John Davidson, the political editor for conservative-leaning outlet The Federalist, said Tuesday that the “root causes” of immigration to the U.S. from Central America have “always” existed, but that President Biden’s immigration policies have fueled a surge in migrant border crossings.
In an interview on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Davidson pushed back on Vice President Harris’s initiatives to address the “root causes” migration from the Northern Triangle countries, including limited economic opportunities, with the editor arguing that focusing solely on these factors is “a little bit intellectually dishonest.”
“There are always going to be root causes in terms of the push factors that are pushing people to leave their countries,” Davidson argued. “Central America has always had the problems that it’s facing today, and so those factors will always be there.”
The political editor went on to say that “what’s different and why we saw a sudden surge in illegal immigration as soon as Biden was sworn into office is because the pull factors, the policies that we put into place here, do make a difference to people when they’re determining whether or not to make that dangerous journey north. ”
“The policies Biden put in place triggered a surge in illegal immigration, and that surge is continuing now,” he added, noting that they could continue to increase with current pandemic travel restrictions set to expire soon.
Watch part of Davidson’s interview above.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.