Democrats are suddenly singing a different tune on the border

Having watched them deny the problem for so long, who in their right mind would trust Democrats on the border crisis now?

Politicians often change their minds on issues. Even more often, politicians say one thing, then do another. But rarely do you see them turn on a dime the way Democrats are turning on the border right now.

Biden's entire administration, from President Biden down, until recently denied that there was any problem at the border at all. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas testified before Congress that “the border is secure.” He denied that the situation at the border was a crisis, stating that the border was “not open.”

But if what Mayorkas said had been true, then the bill introduced in the Senate on Sunday would be unnecessary. If it wasn’t true — well, draw your own conclusions.

Rather than investigate the failures and untruths of Mayorkas or the Biden administration, the Washington Post has run a puff piece about the secretary, titled, “Back to the wall, Alejandro Mayorkas tries to build a border legacy.”

This slobbering love letter opens like a novel, pinning the blame for much of the border crisis on Republicans. It calls the impeachment inquiry into Mayorkas over perjury allegations “the latest escalation in congressional Republicans’ efforts to blame a spike in illegal border crossings on the Biden administration, as well as their desire to impeach somebody, if not Biden himself.”

Did Republicans somehow create the border crisis through sheer force of will? Or did the decisions of the president himself — the 90-plus executive orders he signed in his first few weeks on the job — have something to do with it? 

That Post piece was written in that weird grey area, where Democrats were still publicly denying that there was anything wrong at the border, while still finalizing the bill they claim will fix it. The problems didn’t manifest themselves over the weekend. They had been ongoing and building since January 2021. That’s probably a bigger factor than impeachment inquiries or rhetoric on Fox News about there being a new record for illegal crossings seemingly every month. 

Even Al Sharpton, never perceived as quick on his feet at MSNBC, sees the writing on the wall. He has called what is happening on the border an “invasion.” The gang on "Morning Joe" are now talking about how something needs to be done to secure the border, which they might have disparaged as a racist position a few short weeks ago. 

The New York Times is now running pieces with titles like, “How the Border Crisis Shattered Biden’s Immigration Hopes.” The Times frames it this way: “Some of the circumstances that have created the crisis are out of Biden’s control, such as the collapse of Venezuela, a surge in migration around the world and the obstinance of Republicans who have tried to thwart his efforts to address the problems. They refused to provide resources, blocked efforts to update laws and openly defied federal officials charged with maintaining security and order along the 2,000-mile border.”

The word “some” at the start indicates that there are other circumstances that made things worse, which are fully within Biden’s control. But the Times doesn’t get into any of that, instead treating Biden as a helpless spectator in his own administration. The next paragraphs reads: “But an examination of Mr. Biden’s record over the last three years by The New York Times, based on interviews with more than 35 current and former officials and others, shows that the president has failed to overcome those obstacles. The result is a growing humanitarian crisis at the border and in major cities around the country.”

So, the president is not responsible for anything, other than the failure to overcome the Republican obstructionism. You have to admire the left’s commitment to the craft.

To recap: When Republicans raised the alarm about an urgent crisis at the border, Democrats insisted there is no crisis. When Republicans cited the huge numbers of illegal border crossings, the left ignored them. When the public finally started to notice and Biden’s poll numbers dropped to record lows on the issue, suddenly it became an imperative...and the Republicans are the ones causing the problem, naturally. 

Lost in all this, by which I mean ignored, is how Biden himself helped create this invasion.

When he was seeking the nomination, Biden advised those coming into the country illegally to “surge to the border,” then followed this up by removing almost every obstacle to entry, including halting all deportations for 100 days. There are few incentives greater than guaranteed success, which is exactly what Biden’s policies created.

Can you blame conservatives for their skepticism here? Who would believe that Democrats would suddenly agree to address a problem they have insisted did not exist until about 15 minutes ago? Who wouldn’t view what these people are offering with a jaundiced eye, especially when reading the plain text of their bill?

And who would entrust the man who created this problem — Biden, of course — with the power to waive the solutions, should he determine there is some kind of undefined emergency? 

No one with a brain.

Democrats have been very clear about their desire to “welcome” as many illegal crossers as possible. That they would agree to be thrown into the briar patch of this bill should be enough to give Republicans pause. And the bill's language should be enough to kill it dead.

Derek Hunter is host of the Derek Hunter Podcast and a former staffer for the late Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.).