Biden’s Border Blowup

Contact Your Elected Officials
Victor Davis Hanson: The Blade Of Perseus Header

Some 8 to 10 million illegal aliens from all over the world, as expected, have flooded across the border since President Joe Biden took office.

A demagogic candidate Biden, remember, in 2019 invited those massing at the southern border to “surge” into the United States without specifying that they first needed legal sanction: “We immediately surge to the border all those seeking asylum.”

In contrast, we know legal immigration is America’s great strength, but it has always depended on a few key prerequisites.

Immigration must be legal and measured.

Why? Because only the host nation can adjudicate how many immigrants it can successfully accept and assimilate. It has no desire to encourage Balkanized tribalism so common in nations abroad torn apart by ethnic conflict.

America must have some knowledge of the background of immigrants, especially whether they have criminal records, belong to gangs, are importing drugs, carry infectious diseases, or can be self-supporting.

By contrast, if the first thing immigrants do is illegally cross the American border, and the second is to reside illegally in America, and the third is to obtain fraudulent identification to mask that illegality, then they will establish long patterns of illegal behavior and disrespect for their hosts.

In addition, immigration should be diverse so that large ethnic groups do not form permanent tribal sects in the fashion of the Balkans, the Middle East, or Latin America.

Ideally, the host should prefer immigrants who have some knowledge of the language and customs of the United States. And they should have some ability to be self-supporting so as not to burden American taxpayers or overtax and deprive social services from poorer U.S. citizens.

As for the host?

America must be confident enough in and knowledgeable enough about its values, customs, and traditions to demand immigrants integrate rapidly into the body politic of the United States.

Both the host and immigrants must agree on the basic facts of immigration.

Immigrants, not the host, have chosen to leave their native land to risk a new life and identity in America.

Therefore, the relationship is, by nature, asymmetrical. The host has a perfect right, indeed a responsibility, to impose its own values upon newcomers—not vice versa.

Otherwise, if immigrants do not absorb their newly adopted culture, why would they have left and, in some sense, rejected their homeland in the first place?

To replicate in the United States the very conditions and environment that they so eagerly fled from back home?

So the host must remind immigrants that they chose a completely different paradigm from their native country. And therefore, they must be helped to embrace an entirely new national identity.

Unfortunately, in the last four years, the Biden administration has violated every historical canon critical to ensuring legal immigration enriches the United States.

They have encouraged 8–10 million of the world’s poorest to flood the border and to enter and reside in America without legal sanction.

Most have no prior experience with American traditions, and few speak English.

Host Americans have no idea whether hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of the millions entering illegally have committed crimes in their native countries, or have any record of employment, or are sick, or are here to foment gangs and to import lethal, foreign-made drugs that kill some 100,000 Americans a year.

Worse, we, the hosts, no longer believe in the melting pot that once made America the world’s only successful multiracial democracy, united by the laws of the Constitution and the unique values that emanate from it.

The combination of mass illegal immigration, without audit, into a country beset with $35 trillion in national debt, an existing 50 million residents not born in the United States, and without confidence in rapid assimilation certainly explains the disaster of illegal immigration that now manifests daily.

President Biden may think nullifying federal immigration law is a smart political trick that, in the past, may have flipped southwestern states from red to blue or warped the census to give blue states more congressional districts.

Or he may assume that with 70 percent of the electorate now voting through poorly audited mail-in balloting, there is no real way to prevent foreign nationals from voting for those who neutered the law to let them in.

But in truth, President Biden is unfortunately undermining support for all immigration, legal or otherwise. He is guaranteeing that more imported drugs and gang members will kill more Americans.

Ironically, President Biden is also alienating from the Democratic Party its once loyal black and Latino voters. They, not the party elite, must deal concretely with the consequences of Biden’s callous and cynical, ideologically driven policies.

Perhaps the left will only cease destroying immigration law when it realizes that for each illegal alien it invites in, it will lose one or more once loyal Democratic voters.

Victor Davis Hanson
Victor Davis Hansonhttp://victorhanson.com/
Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a professor of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services.

The Paradoxical Patriot: The political odyssey of Frank S. Meyer

In his book, Daniel J. Flynn examines the ideological evolution of one of conservatism’s most paradoxical and overlooked architects, Frank S. Meyer. 

This Is America: Target™ Reparations

“This Is America” explores the cultural undercurrents pulling Western...

Blind Man’s Shutdown

Congress is playing the equivalent of Bind Man's Bluff. With the shout “tag your it” they seek to blame the other party for the government shutdown.

A Reluctant Acknowledgment: What Conservatives Can Admire in Everyday Progressives

Admirable ideological qualities seen in liberals and left-wing individuals are those of the everyday believer not their political leadership.

Ensuring Domestic Tranquility

The Supremacy Clause in Article VI of the U.S. Constitution establishes it as the highest law of the land, taking precedence over conflicting state laws.

White House Official Says Layoffs Will Start Soon If Shutdown Talks Go Nowhere

Kevin Hassett said layoffs to federal workforce could occur quickly if negotiations with Democrats to reopen the government don’t lead to progress.

20 Teachers in California Facing Disciplinary Action for Posts on Charlie Kirk

California school districts move to discipline teachers for derogatory social media posts about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Trump Coal Boost Gains Momentum as Bids, Land Opened Up

Trump administration accelerates coal expansion with new leases, mine permits, and 13.1 million acres of federal land opened for coal mining.

Goaded by Tariffs, European Pharmaceutical Industry Pivots to the US

U.S. tariffs and a lucrative drug market are driving European pharma firms to boost investment through new plants, stock listings, and pricing deals.

Department of Energy Cancels $7.5 Billion in Project Funding

The Dept of Energy (DOE) said on Oct. 2 that it had terminated 321 federal grants funding 223 projects, amounting to about $7.56 billion in cuts.

White House Withdraws EJ Antoni’s Nomination to Lead Bureau of Labor Statistics

The White House has withdrawn economist EJ Antoni’s nomination to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the White House confirmed on Sept. 30.

US to Impose 100 Percent Tariffs on Foreign-Made Movies, Trump Says

President Donald Trump announced on Sept. 29 that he will impose a 100 percent tariff on all movies produced outside the United States.

Trump to Host Netanyahu at White House to Discuss Gaza Peace Plan

President Trump will host Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the White House on Sept. 29 to discuss a ceasefire and broader peace plan for Gaza.
spot_img

Related Articles

Popular Categories

MAGA Business Central