Illegal crossings at the border are not slowing despite President Joe Biden's June 4 border proclamation.
Thursday saw some 10,000 migrants in Border Patrol custody, four times the limit at which our president said he would stop processing the phony asylum claims used by illegals.
Meanwhile, video taken by The Post shows hundreds of migrants from mainly China and Turkey still crossing the border unhindered into California, then rounded up by Border Patrol on Thursday.
Other video shows much the same in rural Texas on Wednesday, after Biden’s “crackdown” supposedly took effect. Some 4,000, way over the limit, were apprehended on Wednesday. And the inflows just keep coming.
Related: Daily Caller, June 9 - ‘No Slowing Down’: Abbott Confirms There’s Been No Change At Border Since Biden’s New Policy, Says It’s ‘Accelerating’
Well, why is that still happening?
A instructions to border officials uncovered in a leaked memo by Washington Examiner reporter Anna Giaritelli explains.
The instruction contradicts what senior Biden administration officials told reporters in a call on Tuesday would be the case for migrants from Eastern Hemisphere countries who traveled through multiple countries without seeking asylum in order to reach the U.S., referred to as extra-hemispheric migrants.
“Extra-hemispheric migrants have always been a challenge. They will be subject to these rules, provisions,” a senior administration official said. “We’ve also been working with governments all over the world to enhance our ability to repatriate individuals to countries that have historically been challenging. We have, for example, operated repatriation flights to India, to China, to Uzbekistan, to Mauritania, to Senegal over the last few months, and those are all countries that historically would have been much more challenging for us to return individuals to and we anticipate we will continue to enhance our ability to return migrants to the Eastern Hemisphere.”
“So, we do think that the rules measures will allow us to impose an immediate and fast consequence to migrants no matter what country they’re coming from,” the same official said.
The key section of Giaritelli's report:
Only adults from Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will be referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for speedy removal. All other migrants from “hard or very hard to remove countries” in the Eastern Hemisphere will be released with documents ordering them to appear in court in the U.S.
FOX News' Bill Melugin highlighted Giaritelli's report, breaking down the issue after FOX obtained the memo (some emphasis added):
NEW: @FoxNews has obtained an internal Border Patrol memo sent to agents in San Diego sector after President Biden’s executive order took effect, instructing them to release single adults from all but six countries in the eastern hemisphere & classifying them as “hard” or “very hard” to remove.
Specifically, the memo instructs agents to process all single adults from 100+ countries in the eastern hemisphere as NTA/OR, which means “Notice to Appear/Release on Own Recognizance”, except for six countries which are deemed “mandatory referral” countries (Uzbekistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan).
President Biden & DHS promised consequences & removal for those who cross illegally between ports of entry after the executive order took effect - but the overwhelming majority of illegal crossers in San Diego sector, including the Chinese, Middle Eastern, & African adults we’ve been showing, are still being released into the U.S. with future court dates, as our coverage has shown repeatedly with Border Patrol mass releases at a trolley station in San Diego.
In a background call with reporters, DHS officials acknowledged the difficulty of removing illegal immigrants from eastern hemisphere countries, as some governments won’t cooperate with U.S. repatriation flights/travel documents & won’t take their citizens back.
DHS officials said they are engaged with these countries and are trying to enhance cooperation.
Bottom line in the short term: Mass catch & release continues for illegal immigrants in San Diego sector, who continue pouring in from all around the globe.
Melugin added additional details, again, with some emphasis added:
NEW: Just spoke to senior CBP officials about this memo. I’m told this was localized guidance put out to San Diego sector only because of the unique countries around the world they encounter there, & this is not CBP or DHS’ guidance for the entire border. The CBP officials said even if these migrants are released into the US, they still are not eligible for asylum and cannot request it. They also pointed out that while, yes, San Diego sector is encountering large numbers from the eastern hemisphere who are being released with a court date because their home countries won’t cooperate with deportations (China, for example) two thirds of the encounters in San Diego sector are from easy to remove Western Hemisphere countries, large numbers of which are being placed into expedited removal, including Colombia and Ecuador, and thousands from these western hemisphere countries have already been removed or returned since the order went into effect. The CBP officials added that they’ve been “clear eyed” about the fact that it will take time to ramp up implementation of this executive order, and they will continue to engage with uncooperative countries to start taking their citizens back.
So, some countries are refusing to take back their countrymen, per Melugin's comments. Given that the U.S. sends taxpayer-funded aid to a large swath of countries, maybe it's time to cut that aid until those countries start complying?
More To The Story
Polling published by CBS news over the weekend shows 70% approve of Biden's border order. Expect that number to drop like a stone once the public realizes the president's order has not slowed the number of migrants illegally crossing into the U.S.
The same CBS News' poll also shows 62% of Americans surveyed are in favor of deportations.
And 49% of those surveyed think Biden’s border policies will increase border crossings.
The actual CBS News poll document is nearly 80 pages.
Keep in mind what CBS says about the poll at the end of its article:
This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,063 U.S. adult residents interviewed between June 5-7, 2024. The data includes an oversample in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The sample was weighted by gender, age, race, and education, based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as past vote. The margin of error is ±3.2 points among all adults and ±3.8 points among registered voters.
Some other key points from the CBS poll are pocketbook issues; the high cost of basic living needs under "Bidenomics" has Trump up nearly 40%.
Americans also are not buying the White House’s assertion the economy is doing great - again, their wallets are telling the story.
