Wolf: Haste to throw out Trump policies without backup plan led to historic migration crisis, sank border agents’ morale
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Joe Biden is killing the incentive for people to legally migrate to the United States – and in process sinking the morale of agents charged with protecting the nation’s borders – by failing to address the illegal immigration crisis, a former top Trump administration official says.
“There’s no reason to talk about legal visa programs: No reason to talk about H-2A programs or H-2B programs and how you vet individuals, how you get them to apply if you can simply walk across the border in the middle of the desert and be allowed to stay in the United States,” said former acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.
Wolf was in El Paso on Wednesday to talk about the work of the America First Policy Institute, for which he is the new executive director. The conservative institute and its 22 policy centers are engaged in research and putting out articles on national security, the economy and immigration, among others.
Wolf told Border Report he was taken aback by President Biden turning back years of progress in dealing with illegal immigration seemingly overnight upon taking office. The lack of a comprehensive substitute plan led to the historic levels of unauthorized migration the country has been witnessing for a year and a half. Border agents in fiscal year 2021 recorded almost 2 million encounters with unauthorized migrants nationwide, while the number for the first nine months of FY 2022 stands at 2.2 million, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
“Any policy, any process, any program can be improved upon. I’m not going to say we got it right at the first try, but I don’t understand what the Biden administration did when they threw it all out on day one […] without analysis,” he said. “They threw it out and the result is a failed catch-and-release policy.”
Trump took flak from civil rights groups and advocates for dealing with an immigration surge characterized by large caravans traveling from Central America to the U.S. border through hardline tactics. These included alleged harsh conditions at overcrowded detention and processing centers and the creation of a program (Remain in Mexico) that sent asylum-seekers to await the outcome of their U.S. claims in Mexico. The administration secured Mexico’s cooperation by threatening that country with tariffs on its exports to the U.S.
“Under Trump, we decided to do things different – and I give President Trump credit – because the system was broken. So, he said, ‘I’m going to roll up my sleeves and I’m going to make some difficult decisions and we’re going to change things for the better,” Wolf said. “And none of these groups (the advocates) liked that because they have business models that help migrants into loopholes. Even though they have no (credible) fear, they’ll tell them to say certain things so they can stay in the U.S.”
Biden’s policies not only have encouraged migrants to bolt for the United States whether or not they have a legitimate claim, but also hurt morale at the U.S. Border Patrol and other federal agencies charged with enforcing immigration laws, Wolf said.
“What I can say is we found a lot of folks coming into the country (being) economic migrants. Does that mean they qualify for asylum? Absolutely not. Simply wanting to come here for a better job, a better life, God bless them all, that does not qualify for asylum,” he said. “Border Patrol … they are frustrated. I talk to folks that have been there 15, 20, 25 years and morale is the…
Read More: Biden failed ‘catch-and-release’ policies fomenting illegal immigration, former DHS boss says