Pavlich: Mayorkas’ reckless invitation ensures border crisis is about to explode

Newly confirmed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas made his way to the White House Brady Briefing room for the first time this week and attempted to rewrite the history of President Donald Trump’s approach to illegal immigration.

“We are dedicated to achieving and, quite frankly, are working around the clock to replace the cruelty of the past administration with an orderly, humane, and safe immigration process. It is hard, and it will take time. But rest assured, we are going to get it done,” Mayorkas said. “Let me explain to you why it is hard and why it is going to take time. I think it is important to understand what we have inherited, because it defines the situation as it currently stands. Entire systems are not rebuilt in a day or in a few weeks. To put it succinctly, the prior administration dismantled our nation’s immigration system in its entirety.”

This is a common strategy in the Biden administration. Officials tasked with solving big problems, like vaccine distribution or an influx of unaccompanied minors, blame the Trump administration for the issue and then lower expectations on the outcome of their actions. He also claimed, when pressed by a reporter, that there is no current crisis.

“I think there is a challenge at the border we are managing,” Mayorkas said.

But the data, reporting and actions of the Biden administration over the past three weeks shows us there is in fact a crisis.

“The number of unaccompanied minors referred to the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement, the agency tasked with caring for them once they cross the border, climbed from 1,530 in October to 3,364 in December — a 120% jump,” USA Today reports. “The agency usually has 13,764 beds for the minors but only 7,971 are currently available because of COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. Of those, around 5,200 are occupied, leaving 2,700 open beds, according to the resettlement agency.”

The increase in unaccompanied minor arrivals has forced the Biden administration to open additional overflow facilities and new tent cities, which were called “concentration camps” and places of “human rights abuses” under President Trump’s tenure. Hypocrisy aside, the Biden administration is using the facilities because detention numbers have rapidly increased. If the pace continues, additional shelters will need to be constructed.

According to Customs and Border Protection, 13,000 unaccompanied minors are expected to cross in May alone. According to a report in Axios, Health and Human Services officials say the February numbers are the highest “numbers we’ve ever seen in the history of the [Unaccompanied Alien Child] program.”

Mayorkas just poured fuel on the fire.

“We are not saying don’t come, we’re saying don’t come now, because we will be able to deliver a safe and orderly process to them as quickly as possible,” Mayorkas said during the press briefing. “We are working around the clock, seven days a week to make that timeframe as short as possible.”

Not only will this approach cause an overwhelming crisis for the United States, it emboldens criminal trafficking organizations and violent drug cartels. It enables mass asylum abuse, an issue the Trump administration cut down on with the “Remain in Mexico” policy — which was repealed almost immediately through one of President Biden’s executive orders. The consequences for this language and abrupt policy changes will directly burden American communities, especially during a pandemic.

“A Democratic lawmaker representing a border district warned the Biden administration against easing up too much on unauthorized immigrants, citing their impact on his constituents, local hospitals and their potential to spread the coronavirus,” Axios reports. “Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) told Axios he supports President Biden. But the moderate said he sees the downsides of efforts to placate pro-immigrant groups, an effort that threatens to blow up on the administration.”

Mayorkas’ comments are a massive invitation. Don’t come now, but please come eventually, is open border policy. Further, the influx of tens-of-thousands of unaccompanied minors also sets up a crisis for the future. What happens when these children inevitably become teenagers and then adults? What will their legal status be then? Congress will need to come up with yet another DREAMER or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

There is a crisis at the border and with Mayorkas in charge, it’s about to explode.

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