‘This Is By Design, This Is Not Accidental’: Did Democrats Dismantle Border Security On Purpose?

Having spent years incentivizing illegal immigration, undermining enforcement, and demonizing ICE agents, Democrats are poised to campaign in the midterms as the guardians of border security. President Joe Biden surprised viewers earlier this year during his first State of the Union address, when he told the assembled members of Congress and the Supreme Court: “If we are to advance liberty and justice, we need to secure our border and fix the immigration system.” Now, it appears that the new immigration messaging has filtered down through the party’s ranks. Roll Call ran a story last Tuesday titled “Democrats emphasize border security as midterms loom.” It notes that Democrats in swing districts — such as Rep. Abigail Spanberger in Virginia’s seventh district or Rep. Elissa Slotkin in Michigan’s eighth district — now say they support increased border surveillance, either through technology (Slotkin) or by hiring more Border Patrol agents (Spanberger).

While the messaging has shifted, the substance of Biden’s open borders policies remains the same. One Border Patrol agent dismissed Biden’s newfound focus on immigration enforcement as “pandering 101.” Former acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, who is now a CEO at the America First Policy Institute, called Biden’s border talk “lip service” and reminded his readers that “the President may have forgotten he has authority to fix the crisis NOW.”