The net taxpayer cost of services for illegal immigrants is $150.7 billion, while 35,000 American Veterans remain homeless.
“The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respectable Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations and Religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges, if by decency and propriety of conduct they appear to merit the enjoyment.”
George Washington (1783)
Joe Biden recently joked, “I’m supposedly an expert on foreign policy.” But as Nate Jackson noted this week, “We’re a long way past laughing at this clown of a commander-in-chief after his supposed expertise resulted in the deaths of three American service members.” Those soldiers were killed in Jordan by an Iran-backed militant group (read: by Iran) last weekend.
All the Biden parrots at DoD got the memo, repeating, “We will respond at a time and in a manner of our choosing.” For his part, ailing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “The President and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces, and we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our troops and our interests.”
Apparently, Biden and Austin are very tolerant, given there have been more than 170 attacks on American forces in recent months. Recall that two Navy SEALs died earlier this month in a raid to seize Iranian weapons bound for their Houthi surrogates.
Biden’s weakness has been deadly, but it is getting deadlier by the day.
Donald Trump responded kindly: “This brazen attack on the United States is yet another horrific and tragic consequence of Joe Biden’s weakness and surrender. This attack would never have happened if I was president, not even a chance. Just like the Iranian backed Hamas attack on Israel would never have happened. The war in Ukraine would never have happened, and we would right now have peace throughout the world. Instead, we are on the brink of World War III.”
I don’t often credit Trump with a measured response, but this one seemed understated.
Indeed, as you know, Biden’s surrender and retreat from Afghanistan in 2021 resulted in the deaths of 13 American troops. He responded with a bungled drone strike that killed 10 innocent people.
His Afghan withdrawal not only empowered Iran’s aggression through its surrogates, al-Qa’ida, the Islamic State, and other jihadi terrorists, but it emboldened Vladimir Putin to march into Ukraine — and on the other side of the world, the ChiComs are ready to seize Taiwan.
Trump effectively kept America’s enemies in their respective rat holes, though his “rhetorical style” was somewhat unorthodox.
Indeed, Trump took on China and Russia (despite the fallacious “Russia collusion, and he rightly rejected the Obama/Biden Iran nuke deal.
China and Russia cowered. When Iran got out of line, Trump ordered the vaporization of Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Mohande. They got back in their hole.
Anyone who does not credit Trump with his foreign policy successes is suffering from chronic TDS.
As for Biden’s plethora of failed national security strategies, errantly thinking appeasement deters tyrants, he — and America — may end up in a Middle East war he thought he was avoiding. American “boots on the ground” won’t be avoided if Biden’s Middle East crisis continues down this path.
So, let me tell you what else would not be happening if Trump were still president.
Under Trump, our southern border was well on its way to being secure for the first time in decades, and his resolve to keep it that way is unflinching.
But December 2023 was a benchmark for Biden’s failed border security and immigration policies, as there were more than 300,000 illegal immigrants surging into our country.
For 34 straight months, the monthly encounter totals by the Border Patrol have been higher than the highest month under the Trump administration.
More than 8.7 million illegal immigrants have invaded our nation since Biden took office. This includes the seven million illegal immigrants that Customs and Border Protection has officially encountered and CBP’s estimated 1.7 million known gotaways. That number evading capture is likely much higher, but who’s counting?
Accelerating the border invasion, Biden implemented what amounts to a de facto amnesty program in which tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who actually show up for court are released. More than 5,000 illegal immigrants are being released daily, in excess of 900,000 in 2023.
There were 169 people on the U.S. terror watchlist captured at the southern border in FY 2023, which blew away 2022’s all-time record of 98 bad guys.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security investigators estimate that Mexican cartels are now collecting $13 billion annually for their human smuggling operations, and billions more for the tons of deadly “Made in China” fentanyl that cartels continue to mule across the border, along with violent gang members to assist with distribution across our nation.
Those drugs are responsible for more than five times as many American deaths as those who are murdered by assailants using firearms — but Biden’s crusade against firearms gets 1,000 times the Leftmedia attention. Apparently, outlawing illegal gun use is as effective as outlawing illegal drug use — maybe because only law-abiding citizens abide by the law.
And regarding violence, while Republicans have yet to implement a national database of violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants, we certainly highlight the most heinous of those assaults. Let me say again what I have been pleading with House and Senate leaders to implement for years: Republicans should demand from DHS and the FBI a national database of violent assaults and murders committed by illegal aliens so there can be some accountability for the toll resulting from Biden’s open border.
Speaking of accountability, here is a close estimate of the cost of Biden’s open border to taxpayers every year, according to analysis by FAIR: “At the start of 2023, the net cost of illegal immigration for the United States — at the federal, state, and local levels — was at least $150.7 billion.” Analysts arrived at that number by subtracting the tax revenue paid by illegal aliens (under $32 billion) from the gross negative economic impact of illegal immigration, $182 billion. FAIR notes that these are conservative numbers because a large percentage of illegal aliens who work in the underground economy mostly avoid paying any income tax at all.
Notably, the taxpayer burden of those costs is escalating rapidly.
Consider this: At the same time Biden is piling that $150.7 billion onto the backs of American taxpayers, the Veterans Administration estimates that last year there were 35,574 homeless American Veterans.
How did we get here?
Remember when Democrats were against open borders before they were for them?
Barack Obama insisted: “We are a nation of laws. Undocumented workers broke our immigration laws, and I believe that they must be held accountable. When I took office, I committed to fixing this broken immigration system and began to do what I could to secure our borders. Today, our immigration system is broken, and everybody knows it.”
And his VP Biden declared: “It makes sense that no great nation can be in a position where they can’t control their borders. It matters how you control your borders … not just for immigration, but for drugs, terror, a whole range of other things. … I have been arguing for more protection at the borders.”
Hillary Clinton said: “We need to do more to provide border security this side of Mexico. … We have to send a clear message that just because your child gets across the border, that doesn’t mean the child gets to stay. We don’t want to send a message that is contrary to our laws.”
Both Hillary and Bill Clinton were once staunch advocates for a border wall. (Watch Bill Clinton on “illegal aliens.”)
But the day Biden entered office in January 2021, he began issuing 94 executive actions on immigration, most notably an order halting all construction of southern border protection walls, which had been initiated by Trump.
A brief review of the wording of that proclamation is instructive given the border invasion Biden has orchestrated.
It begins, “Like every nation, the United States has a right and a duty to secure its borders and protect its people against threats.”
However, it continues: “My administration is committed to ensuring that the United States has a comprehensive and humane immigration system that operates consistently with our nation’s values. In furtherance of that commitment, I have determined that the declaration of a national emergency [by Trump] at our southern border in Proclamation 9844 of February 15, 2019, was unwarranted. It shall be the policy of my administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall. I am also directing a careful review of all resources appropriated or redirected to construct a southern border wall.”
Biden then discontinued Trump’s successful “Remain in Mexico” policy.
A few months later, Biden inadvertently made reference to the “border crisis,” which his White House puppeteers quickly walked back. Of course, Biden is a political gaffe machine, accidentally telling the truth when he is not saying something mind-numbingly stupid like, “You know, the thing.”
Since he entered office, Biden’s congressional cadres have repeatedly blocked border wall funding and voted against enforcement of immigration laws, including enabling local and state law enforcement cooperation with federal agents to track illegal immigrants.
That resulted in the latest dustup between Biden and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, whose efforts to use state resources have been decreed illegal by Biden’s DoJ hacks, resulting now in a significant states’ rights constitutional challenge.
Biden’s Demos have bolstered their support for sanctuary cities, even sending stimulus checks to illegal immigrants.
Meanwhile, the aforementioned Gov. Abbott has brilliantly exported more than 100,000 illegal immigrants attempting to settle in Texas, sending them to so-called sanctuary cities. The virtue-signaling Demos were unprepared. (Recall the Demo panic after Gov. Ron DeSantis flew illegal immigrants to Obama’s wealthy island retreat, Martha’s Vineyard, resulting in much protest from the resident rich and famous.)
Biden’s Demos have voted against hiring more border agents and funding critical drug enforcement operations on the border. And they have voted against deporting convicted felons while voting to support allowing illegal immigrant criminals to become permanent residents.
Oh, but Demos can pivot faster than a Muhammad Ali shuffle.
Apparently, now that Biden claims he is serious about his 2024 campaign, he checked his polling here, and here, and in disbelief here, and they all indicated the same thing: “YOU SUCK AT YOUR JOB!”
So what to do? Pivot.
This week, Biden is claiming that last week’s “secure border” is now a “border crisis,” saying, “I instructed my team to begin negotiations with a bipartisan group of senators to seriously, and finally, address the border crisis.” He even declared he would “shut down the border right now” if given new powers by Congress.
His sidekick, Karine Jean-Pierre, insisted, “The president is very clear: He wants to make sure that we deal with … border security.”
I know, you thought his sidekick was former administration “border czar” Kamala Harris, but she is now Biden’s “AI czar,” which makes sense given she is a figment of AI imagination.
Yeah, please add one of those “rolling on the floor laughing” emojis!
But this pivot is a trap, and we all know that Biden leads the Demo cavalry of “lying dog-faced pony soldiers.” He is a master of the art of the “Big Lie.”
Biden and his leftist cadres are pretending they want to work with Republicans for secure border legislation, despite the obvious. As political analyst Matthew Continetti observes, “Biden’s fundamental [border] problem is that he’s asking for a congressional solution to a problem created by the executive.” More to the point, House Speaker Mike Johnson asks rhetorically: “The Obama administration detained 82% of illegal aliens. How do we go from detaining 82% to releasing 85%? It only happens if this is by design.”
But caveat emptor…Demos are using the word “crisis” to describe the border so they can blame-shift to Republican “negotiators” all the border problems, with the help of their Leftmedia talkingheads and scribes. Meanwhile, Biden supporters are so abjectly ignorant that they will buy that canard. Let’s see if he can pull it off.
Our house editorial policy is, “Don’t swap spit with a jackass,” and Republicans are swapping spit with jackasses.
Fact is, Demos only care about poor immigrants to the extent their votes can be bought. And the bulk of working illegal immigrants are young males, fresh blood for the Demo union bosses, which is to say millions of additional votes for Demos. And they will perpetuate that voter base by claiming so-called “birthright citizenship” for their children.
Looking again at Washington’s immigrant “welcome … if by decency and propriety of conduct they appear to merit the enjoyment,” illegal entry into our country negates that welcome.
Finally, given the masses Biden has invited across our southern border, please ask all your Demo voter family and friends to put out their Biden/Harris 2024 signs so illegal immigrants will know where to stop for free food and shelter. Be sure to thank them for their cooperation!
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776
