The Patriot Post® · The Illegal Immigration Nightmare

Whenever there is a party-changing U.S. presidential election, we hear the same story. The incoming president grouses incessantly about the messes he inherited, while the outgoing president insists that he had everything running like a Swiss watch. As a rule, they’re both exaggerating — just politics as usual.

But there is no doubt about the nightmare of a four-year wide-open southern border that allowed tens of millions of migrants to enter our country illegally. The migrant invasion during the Biden years stands as a true catastrophe for the nation and a wholly self-inflicted wound.

The border was opened intentionally and with great fanfare by President Joe Biden the day he was inaugurated in 2021 via executive orders canceling his predecessor’s border control measures and establishing new policies and practices. It is generally estimated that in the following four years, 10-12 million (and perhaps as many as 20 million) unvetted migrants from about 80 different countries have taken up residence in the U.S. No doubt, most are peace-loving — but some clearly are not, as evidenced by the extensive violence, gang activity, and human trafficking at their hands.

Rectifying our border security mess was Donald Trump’s top campaign priority, and he has attacked it with characteristic intensity. But it is a daunting challenge that includes two distinct tasks: first, plugging the leaks in our 2,000-mile southern border, and then dealing with the millions of illegal aliens now living throughout the nation.

On job #1, Trump’s success has been spectacular. Through the first three months of his administration, the daily ingress has averaged less than a hundred a day, down from 10,000 per day through much of the Biden administration.

They did it the old-fashioned way — strong leadership and a well-trained team following the law, backed by the chief executive making it clear to prospective entrants that they would not be permitted to stay. And in so doing, they put to rest the Democrat myth that the border could not be sealed without new legislation and that Republican opposition to such legislation in 2024 was a major cause of the Biden-era illegal immigration flood.

But important as closing the border was, that was just the easy part. The task ahead — identifying, locating, apprehending, and deporting the many millions of illegal entrants who rushed through that porous border and are now dispersed from coast to coast — is a mind-bending proposition.

Public opinion on the matter is pretty clear. Nearly all Americans favor deporting illegal aliens who commit crimes, and most on the Right believe that all who entered our country illegally should be deported. Trump evidently feels that way too, and he implies — albeit vaguely — that’s what he’s going to do.

He started the right way. Trump’s “worst, first” campaign targeting the violent criminal element of the illegal immigrant population was overwhelmingly popular. Border Czar Tom Homan pursued it with pit bull intensity, reportedly removing from our country over 100,000 in his first three months.

But like so many Trump initiatives, the high-energy start feels great, but we’re never sure where it’s going. In this case, “worst, first” makes good sense, but what’s his plan for the “not-as-bad” illegals (for example, those alleged to have a nonviolent criminal background) who will be tougher to find and who pose a lower threat to the nation? And how about the “everyone-else” illegals, including gainfully employed workers, family units, and people who pose a low risk/low burden to Americans and in many cases are valuable additions to our country?

The hard reality is that there’s no way that all or most of the 12 million (or 20 million) illegals admitted to our country by the previous administration will be deported anytime soon. Doing so is neither feasible nor sensible, for several reasons:

1.) It will take forever (and cost a fortune). At the rate of 100,000 per three months (the Homan rate), it would take 30 years to deport 12 million migrants. Yes, we could expand ICE into a vast army of alien deportation agents, but is that truly in our national interest? Self-deportation may make a small dent in the number to be deported, and with additional incentives, such as a defined path for legal reentry, perhaps a bigger dent. But even under the most favorable circumstances, reversing the Biden flood through deportation is a long-term proposition.

2.) There are legitimate legal obstacles to accelerated mass deportation. The U.S. Constitution (Fifth and 14th Amendments) guarantees due process protection to all “persons” — not just U.S. citizens — within U.S. jurisdiction. While it may seem absurd that our nation can admit illegal immigrants by the millions without so much as a hint of attention from the courts but must provide the opportunity for thorough individual legal defense before sending any one of those millions back home, evidently, that is the case.

Ah, but what constitutes sufficient due process to justify deportation? Legal opinions vary, and legal challenges are likely to bog down any Trump administration initiative to effect rapid, mass deportation.

3.) Commitment to those seeking asylum. Our nation offers the opportunity for migrants fleeing religious or other persecution in their home countries to seek protection here. That principle is innately American — many of our Founders made the perilous journey to our shores for expressly that purpose. We welcome the chance to continue in that spirit.

The problem is that in our zeal to make America a haven for those in danger of persecution, we’ve made it relatively easy for migrants to seek such protection. Migrants have learned that, regardless of individual circumstance, the surefire way to secure a foothold in the U.S. is to ask for asylum. Over three million Biden-era illegal migrants have already applied for asylum, more are likely, and the asylum assessment process, with appeals, can take six years or longer.

4.) It would be a PR train wreck. The Kilmar Abrego Garcia flap is instructive, a tiny tip of the iceberg. Garcia is hardly a poster child for the lovable “Maryland dad” image spun by the Left, but his dilemma has captured the sympathy of Americans on all sides. The American public may want the faceless mass of illegals to be deported, but they will react emotionally when they are real people with names, families, friends, and neighbors.

5.) Ethical considerations. The simple fact is that our nation is complicit in the illegal immigration mess. We did it intentionally, leaving the door open, the lights on, and making it clear by our actions that once a migrant sets foot on our soil, he/she would be allowed to stay. We’ve now seen the error of our ways — the 2024 election results made that clear — but it would be irresponsible in my view to turn our backs on the migrants we invited in on the basis of: “too bad, that was the last crowd — they’re gone now.”

Yes, some came here with malicious intent, but many others took the bait and came here, at the expense of substantial hardship and personal risk, in simple pursuit of the American Dream. Under no circumstances should we reward them (or the politicians who lured them) with a path to citizenship. Yet some kind of well-defined, conditional, and enforceable residency status seems more reasonable — and much more viable — than kicking them all out the door.

What now? First and foremost, the president must set a clear policy with a well-defined and realistically achievable end game and then put in motion the steps needed to achieve it, including legislative actions and judicial (perhaps at the Supreme Court level) endorsement. Trump inherited this sprawling, messy situation, but now he owns it. It demands proactive leadership — if he fails to define it, it will define him, quite possibly in all the wrong ways.