Suddenly, Joe Biden is too tough on immigration
Iowa politicians change their tune
When Democratic politicians complained about illegal immigrants flooding their cities, right-wingers did a lot of chortling.
So much for sanctuary cities, they cried.
Liberals only care about immigrant rights when states like Texas and Arizona shoulder the costs.
Once it was Chicago and New York that felt the pinch, only then did they complain. What hypocrites.
Or so the argument went.
Well, now those Democrats have some company: Iowa Republicans.
After months of demanding that the Biden administration crack down on the border, members of the state’s congressional delegation and Gov. Kim Reynolds are now complaining Biden is being too aggressive.
On Monday, US Customs and Border Protection temporarily suspended rail crossings in El Paso and Eagle Pass, Texas, because of a resurgence of smuggling operations moving migrants through Mexico via freight trains.
Freeing up customs officials also will help Border Patrol agents deal with surges, according to reports.
Iowa Republicans aren’t happy about this. But it’s not because of this flow of migrants riding the rails. It’s that the Biden administration closed the rail crossings. Which slows the flow of farm goods.
“The importance of rail for transporting Iowa’s grain and agricultural products across the country cannot be overstated,” the delegation said in a letter to the Biden administration.
Reynolds added her voice to the chorus, too.
They all made it clear: They want Biden to quickly reopen these border crossings.
It’s not hard to find a hypocrite in Congress, or in Des Moines. But that’s not the point here.
Well, it’s not entirely the point.
What is important is this: The effects of increasing immigration and efforts to control it are being felt to varying degrees all across the country.
In New York, shelters are packed, and they’re straining under the costs.
In Chicago, migrants have been sleeping at police stations.
In Iowa, the farm economy is now feeling the pinch. Agriculture groups and railroads are complaining.
Politically, Joe Biden is bearing the brunt of our immigration woes, and no doubt, the problem has gotten worse under his watch. But several presidents have struggled with this problem, which has its roots more in the economy than politics. And it’s worth noting that border incursions in the southwest spiked in 2019 under President Donald Trump, higher than they’d been in more than a decade. The flow slowed when the pandemic hit. After the worst of the pandemic, migratory flows surged again, and to new heights as new conflicts around the world sent people fleeing.
Iowa’s Republican politicians ignore much of this history. They just play the politics. Reynolds sends state troopers to the border when fellow Republican Gov. Greg Abbott asks, but turned her back when Biden needed help.
Recall Reynolds’ shameful words in 2021 when the Biden administration asked states like Iowa whether they could help house unaccompanied minors who had crossed the border and were alone.
“This is not our problem,” Reynolds told a radio show host.
Except that this is our problem.
Look, for a long time, many cities and states, run by Democrats, were sheltered from the effects of increasing immigration. It was easy to declare themselves sanctuary cities when migrants were only flooding into cities in Texas and Arizona.
That’s changed.
By the same token, it’s easy for Iowa politicians to demand Biden get tough on migrants; that is, until it hurts the transportation of farm products.
There are costs to illegal immigration.
There are costs to cracking down, too. The problem is, too many politicians in Iowa just ignore these realities.
They ignore that the law restricts what Biden can do, just as it did Trump.
They ignore that when the Biden administration does try to put limits in place, court challenges follow.
They ignore that limiting asylum crushes hopes.
They ignore that spreading razor sharp wire across the Rio Grande scourges the bodies of real people.
They don’t ignore it when rail crossings get closed and farm country feels the pinch.
Polls say that immigration is a major concern for Americans. I believe it, too. And it’s not just because Fox News hypes it.
In Washington, D.C., Democrats have come to the table to negotiate with Republicans in Congress on solutions.
The news reports say finding answers won’t be easy, but talks are progressing. Negotiators call it an enormously complex issue. “Underneath every big idea is 100 smaller decisions that all have to be made, and every one is complicated,” US Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, said.
You rarely get that sense from Iowa politicians. It’s just too easy to blame Biden.
I’m an Iowan. I know how important agriculture is to our economy. I hope these rail crossings open soon.
More importantly, I hope there are real leaders in Congress who come up with workable, humane solutions to this issue.
Unfortunately, I know those leaders won’t come from Iowa.
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Ed, I don't know what it is about human nature and today's inundation of information. Perhaps, that combination leads the people to be satisfied with finger pointing, Sort of a citizen's gotcha moment, when it feels good to point out the weaknesses of someone, without taking time or energy to read news analysis, or fact checking.
Immigration policy and enforcement is a federal issue and not a state issue which Governor Abbott has been learning. My issue is since it is a federal issue why hasn't the administration stepped up to pay for housing and food for those immigrants being sent to sanctuary cities. While I rarely agree with Abbott on anything, I don't think it's right that Texas bear the financial burden for the influx of large numbers of illegal immigration.