A former Border Patrol chief calls out Biden’s border disorder

Surrounded by two oceans, the United States’ geographical advantage makes it impossible to invade — or so we have been led to believe.

However, as I write this, the country is being invaded by Chinese migrants. More specifically, it's being invaded by young, military-age men from China. During the fiscal year 2023, at least 24,000 Chinese migrants, predominantly falling within the military age bracket, entered the United States illegally through the porous southern border.

To truly address the border crisis, the first step requires the expedited removal of Joe Biden from the White House.

It gets worse.

As recently retired Border Patrol Chief Chris Clem told me, the invasion must be viewed through a wider lens. “It is alarming when you see that [young, military-age men] are coming from countries around the globe that we do not have the best relationship or policies with,” Clem said.

Clem knows the border better than just about anyone. He served his country for close to 30 years, first in El Paso, Texas, and finally in Yuma, Arizona. He’s worried about what’s happening now.

“There is a saying that men only leave their families behind when they are going to war,” Clem said. “So I am concerned that we do not know their intentions.”

Clem’s warnings come at a time when the United States finds itself overwhelmed by illegal immigration. In December, for example, the number of illegal border crossings reached 250,000, marking a 31% increase from November’s figure of 119,112 and a 13% rise from December 2022.

The issue goes beyond just the astounding numbers of people overwhelming the border. Drug trafficking, particularly deadly fentanyl, remains a pressing concern. Human trafficking, too, as federal authorities warn of a growing presence of criminals and terrorists among those crossing illegally.

And the crisis is expensive. The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates illegal immigration costs U.S. taxpayers at least $151 billion to cover services and benefits.

The current administration’s recklessness endangers the lives of every American. This is an issue that should concern all of us, regardless of party affiliation. It is a crisis that transcends petty partisanship.

In his recent State of the Union address, Joe Biden discussed the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. Although he got her name wrong, Biden correctly labeled the Venezuelan man charged with Riley’s murder as an “illegal.” Biden sent his sympathies to the family of the victim.

Riley’s family could be forgiven for rejecting Biden’s apologies.

After all, this is a man who continues to extend sanctuary city policies, which have been shown to “attract criminals and lower the opportunity cost of crime.” When discussing the border crisis, it's difficult to underestimate just how dangerous and disastrous the current administration is.

The Biden administration since March 2023 has authorized covert flights that transported hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens from foreign airports to 43 American locations. These flights were all preapproved through a mobile application. These are not the actions of a president concerned with the safety of its citizens.

The crisis at the border can be traced back to the Obama administration, which expanded the criteria for asylum by instructing the U.S. immigration courts to recognize domestic violence and gang-related crimes as forms of “persecution.” As Clem has noted elsewhere, this was a major error, because it allowed more and more people to exploit the “credible fear” claim.

Growing up in a poor neighborhood may be unfortunate, but it is not a form of persecution. Under the Obama administration, however, the very definition of the word “persecution” changed.

To his credit, Donald Trump in 2019 unveiled a fresh policy that mandated asylum-seekers to seek asylum in the first safe country they entered — like Mexico, for example, which offers protection to anyone with legitimate fears of returning to their homeland.

But in 2021, the Biden administration dismantled the “remain in Mexico” policy.

Since Biden took office, roughly 2 million “gotaways” have entered the United States. As with the thousands of military-age Chinese males, we have no idea who these people or what their intentions might be.

“As it pertains to border security and immigration,” said a clearly concerned Clem, “we must continue what we started and the current administration halted, and that is securing the border.”

Clem believes that the United States must “finish building the wall where it makes operational sense.” But Biden did more than just stop building the wall. He halted the installation of new technology and surveillance systems and, crucially, cut back on deportations.

Reintroducing “strong consequences for illegal entry” is a must, Clem said. That means “detention, prosecution, and expedited removals.”

“If we send a clear message that you will be detained, removed if you cross illegally, that the only way into the U.S. is through the lawful applicable policies and pathways, it could reduce the number of people attempting to make the journey,” Clem told me.

The current administration, however, is sending the very opposite message to outsiders: Bienvenidos. Come on in. To truly address the border crisis, then, the first step requires the expedited removal of Joe Biden from the White House.