LARRY KUDLOW: This Senate bill will continue the asylum problem

Here’s my take on the illegal immigration catastrophe. Former President Donald Trump sent out a Make America Great Again circular today entitled: “Biden has done all he can to open the border.” 

Mr. Trump argues that Biden terminated his successful Remain in Mexico policy. Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office to halt the construction of the border wall. 

Biden reinstated “catch and release.” Biden ordered ICE to stop worksite immigration enforcement and Biden stopped deporting illegal immigrants who were in the country illegally. Plus, I would add, Biden ended Title 42, a pandemic health check used to secure the border.

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Now, as we know, the three-year Biden number is — at least — roughly 8 million illegals, with all the sex and drug trafficking, fentanyl killing, and law and order disrupting that goes along with this disaster. The House of Representatives has passed H.R. 2, which is a superb bill that would essentially restore the Trump approach: build the wall, Remain in Mexico, and catch-and-deport. 

The Senate is now crafting its own bill. We don’t know all the details, because so far there’s no legislative text, but various Senate leaks talk about something called a “trigger” authorization. This is a very bad idea. 

This “trigger” would allegedly curb immigration if 8,500 illegals arrive at the border in one day, or 5,000 illegals arrive for seven days in a row. In December, the daily encounters averaged nearly 10,000. 

So, I don’t believe for one minute that President Biden or Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will “close the border”. Whether it’s 5,000 or 8,500 — that is way too high. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson calls for a policy of zero tolerance. He is right and if Mr. Biden and the Senators believe they can close the border after 5,000 or 8,500 arrive daily, then how about just closing the border now? Period. Full stop. End of sentence. 

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What we know about the Senate bill is it will continue the parole problem, continue the asylum problem, it is loaded with loopholes and it will not end the Biden open-border policy of catch and release. Migrants will not be detained or sent home, awaiting asylum decisions and there is no Remain in Mexico. 

There is no help from a Mexican military presence of 25,000 troops, such as what Mr. Trump got through negotiation and there is no wall in the Senate bill. There is no Title 42 in the Senate bill. From what we know now, the Senate bill is a very bad idea and Mr. Trump and the House GOP and hopefully a majority of Republican senators should definitely oppose it. 

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the January 30, 2024, edition of “Kudlow.”