Border

The second Trump administration tends to characterize those who have illegally crossed the southern US border as drug dealers, criminals and rapists. That is, of course, exaggeration, but it is no more a fiction than is the alternative belief, common among liberals, that all migrants are desperate people fleeing for their lives, who cannot possibly be expected to live in their home countries and are utterly dependent on making it to America in order to survive. If that were true, illegal migration would be little to worry about and good for the soul – and indeed the economic well-being – of America.

There is never a dull moment in the second, more cheerful reign of Donald Trump. I am writing from London, but was in France last week, picking my way through various battlefields and cemeteries in and around Verdun, Bastogne (think “Easy Company” and “Battle of the Bulge”), and Reims. Well-informed readers will know, as I did not, that “Reims” is not pronounced as its letters might suggest but rather as a nasalized “Reince.” I have always associated the place with champagne, and I am pleased to say that the city capitalizes on the association. But one point of interest had nothing to do with that magical elixir. Reims was also the location of General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters at the end of World War II.

President Donald Trump is making quick work of his first week in office, signing a flurry of executive orders on everything ranging from the southern border to abolishing diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs for much of the federal workforce.Starting this week, Trump wants “radical and wasteful” DEI offices to be placed on paid leave, according to a memo issued by the Office of Personnel Management. “President Trump campaigned on ending the scourge of DEI from our federal government and returning America to a merit-based society,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said of the move.

President Joe Biden announced an executive order this week that he claims will “help us to gain control of our border, restore order to the process” by banning migrants from seeking asylum if they cross the border illegally. At first glance, this seems like a welcome move to reduce a major pull factor for illegal crossings, even if it flies in the face of Biden’s claim in January that he had “done all I can do” on the border.As always, though, the devil is in the details. First, the limitations on asylum seekers only kick in once illegal crossings exceed 2,500 per day, which is nearly 1 million per year. As Ammon Blair, a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation told me, Biden is going to “meter the invasion.

Washington makes a fundamental error when it sees the present border crisis as an immigration problem, rather than the national security problem it has become under President Biden. For border states such as Texas, which bear the brunt of the situation, it’s also becoming a constitutional problem. In January, the US Supreme Court vacated an injunction prohibiting the feds from cutting razor wire that Texas had placed across a 2.5-mile stretch of border near the town of Eagle Pass. Governor Greg Abbott responded by asserting his state’s fundamental right to self-defense in the face of federal inaction, citing constitutional authority.

During a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, comedian Louis C.K. stated a position that many on the left believe but are unwilling to admit: America should open its borders to the world. “My feeling is they should open the border,” he explained. “Just let everybody pour in… Then there will be all these problems, well, there should be. It shouldn’t be so great here. It is a weird thing to sequester a certain group of people and keep upping their lifespan and their lifestyle.” As someone who's spent most of his journalistic career railing against mass immigration, my initial reaction was one of scorn.

Cockburn knows we've all been there before. You're off on an innocent slosh through the Rio Grande River on the US-Mexican border when suddenly a posse of yodeling Border Patrol agents on horseback gallops up and starts attacking you with bullwhips. Such was the outrage of the day 24,000 outrages ago when images appeared to show mounted government agents riding after Haitian immigrants illegally trying to enter the country. The agents were holding their reins, which the left promptly portrayed as whips, all but accusing the men of being Indiana Jones wannabes. The episode was blamed on racism, xenophobia, Donald Trump, who was no longer president. Joe Biden said the agents "will pay." Kamala Harris invoked scenes of slaves being flogged.

The sheer number of useless interventions that have been touted as offering a solution to the cross-Channel migrants crisis is bewildering. Various rounds of talks with France about heightened cooperation to make the route non-viable; paying large sums of money to France to fund beach patrols; appointing a cross-Channel Clandestine Threat Commander; threatening to 'call in' the Royal Navy; threatening to turn back overladen boats in the world’s busiest shipping lane; pressuring social media platforms to prevent successful landers from sharing videos of themselves looking happy and triumphant that supposedly create a pull factor for others; even a direct prime ministerial interview to camera promising 'we will send you back'.

Whew! If not now, when? As Ronald Reagan asked in another context. Maybe — as those of us closer to the situation; e.g., Texans, view it — not for a period stretching to the crack of doom. Democratic whips tell leaders of their party’s would-be juggernaut, ready to ride those vicious Republicans into the moist soil of Washington DC, that the votes just plain aren’t there. New strategies may be pursued — for instance, passing the plan in chunks, instead of as a single, sizzling dish. The trouble is that the Biden plan, whose aim is to sweep illegal immigrants and asylum into the American system with scarce thought for potential consequences, is seen as enjoying stunted appeal. Why would that be?  One obvious answer is that — like the $1.

Throughout the pandemic, Britain has taken a relatively relaxed approach to controlling its borders. Restrictions on travel have come and gone since last March, but, on the whole, Britain has always leaned towards openness. The government has trusted people to make sensible judgements and follow quarantine rules upon return. Now attitudes have shifted. This afternoon, Home Secretary Priti Patel laid out the details of the government’s new, quasi-Australia style quarantine policy. Arrivals from 22 ‘high-risk’ areas will soon be forced to quarantine in a hotel when they arrive in Britain. There will be no exceptions to the rule, and travellers must stay put for ten days, even if they test negative for Covid-19.

‘This country has not only left the European Union but on January 1 we will take back full control of our money, our borders and our laws,’ said Boris Johnson in October last year. The transition period is now over; we are out of the single market and customs union, which means freedom of movement of people is at an end. The UK has total control over its borders (other than the one on the island of Ireland, but let’s not go there today). So it is worth asking why the government is choosing not to exercise this right in anything approaching an appropriate manner at present, particularly when such a power is obviously of use given the harrowing Covid situation.

In case you missed the memo, it's now illegal to cross the border to Scotland unless you have a 'reasonable excuse' that meets the First Minister's requirements. Nicola Sturgeon's new law – which limits the number of people who can travel from England to Scotland – is said to be aimed at protecting public health north of the border.  Luckily Sturgeon has her close allies on standby to support her in policing this new restriction. Step forward Ian Blackford. The SNP's leader in Westminster is so devoted to the cause that he has even taken to social media to look out for those who may have fallen foul.