The Biden–Harris administration’s failure to keep illegal immigration in check makes life harder for the kinds of immigrants America needs to attract.
The Biden–Harris administration’s failure to keep illegal immigration in check makes life harder for the kinds of immigrants America needs to attract.
H ow could anyone dislike my dad? He came to America in July 1980, with less than 30 bucks in his pocket. Shortly after arriving on a visa, he bought a 90-day bus ticket, traveling the country overnight while spending his days looking for work. On the 89th day, he finally did, finding a medical job in Tennessee. Ever since, he’s enriched his new homeland with hard work and patriotic love.
Yet to a growing number of Americans, immigrants like my dad are increasingly viewed as unhelpful or even dangerous. A mere 40 percent of Americans now think skilled immigrants are a major benefit to the country, down from about 60 percent two decades ago, according to an AP poll from March. At the same time, the share of Americans who fear that legal immigrants are criminals has substantially risen, from 19 to 32 percent. If my dad came to America today, he might find a more hostile reception, and a harder path to success.
I don’t say this to attack my fellow Americans. They’re simply responding to the nightmare that is our current immigration system.
The Biden–Harris administration has dramatically weakened support for legal immigration by overseeing an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration. It put a moratorium on many deportations, halted border-wall construction, and backed a bill to legalize essentially the entire undocumented population. The moratorium was struck down and the bill went nowhere, but the word was out — the border was open.
Lo and behold, in the administration’s first two months, southern-border apprehensions spiked by nearly 100,000. In the first eight months, Border Patrol apprehended, on average, 138 percent more people per month at the southern border than during the previous four. All told, nearly 9 million people have illegally crossed our southern border since February 2021.
Breaking the law to enter America is fundamentally different from following the rules to live and work here. But when illegal immigration is so intense, people often turn against all immigration. And while President Biden has driven this crisis from the left, it has created an overreaction in some on the right, with demands to not only stop the flow of illegal immigration, but to limit or halt legal immigration, too.
Halting legal immigration would threaten our country no less than unfettered illegal immigration does. Our country needs legal immigrants like my dad who will build up our country and communities. Immigrants are essential to filling worker shortages in everything from manufacturing to medicine. Their diverse contributions, including their increasing rates of entrepreneurship, are key to creating the wealth and job opportunities that grow our economy and improve the standard of living for all Americans. No matter how you look at it, America benefits from legal immigrants.
Restoring Americans’ belief in the power of a properly functioning legal-immigration system is a national necessity, and it starts by securing the border. So long as our border isn’t secure, Americans’ support for legal immigration will continue to drop. Polling from my organization shows that 57 percent of Americans think that border reform should be Congress’s highest priority.
And sooner is better, because our polling shows that Americans will support commonsense reforms on legal immigration along with greater border security. At least 70 percent of the country backs making America more competitive with a better immigration system for doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, and other highly skilled immigrants. At least 78 percent of Americans support clearer and more predictable rules for visa applicants and international students, ensuring that lawbreakers are caught while legal immigrants are encouraged. And close to 90 percent of Americans are behind reforms that increase transparency and accountability in the immigration system.
At this point, there’s little chance that Congress and the White House will act on immigration before the end of the year. But regardless of what happens in November’s elections, the next president and Congress should immediately focus on securing the border — the first and most important step to restoring support for legal immigration. From there, Republicans and Democrats should work together on the specific policies where there’s most common ground. They should always remember that strengthening legal immigration leads to less illegal immigration, since it allows more people to come here without breaking the law. It also frees up Border Patrol to focus on protecting our nation from true threats to our national security and rule of law.
Our country’s future depends on realizing this vision of secure borders and a strong, commonsense legal-immigration system. This vision is also firmly rooted in the best of our country’s past. When my dad immigrated to America, he was welcomed with open arms. Now we must secure the border so that we can welcome the next generation of legal immigrants who will lift us all up.