America's Immigration Crisis, Due to Biden's Failed Policy

CNBC just put out a video on the problems migrants are causing as cities struggle to deal with new immigrants being dropped on their doorsteps. Even many of the cities that opened their arms to welcome these people want the government to halt the inflow. Coupled with this are calls for Washington to send money to help these cities out. Today, major cities like New York, Denver, and Chicago are finding themselves under extreme financial pressure and not getting the federal funding or assistance needed to cope with the inflow. All this has many Americans saying, enough is enough. The big question is how and when will this end.

 Even some of those formerly advocating the loosening of immigration standards and open borders are coming to a place where they are untenable. Sadly, with the flow of more immigrants has come a slew of problems. Part of the problem is that many of the people streaming over our borders are not workers, this inflow includes people needing expensive healthcare and criminals. Yes, with the good come the bad unless restrictions are in place. More people are not the answer to crafting a strong economy, quality is far more important than quantity.

Remember, this immigration fiasco is occurring while American citizens are forced to stand in long lines with passports in hand. Anyone who has traveled knows you can't just walk into any country without any questions asked. All this highlights the fact that immigration has been an issue for decades and not properly addressing it will not make it go away. A reasonable solution to solving our immigration problems has eluded both Republicans and Democrats time and time again and reduced those caught within the system into political pawns.

America's Immigration System Is Broken

The debate over immigration, processing new arrivals, and addressing millions of undocumented immigrants, receives plenty of press but most of our immigration problems lurk below the radar. The point is that we should be careful what we wish for. In our complicated world, there are often pros and cons for every issue. The ongoing migrant crisis is unprecedented and is hitting countries across the world. Here in America, it is impacting not only the border states but is reaching deep within the country.

Even small businesses in my state, far from the border, are required to confirm a worker is legal to work. This is a bit ridiculous for small firms with only a few workers, all from their own family and people they have known since birth, but that's the law. The comment section of the CNBC video is full of opinions on how opening the border is impacting America. Since these people are flooding to cities, that is where most problems are apparent. Several of the themes revolve around things like, "As a Chicagoan, my city is being ruined." People from New York and Denver are also echoing the same message and crying about what Texas has dealt with 100 times over.

Trump's Politically Divisive Border Wall  

Immigration is the crux of the issue and Trump's so-called wall became an emotionally divisive symbol that took our eyes off the real problem. America's immigration policy is a costly mess. Like it or not, those in charge of such things as controlling our borders are letting immigration reshape the world. This is happening far faster than most people can imagine. Let's call a spade a spade, immigration mainly benefits those entering a country and not the country's current residents. Otherwise, countries would have to pay people to come rather than build fences to keep them out.

Washington has been playing games and politics with America's immigration policy for years it has been a political football. The immigration system is badly broken and fixing it is easier said than done. A huge part of the problem stems from the fact most people can not agree on exactly what kind of immigration system we should have. To many Americans, the key issue is how open the borders should be and who should be allowed to enter. Now Washington's inaction is coming back to haunt us.  

Tens of billions of dollars are wasted each year on this costly inefficient system according to an article published by the American Action Forum way back in April of 2015. The article explored the cost of a broken immigration system on American business. The fact is that when the American Action Forum (AAF) analyzed the total costs of the immigration system, they found close to $30 billion in annual regulatory compliance costs. It hardly takes a rocket scientist to determine that reducing the number of people "illegally" entering the country would save billions of dollars and allow the system to function better even in its current poorly crafted form.

A lot more of our political attention should be focused on the broken bureaucratic apparatus that comprises our current immigration system. While we spend hundreds of billions of dollars on this and that in overall cost the wall Trump proposed now seems a rather puny amount. This is confirmed by figures that show merely doing away with making and handling the penny America would save enough to pay for a border wall. Of course, none of this is a solution to the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals (DACA) situation. Loading millions of people on buses and deporting them will never happen. At the same time, those wanting more open borders should realize the current situation does not work either.

Washington should step away from the "emotional" aspects of immigration such as flowery debates about the rights of people and what they "deserve" and focus on the key issues of restoring a functioning government and getting on with real immigration reform. In the overall scheme of things considering America's multi-trillion dollar budget, the 5.7 billion dollars requested for the wall is peanuts. In truth, it is easy to see how America will get a good economic return on money spent on a barrier that works 24/7 year after year. Most taxpayers, if asked, would see this as a far better investment than paying government workers to stay home, as we did during the last government shutdown.

 

Footnote; The article above contains several links due to the fact parts of this issue have been the focus of prior AdvancingTime posts. It is important to understand that immigration policies determine the future of a country and its "way of life."

 

(Republishing of this article welcomed with reference to Bruce Wilds/AdvancingTime Blog)