President Joe Biden has finally remembered he can issue executive orders to strengthen border security. Whether this realization occurred during a phantom conversation with dead European leaders or not, Biden plans to issue some orders to curb the flow of illegal aliens. As you’d expect, the problem is what these new directives will be and whether they will help federal immigration officers get rid of people who shouldn’t be here.
The second part is that unlike 10-15 years ago, the value of the information provided by anonymous sources has degraded, much like Biden’s mental capacity. Let’s see what they roll out if they use this reported ‘Plan B’ option. But it’s striking, and, again, unsurprising, that this administration finally realized they could issue executive orders on immigration, even though Biden said he was powerless to do anything until those poor Ukrainians got additional aid (via NBC News):
The Biden administration is considering taking executive action to deter illegal migration across the southern border, according to two U.S. officials.
As passing legislation on border security in Congress appears unlikely, the plans under consideration signal that the White House wants to take action before numbers at the border, which have dropped in the past month, rise again as expected.
The plans have been under consideration for months, the officials said. In December, as Congress prepared to leave town for the holidays with no border solution, illegal crossings of the southwest border hit records at more than 10,000 per day.
The unilateral measures under consideration might upset some progressives in Congress, the officials said, but they noted that Democratic mayors who have asked for more help from the federal government to handle the influx of migrants in their cities would be pleased. The measures are still being drafted and are not expected to take place any time soon.
[…]
Regardless of how much any executive action might appear to increase immigration enforcement both on the border and in the interior of the U.S., the officials said, it would pale in comparison to the effects that would arise if Congress had passed the border security bill.
“It’s a plan B,” an official said. Both officials said doing nothing is not an option.
That’s patently false. Biden’s not going to do it, but if he reauthorized every Trump EO on immigration, the pace at which we could resolve the southern border crisis would be immensely accelerated. The bill before the Senate provided taxpayer-funded lawyers to migrants under 13, created a new class of permanent residents in children of H-1B visas, and put unvetted Afghan refugees on a pathway to citizenship.
Only around $20 billion was allocated to the border, whereas $60 billion was marked for Ukraine. It’s a foreign aid package disguised as a border bill. It’s logrolling at its worst, and lawmakers wasted three months of negotiations thinking this had any shot at passing. The GOP base’s reaction was revulsion, and any Republican who supports this deserves a primary challenge.
Was this the plan the entire time: craft a bill that Democrats knew wouldn’t get enough GOP votes, which would create a situation in which the Biden White House can issue executive orders and thereby look like they’re doing something about illegal aliens during an election year?
I can’t say because Joe Biden probably thinks he’s talking to Paul von Hindenburg or Anthony Eden right now.