The Immigration Battles Begin

Lawmakers hear from law enforcement leaders about challenges at the U.S.-Mexico border.

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A U.S. Border Patrol agent watches over a group of immigrants after tracking them through rugged terrain in Arizona last September. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Partisan sparring over immigration began long before Tuesday morning’s House oversight panel hearing, and it continued with Republicans and Democrats wrangling over how to address drug smuggling and the porous U.S.-Mexico border.

Republicans were unequivocal about where the real blame should lie: President Joe Biden “signaled our borders were open,” House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer said, attributing “dangerous, chaotic, and inhumane” border conditions to the president’s policies. Meanwhile, the White House in a memo said House Republicans “are more interested in staging political stunts” and “pushing an agenda that would make things worse at the border.”

Tuesday’s hearing and one at the House Judiciary Committee last week illustrated Republicans’ plans to use dysfunction at America’s southern border as evidence of the Biden administration’s shortcomings. A number of Republicans—including Comer—have called for impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of border enforcement, but the secretary’s name rarely surfaced during Tuesday’s hearing. (If the GOP were to move on impeachment, the House Judiciary would have jurisdiction over the inquiry.) Republicans instead focused on Biden himself hours before the State of the Union address.

Eyewitnesses from the border.

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  1. Jim S

    As much as Republicans want me to be all up in arms I read an article like this and just yawn. Not only have the cartels been operating for decades, so have these tired talking points.

    No one wants to see people addicted and dying from overdose, but seriously, your opioid addicted constituents are somehow Joe Biden’s fault? Hardly.

    Personally I am much more affected by LEGAL immigration and programs like H1-B that put downward pressure on wages for white collar professions, but I am also not the GOP base.

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  2. MathewA

    Fix the problem with a couple of easy steps.

    1. Massive increase in boarder agents.
    2. Yes build the wall.
    3. Massive increase in immigration/asylum judges. And detention centers. Don't release anyone into the country.
    4. Fix e-verify and then mandate that all employers use it.

    You do all this within a very short time illegal immigration will slow to a trickle because they know it won't be worth it. Once that's done, then you can have a discussion about about DACA, and DAPA etc


    Bonus points if you stop the failed war on drugs. Legalization will defund the cartels and gangs that are creating the violence a lot of these people are fleeing.

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      Catfishcatlin

      Have you spent much time on the border?

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      1. MathewA

        Maybe address the actual arguments...

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          Catfishcatlin

          I'll take that as a no. And you didn't really make arguments (except re: legalization, which I agree with.)

          Here's the thing about the border... there are communities that cross the border, animal habitats, farms, property. Being at the border is that there are no "easy steps."

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  3. CB76

    A lot of bitching and moaning by everyone involved, but I'm not reading anything in the way of proposed solutions. Typical.

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      BloggerBarbie

      Part of the issue is defining the problem. Is it immigration? Only illegal immigration? Only drug smuggling? These are different problems, and need different approaches. So defining the problem really is an important part of finding the solution.

      Since I don't think immigration is a problem, I'm not inclined to try and "solve" it.

      The problem, it strikes me, is that our immigration policies are directly descended from policies that came up when most people were coming over the sea and arriving in ports. When one of our land borders has become a major source of immigration, we need to re-think how we handle it. Many small micro-offices to help out? Systems or incentives to move people from crowded border towns into the interior? And getting on the ground in the countries of origin--working through the embassies to help people understand how the immigration system works, rather than leaving it to coyotes to sell them big lies. Get the word out that human smugglers are not anyone's friends. Be honest with people, and be kind to people. Work with Canada--they're actively recruiting workers, and we could help get people across a vast area to safe destination where they're being sought. Work with Mexico to see how to ease the situation without humanitarian crises. There is no reason to make people suffer when they just want to stop suffering.

      On the fentanyl, I don't know how much we can do about criminals, but we need to work on the conditions that are making it so attractive to so many people. Work on mental health infrastructure and rehab. Drying up the market seems like an important step in stopping the trade.

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      1. CB76

        I lean more in your direction on this issue, quite frankly. I think bringing racism into it, while probably true to some extent, doesn't help Democrats. But my frustration is primarily with Republicans who claim Biden is doing X, Y, and Z at the border but don't propose any changes. To say nothing of the wholly self serving argument that electing Biden in and of itself sent the message to our southern border that illegal immigrants should come rushing in by the millions. So I guess the only way to secure the border is to elect Republicans so that signal isn't sent huh? These are not serious people.

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    Lesherman

    Well... that article just massively disappointed me, which is impressive because my expectations of congress were already abysmally low. Heaven forbid we actual appoint people to these committees that are inclined to actually look at the facts and the data and discuss possible solutions. The fact that pretty much everyone on that committee just wants to use it to score culture war points and grandstand is a large argument for dissolving the committee in my eyes.

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    1. Trumeau

      That's the problem of having CSPAN in the room.

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        Lesherman

        Jonah has very much convinced me on that one.

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        1. Trumeau

          Yes, me too. No one is trying to look for an answer. They are trying to get soundbites so that they can use that for their next campaign, and can show to the most partisan supporters they are fighting. Just overall bad for the country. That's when too much transparency is not good.

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    EricRemcon@gmail

    The House immigration hearings will be both better and worse than, for example the “Hunter Biden Extravaganza”. Better because there is a much greater chance that some substance is covered, worse because the beclowning will occur on a topic that affects hundreds of thousands of real people, unlike the embarrassing behavior of a single addict trying to profit off his father’s name.

    I would be amazed if anything of substance on immigration comes out of the House. It will be all talking points and demagoguery, no compromise or talk about actual solutions. That being said, I would read a hundred articles on this topic over a single one on the “laptop”.

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    1. Howard.Ellis

      The two hearings have nothing to do with each other. Both situations need to be examined. If only one of the hearings could be held it should be the immigration hearing, but that is not a choice that needs to be made.

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  6. Philebus

    The title of the hearing: “President Biden’s Border Crisis is a Public Health Crisis.”

    Yep. The battle to get nothing done continues. It's a sad state of affairs that's been going on since was young (a long time ago).

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