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US Customs and Border Protection officials allege a drastic increase in immigration under Biden

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PHOTO CREDITS: CNN

Officials from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection warn that a Biden administration may lead to a drastic increase of immigration at the Southwest border that far exceeds current levels.

“The numbers are going up for one reason: because of the Biden effect,” said former acting Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan. Official data shows that illegal entries at the southern border have spiked from 17,000 in April to 70,000 in November. Homan added that if the Democrat “does away” with Department of Homeland Security mechanisms like “Title 42 and [the] Remain in Mexico program,” as is expected, “then we’re back to a surge in.”

Title 42 allows CBP to send people back to Mexico immediately after they’re caught illegally crossing the border instead of holding them in detention first, while the Remain in Mexico program forces prospective immigrants to stay in Mexico oftentimes for months before their case is considered by a U.S. judge. “[If] those valves are just turned on completely, you will see a global crisis within a couple of weeks,” CBP acting Commissioner Mark Morgan told reporters in a conference call on Monday (Newsmax).

The uptick threatens Biden’s promises to propose amnesty legislation and to adopt policies that defer deportation and allow applicants to await amnesty decisions in the US. The Wall Street Journal reports the transition team “has grown concerned” and is “trying to decide which policies to change and when” to avoid “creating the appearance of leniency.”

The number of unaccompanied minors and families detained at the border is rising and experts say they expect numbers to grow further. “I don’t see any recipe that doesn’t have them as overwhelmed as we were in ’14 and ’18,” former Border Patrol acting director Ron Vitiello told the Journal. The Journal reports 4,630 minors were detained in October, up from 712 in April. The rate grew in November, with 1,000 minors in just six days. There’s a similar increase in family units, up to 4,501 in October from 716 in April.

Immigration was a major campaign issue, with Biden and President Trump swapping allegations of treating illegal immigrants and asylum seekers inhumanely. “Who built the cages, Joe?” Trump repeatedly inquired at the final presidential debate. Biden said last month he will propose a bill in his first 100 days in office that offers a pathway to citizenship “for over 11 million undocumented people,” or the approximate total number of illegal immigrants in the US, creating a possible scramble to the border.

He also has vowed to end Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy, forcing Central American migrants to stay in Mexico while the US reviews their asylum claims. Under President Barack Obama, border officials struggled in 2014 with a surge in unaccompanied minors. Some were drawn by hoped-for future expansion of the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which offers work permits and protection from deportation for people brought illegally to the US as children.

Some photos of the children detained in 2014 were used by media outlets to criticize Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ “zero tolerance” policy for illegal crossings. While Biden was vice president, Obama was derisively called the “deporter in chief” by left-wing immigration activists. Trump, who campaigned against illegal immigration and built a large new border wall, lagged behind Obama in annual deportation figures (NY Post).

POLITICS EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE

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