.

And both make note of Title 42 of U.S. Code, which authorizes DHS to expel aliens apprehended at the border who do not have authorization to be in the U.S. because of a risk to public health, in this particular case due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Biden Administration has admitted that this border surge is at a 20 year high -- and this uptick in illegal immigration comes before Spring, when warmer weather generally leads to more attempted crossings -- and that it has released aliens with Covid-19-positive aliens into the U.S.

While it is true that this is not the first surge of illegal immigration across the southern border, it is not true that what is now taking place is in any way "ordinary." The last surge occurred in 2018-2019, which prompted President Trump to implement the policies that President Biden rolled back. The result speaks for itself.

It is unclear how many people will attempt to enter the United States during this fiscal year, but it is clear the Biden Administration is not being forthcoming about the magnitude of the problem.

There are signs that President Biden is taking actions under the radar. It was announced that Vice-President Harris was put in charge of dealing with the border surge, which doesn't inspire confidence that she will stop illegal immigration given her past statement on immigration enforcement. However, it has been reported that the Administration is seeking to quietly reinstate some of Pres. Trump's policies. Let's hope this is the case.

Eric Ruark, Director of Research