As I’ve noted before, the right doesn’t really want a solution to the immigration issue, which divides the base from the PBPs; it just wants to use the issue as a stick against the left, and is having some success with it. What, at least on paper, can be done about the problem?
The two big issues are as follows:
- Our immigration statutes draw a clear distinction between victims of political persecution, who are entitled to asylum, and economic refugees, who have far fewer rights. The current influx of people from Central America doesn’t fit that mold; the refugees are fleeing violent crime, climate change, and failed states, Should they be given asylum here, or not? One way or another, the law needs to be changed to provide a clear answer to the question.
- The system needs vastly more resources than it currently has to house, feed, educate, and process the claims of the asylum seekers.
You will note that Biden doesn’t have the constitutional authority to do either of these things on his own. They are the responsibility of Congress, not the executive branch. He just gets the blame for them.