David J. Bier
David J. Bier
Read Part 1 of this series: Biden Didn’t Cause the Border Crisis, Part 1: Summary.
Biden Did Not Cut Enforcement
The FOIA data give a precise picture of migration and Biden’s actions when he first arrived in office. The central argument of those who blame Biden for the surge in migration is that Biden cut enforcement, which then caused a later rise in arrests. Biden did cancel some of Trump’s policies, but he accomplished more removals using different authorities. As Biden said in December 2020—before he entered office—he did not want to rescind Trump’s Title 42 expulsion policy because “the last thing we need is … two million at the border.”
Biden did not end Title 42, which allowed for the expulsions of immigrants even if they were requesting asylum. Daily expulsions at the border grew from inauguration day onward, eventually doubling even before the end of April 2021. Biden did terminate the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which had returned some migrants to Mexico to await their asylum hearings in the US.
However, that is a change in enforcement procedure, not enforcement outcome. By April 2021, Biden was already returning over 140 times as many immigrants per day to Mexico under Title 42 as were being returned to Mexico under Remain in Mexico in early January 2021. Precisely zero Central Americans were returned under Remain in Mexico in January 2021, and their numbers grew the fastest in 2021.
Taking a broader perspective, the level of border enforcement achieved under Biden was unmatched by any month under Trump—including 2019, when Remain in Mexico was in effect. At no point was Remain in Mexico a majority of forced departures from the border. It was a relatively small program compared to Title 42. The whole purpose of the immigration enforcement apparatus is removals, » Read More
https://www.cato.org/blog/biden-didnt-cause-border-crisis-part-2-did-biden-cut-enforcement