Biden Resumes Migrant Flights Even After Fraud Exposed

Commentary

September 6, 2024

By Dale Wilcox

The Biden Administration is resuming a program to fly tens of thousands of foreign nationals into the country each month even after major fraud within the program was exposed.

A bombshell report from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) published last month revealed the shocking extent to which the program has been corrupted. Among the irregularities, the report found that one IP address in Tijuana, Mexico has been used to submit 1,328 applications and that 100,948 Social Security forms had been filed by just 3,218 different sponsors.

This brazen fraud would be comical if it weren’t so dangerous. The Biden Administration responded to the report by suspending the program for a few weeks, but now claims to have fixed the problem.

Biden’s team announced late last month that it is resuming the program after it “incorporated additional vetting of U.S.-based supporters to strengthen the integrity of the processes.” If anyone believes this, I have some oceanfront property in Nebraska to sell them. There is simply no way they were able to correct the extensive fraud within the program in the span of just a few weeks. This is a classic example of government wanting to look like it’s doing something without actually doing anything. In reality, the Biden Administration’s decision to resume this parole program is a rebuke of the recent narrative that the administration has found religion on border security, and is committed to reducing illegal immigration.

The administration has been showered with positive media coverage over its executive order announced earlier this year, which purports to shut down the border after a certain threshold of illegal crossings are reached. While the official number of illegal crossings have declined from the sky-high numbers of the past three years, the amount of illegal immigration into the U.S. has only continued to increase. This administration has been focused on artificially lowering border crossings to create a narrative that they are finally taking the illegal immigration crisis seriously, and its allies in the media have been more than happy to play along.

The consistent undertone of the immigration policies pursued by this administration and its allies at the state level is that the well-being of foreign nationals matters more to them than the well-being of American citizens and legal residents.

While the administration has a strong political incentive to toughen their image on illegal immigration, they are moving full-steam ahead on their anti-borders agenda. Since announcing their “crackdown” at the border, the administration has attempted to implement another executive amnesty for illegal aliens, threatened to veto legislation requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, and proposed a rule to allow illegal aliens access to programs meant to help low-income Americans pay for a college education. Now, after a brief hiatus, the White House once again abusing its parole powers to fly 30,000 foreign nationals a month into the country through a fraud-riddled program.

While the federal government claims it has figured out how to curtail fraud within the program, its track record demonstrates why the American people shouldn’t trust them. An administration which has allowed more than 10 million foreign nationals to enter the country illegally in the span of less than four years has already proven it doesn’t care about protecting its borders or its people. Beyond the fraud, however, is another pressing question: What purpose does this program even serve?

Neither the Biden Administration nor its supporters have ever articulated a rationale behind this program or explained how flying in 30,000 foreign nationals a month benefits the American people. Given that the U.S. legalizes more than one million immigrants on an annual basis, and this administration has let millions more come illegally, what is it necessary to fly even more foreign nationals into the country?

The answer is that Biden—or more accurately, the activists and Big Business interests he serves—simply believes there should be no limit to the number of foreign nationals who are entitled to come into our country. This can be seen not only at the federal level, but the state level as well, including in Oregon, where the state is now offering $30,000 grants to migrants who are first time home buyers, and California, which recently passed legislation offering $150,000 loans to illegal aliens looking to buy houses.

While the rhetoric may change depending on the political winds, the consistent undertone of the immigration policies pursued by this administration and its allies at the state level is that the well-being of foreign nationals matters more to them than the well-being of American citizens and legal residents. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi articulated this attitude well recently when she defended California’s bill and said that her goal was to allow the “undocumented” to become “documented.” This is the main reason why the administration continues to abuse its power to fly countless foreign nationals into the country, without regard for the integrity of the program.

They view the people they’re importing into the country as future citizens and political patrons, and are determined to continue the flow of mass migration without regard for the national interest. This is the only explanation for why they are resuming a program filled with outrageous fraud and little benefit for the American people.

Dale L. Wilcox is executive director and general counsel for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.

Also published at The New American, September 6, 2024.

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