When Slogans Replace Judgment, Part Two

“America was built by immigrants.”

It is one of the most familiar lines in American political debate. And it is true. Immigrants have helped build this country, fuel its industries, strengthen its communities, and enrich its culture.

But we must distinguish immigration from what America experienced under the Biden-Harris administration and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas: a border crisis marked by extraordinary numbers of encounters, widespread unlawful crossings, and policies that fundamentally changed how the government managed migration.

These are not the same thing.

Celebrating immigrants who came through lawful pathways does not require defending unlawful entry, ineffective enforcement, or policies that fail to protect the public. America's immigrant heritage is worth celebrating, not treating as a blank check for government policy.

America recorded approximately 2.5 million encounters at the southwest border in fiscal year 2023, a record annual total at the time. Encounters are not the same as successful unlawful entries, but the scale of the crisis and the consequences of the administration's policy choices demanded serious scrutiny. It's expanded entry pathways and humanitarian parole policies also generated significant legal and political disputes. Where executive actions exceeded statutory authority, they deserved to be challenged. Where enforcement failed, the failures deserved examination.

Instead, the Biden-Harris administration weaponized America's goodwill against the American people. It invoked our identity as a nation of immigrants to defend policies that fueled a border crisis, then used accusations of racism and xenophobia to discredit those who challenged them. It turned compassion into a political weapon and patriotism into something to........

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