Pavlich: Dems set the standard on illegal immigration

Republican governors bearing the brunt of President Biden’s illegal immigration fiasco are fighting back by holding administration officials and Democrats accountable to their own standards. 

In August, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) started taking Democrats at their word and began sending immigrants to sanctuary cities. In particular, they made their way to Washington, D.C. 

“We celebrate our diversity and respect all DC residents no matter their immigration status. We are a sanctuary city because we know that our neighborhoods are safer and stronger when no one is afraid to call on our government for help, and when our police can focus on protecting and serving,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) wrote in 2016, reaffirming the nation’s capital as a sanctuary city. 

But as soon as the reality of resource limits crashed right into an unplanned influx of illegal immigration to the city, Bowser immediately changed her tune.

“We’re not a border town. We don’t have the infrastructure to handle this type of and level of immigration to our city,” Bowser said last week, ignorantly implying small Texas border towns have the resources to manage overwhelming and unrelenting illegal immigration. “We don’t have the ability. We’re not Texas.” 

Up the coastline, things came to a head when 50 migrants landed on Martha’s Vineyard last week after being sent by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). They were almost immediately whisked away by National Guard troops to a military installation. “We don’t have housing for 50 immigrants,” homeless shelter coordinator Lisa Belcastro told a local news station. “At some point in time, they have to move on from here to somewhere else.”

Caught flat-footed, the White House has failed to make a logical argument about why it’s appropriate for the Department of Homeland Security to transfer illegal immigrants to the interior of the country but inappropriate for governors to do the same. 

“The Department of Homeland Security plans to transport migrants awaiting immigration proceedings from U.S. cities along the southern border farther into the interior of the country, beginning with Los Angeles,” NBC News reported in June. “The plan would alleviate overcrowding along the border, where record numbers of border crossers have overwhelmed the capacity of shelters in some cities, at times leading Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, to release migrants on the street to fend for themselves.”

Laughably, liberal pundits and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) have accused Republican governors of “kidnapping,” for engaging in the very same transportation tactics as the Biden administration. However, there is a difference.

While the Biden administration has been flying planeloads of illegal immigrants to cities across the country for months, often in the middle of the night, Republican governors are doing it during the day for everyone to see. They’re sending them to sanctuary cities where people live with signs in their yards that say “Hate Has No Home Here,” “All Are Welcome,” and “No Human is Illegal.” Republican governors are simply holding Democrats accountable to their own standards while easing the illegal immigrant burden in their home states. 

Biden officials and Democrats are outraged over the arrival of migrants in places like Martha’s Vineyard, while serious and long-term threats to America’s security are arriving everyday.

New numbers from August show 12 individuals on the terrorism watchlist have been apprehended. In fiscal 2022, that number sits at 78 and doesn’t include how many exist in the 500,000 illegal immigrants who got away from authorities and disappeared undetected into American cities. What are their plans? How do they plan to spend their time?  

There are basic solutions to this problem and “comprehensive immigration reform” is not one of them. President Biden could stem the flow of illegal immigration almost immediately by reimplementing Title 42, the “Remain in Mexico” policy and by working with Congress to raise the bar for claiming asylum, which is being greatly abused and fueling the current crisis. 

The White House continues to accuse Republican governors of engaging in “political stunts” while President Biden is engaged in his own politics. The open border policies promoted by Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas are in place to satisfy a far-left base. It’s also based on the Biden principle of reversing all Trump policies, regardless of their efficacy. Until this position changes, Republicans should continue to force Democratic jurisdictions to bear the burden of Biden’s destructive border positions. 

Pavlich is the editor for Townhall.com and a Fox News contributor.