Just how bad is the problem of Illegal immigration?

by Rod Williams, Nov. 12, 2023- Like anyone else who pays attention and watches the news, I knew things were bad at out southern border. I knew illegal border crossing were up and cities across America was feeling the strain. It is getting so bad that some major sanctuary cities are considering repealing their sanctuary city status. Other cities are declaring a state of emergency.  New York City is moving to repeal it's decades old 'right to shelter' law which requires the city to provide shelter to homeless people. Cities are buckling under the weight of illegal immigration. 

We in Nashville are not feeling the impact of illegal immigration as severely as many other cities. We can be thankful that Metro Nashville is not among those cities that are sanctuary cities. It is not for lack of trying that Nashville is not. We can thank the State for not allowing Nashville to adopt policies that would have made Nashville a magnet for illegal immigrants. 

I knew the problem of illegal immigration was bad, and knew it was much worse since Biden took office. With these liberal cities backing away from their support for open borders, I knew it had to be really bad. However, an article I read this morning in The New York Times, did more to help me comprehend the enormity of the crisis than anything else I have encountered. I recommend reading, Several Factors Add up to Illegal Border Crossings Being at Sustained Highs. 

I like charts and grafts. I like numbers and data. I find a chart can convey more information than paragraphs of text. Along with the text of the article, these charts tell the story.

Notice the drastic increase in illegal crossings since Biden took office. This is not an incremental increase, but multiple times increase. The last two years were the first time ever that illegal crossings were over two million a year. 

This is the recent monthly view of apprehensions. 

 

The above chart is one of the most frightening things about the recent surge in border crossings.  For a long time, illegal crossings were Mexicans and then starting about 2013 more than half were from the countries of the Northern Triangle.  Now, half are from other countries. Who are these people? We don't really know. US intelligence officials have found that smuggler with ties to ISIS have been smuggling in people from various mid-Eastern countries.  Maybe they are fleeing persecution or just trying to come to America for economic opportunities, but maybe not.  Maybe ISIS is smuggling in terrorist. I do not see how anyone could be unconcerned about this. 

Most people don't start paying close attention to issues until closer to the election.  Illegal immigration is a winning issue for Donald Trump.  If he is the Republican nominee, he will drive this message home.  He closed the border; Biden opened it.  Let a terrorist sleeper cell composed of members who slipped across the southern border get captured and the danger of an open border will hit home. God forbid an ISIS terrorist attack should occur composed of people who walked across our southern border. 

Even without something as drastic as a terrorist attack, the illegal immigration issue will be a big issue by November 2024.  Fentanyl deaths, crime, cities financial struggles, and other ill effects of massive illegal immigration will have an impact on how people view our open borders. Already, many do not care that Donald Trump continues to claim the 2020 election was stolen. They do not care that Donald Trump tried to engineer a coup to stay in office.  Donald Trump will fix the border; Biden can't.  That is not a persuasive argument for me, but it will be for many people.  If Joe Biden is smart, and I am not persuaded he is, he will start now changing his border policy.  Pretending it is not a serious problem, just plays into Donald Trump's hands. 

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