Tangle - Biden's border problem.

Episode Date: February 14, 2022

In 2021, U.S. Border Patrol agents made 1.9 million arrests, a record high, according to new data. The data were revealed in just released court filings related to a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Missouri and Texas. Around 20% of the migrants arrested, approximately 402,000, were released into the U.S. while awaiting hearings, which is down from the 56% released during a surge in illegal crossings under the Trump administration just before the pandemic began. More than one million were sent back to Mexico or their home countries under Title 42. The Biden administration has used Title 42, a public health law, in order to limit the number of migrants released into the U.S. Former President Trump had used the same law to reject migrants before they could even claim asylum.You can read today's podcast here.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here.Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and produced by Trevor Eichhorn. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, Ari Weitzman, and produced in conjunction with Tangle’s social media manager Magdalena Bokowa, who also created our logo.--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tanglenews/message Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight.

Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle Podcast, a place where you get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking without all that hysterical nonsense you find everywhere else. I am your host, Isaac Saul, and on today's episode, we are going to be discussing Biden's problem at the southern border. Pretty interesting, big, complex issue. Try to make it a little bit simple today and kind of narrow the focus. There's a lot to talk about on immigration. But before we jump in,

I have two points of order. First, I have a correction from Thursday's newsletter on the Ottawa protests. On Thursday, I said that the members of the trucker protests, the so-called Freedom Convoy in Canada, were blocking the Ambassador Bridge between Ottawa and Detroit. The Ambassador Bridge is between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, not Ottawa. This is kind of like the Canadian version of saying Niagara Falls is a North Dakota. So I hope you'll take me on my word for it that it's kind of easy to mix up Ontario and Ottawa when you're writing and reading about Ottawa all day for days on end like I was. I blame Magdalena.

She's our resident Canadian on staff and she missed it. So it's her fault. This is the 53rd Tangle correction in its 134 week history and the first correction since January 26th. I track corrections and place them at the top of the podcast in an effort to maximize transparency with readers. So that's the bad news, a correction, but there is some good news, too. Over the weekend, Tangle broke 5,000 paying subscribers. end, Tangle broke 5,000 paying subscribers. So I just wanted to stop and thank you everyone who is subscribed to Tangle. If you're not, www.readtangle.com slash membership. I know we nudge you in most newsletters and podcasts and it might get a little bit annoying, but it's really true that the only way for us to keep this going, for us to stay totally independent is for people like you to subscribe. Subscriptions are literally what helped this

podcast launch. It's the only way we can afford it. It's what helps us hire interns and other staff and all that good stuff. It looks like our article on media bias over the weekend or that came out on Friday, I guess, is what put us over the edge. But it's just amazing to reflect on everything that happened to get us here, to get us to over 5,000. It's a huge milestone. Thank you all so, so much. And again, if you're not subscribed, please go do that. There's a link in every episode description to jump on the train and help us out. All right. So with those two things out of the way, before we jump into our main topic, we will start as always with our quick hits.

First up, in a call on Saturday, President Biden warned Russia's Vladimir Putin that invading Ukraine would cause widespread human suffering and the West would decisively impose swift and severe costs if it happened. Number two, the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, see I'm learning, reopened after police cleared the remaining protesters from the bridge. Number three, the U.S. has suspended avocado imports from Mexico after a plant safety inspector received a threatening phone call. Number four, abortions in Texas have fallen nearly 60 percent in the first month since its restrictive abortion ban went into place. Number five, Senator Ben Ray Lujan, the Democrat

from New Mexico, posted an update after his recent stroke assuring constituents that he'd be back to the Senate in a few short weeks, hopefully in time to vote on Biden's potential Supreme Court nomination. Breaking this morning, an ICE agent weighing in on the massive migrant drops we've seen at the southern border. And the details are stunning. When President Biden took office a year ago, some of his first actions were aimed at reforming the country's immigration policies. He's gotten rid of some of the rules from the previous administration, but has also kept a handful of them in place. He's drawn criticism from both opponents and allies for his approach to the issue of immigration.

So now the hits, meanwhile, keep on coming for the White House after the chaos we've watched on the southern border. An ICE agent telling Fox that illegal migrants with criminal records are being released into the U.S. in multiple cities. In 2021, the U.S. Border Patrol agents made 1.9 million arrests, a record high according to new data. The data were revealed in a just-released court filing related to a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Missouri and Texas. Those attorneys generals sued after the Biden administration attempted to reverse the Remain in Mexico policy instituted under Trump, which requires migrants to wait south of the border as their asylum claims are adjudicated. A federal judge has ordered the Biden administration to restart the policy while

the case makes its way through the court system. Around 20% of the migrants arrested, approximately 402,000, were released into the U.S. while they are awaiting hearings, which is down from the 56% released during a surge in illegal crossings under the Trump administration just before the pandemic began. More than 1 million were sent back to Mexico or their home countries under Title 42. The Biden administration has used Title 42, a public health law, in order to limit the number of migrants released into the U.S. Former President Trump also used the same law to reject migrants before they could even claim asylum. Interestingly, recent reports have shown the kinds of people crossing the border are changing.

Axios reported that migrants from South America, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and India had driven an uptick in crossings in December. In late January, the Biden administration was under fire after a public records request forced the release of videos showing dozens of single adult males being flown from Texas to various U.S. cities to be released into sponsor's custody after being held in Texas. Republicans have long criticized the so-called catch and release, while Democrats and immigrant advocates say they have been upset with the Biden administration for not cutting back on what they see as the punitive practices used under Trump. Below, we'll take a look at some commentary from the right and the left on the state of

the southern border, and then we'll jump into my take. First up, we'll start with what the right is saying. The right criticizes Biden for the huge surge for releasing migrants into the U.S. They say Democrats have lost control at the southern border and need a more restrictive set of policies. Some call out the Biden administration for coordinating with cartels because they have no other option. Jason Reilly said Biden's border problems aren't going away. Mr. Biden's overall job approval rating is in the low 40s. That's worrying enough for Democrats, but Americans think even less of how the president is handling immigration,

with only 36% of respondents voicing satisfaction in a recent CBS News poll. Obviously, people other than Fox News viewers are paying attention to the crisis. And what they've seen over the past year, in addition to White House indifference, is record levels of illicit boarded crossings, overflowing detention centers, and more recently, video footage of illegal immigrants being ferried in the dead of the night from the southern border to New York, Florida, and other parts of the country. The administration doesn't deny that this is happening. press last week, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki matter-of-factly explained that when undocumented individuals can't be immediately removed from the country, they are placed into immigration proceedings, and one of those avenues could be placement in an alternative to detention program in the interior of the United States. That, folks, is the administration's current policy for handling illegal immigration. Predictably, the results have been a disaster. Apprehensions are

a proxy for unlawful entries. When border apprehensions are up, it means we're experiencing higher levels of illegal immigration. In the last fiscal year, which ended September 30th, there were a record-breaking 1.7 million arrests at the border. For all of 2021, there were just shy of 2 million, far above the previous record of 1.6 million set in 2020. For all of 2021, there were just shy of 2 million, far above the previous record of 1.6 million set in 2020. For all of 21, they were just shy of 2 million, far above the previous record of 1.6 million set in the year 2000. The National Review editorial board said Biden knows his border policies are nothing to be proud of. Bodycam video unearthed by a Freedom of Information Act request captured a cop at an

airport near White Plains, New York, asking federal contractors last year about the stealthy off-hours arrival of illegal immigrants, the board wrote. A contractor explained that, quote, DHS wants everything on the down low, end quote. Another contractor said that no one wants it to get out that the government is betraying the American people. that the government is betraying the American people. Meanwhile, Fox News reporter Bill Malugan got footage of single adult males being processed through a nondescript location in Brownsville, Texas, to be flown to cities around the country. An ICE source told him that these kinds of releases have been taking place quietly since last spring. The administration's instincts at the border have been all wrong, but at least it has the sense to try and hide the full scope of its abysmal failure to enforce our laws and maintain good order. The New York flight involved unaccompanied minors, so the administration has portrayed it as a routine transfer in keeping with the William

Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, the board wrote. The single adult releases are another matter. In a nod to reality, Biden preserved the Trump policy of using Title 42, a public health authority, to immediately expel many migrants during the pandemic. But Mexico will only accept migrants from certain countries. The releasees are probably from places like Nicaragua and Venezuela and can't simply be returned over the border. In theory, they could be enrolled and remain in Mexico. The Trump-created program to require asylum seekers to apply from Mexico, but Biden tried to end the program and, forced by a judge to restart it, has been unenthusiastic about making use of it.

Angie Wong said Biden is now coordinating with the cartel to manage the border. I spent three days on the front lines of the Biden administration's illegal immigration crisis and found a border patrol that has changed from an enforcement agency to a concierge service, Wong wrote. A pipeline of migrants fueled by cartel coyotes and abetted by American liberal non-governmental organizations enter the nation in droves and many will likely never return to the countries they left. Even if the government wanted to secure the border, there aren't enough officers to police the hundreds arriving every day, Wong wrote. So the border patrol has made deals with the devils. Mark Morgan, former commissioner of the U.S. Custom and Border Protection Agency, said U.S. officers now coordinate with the cartels and coyotes on where and when drop-offs will happen.

In the past, large groups of illegal immigrants would cross without notice, and it would take agents two days to process at the centers. Morgan told me they wanted to avoid scenes like the ones of children being dropped over walls in remote areas. It may be safer, but it also makes the cartel's job easier and more lucrative. The cartels have taken control of our border and we're negotiating with the hostage takers. All right, that is it for what the right is saying. What brings us to the left's take. The left says Biden's border policies are too much like Trump's, which is exactly the problem. They're calling for more humane action and an overhaul. Some say Biden needs an immigration reset and to start engaging Congress on reform. which is exactly the problem. They're calling for more humane action and an overhaul.

Some say Biden needs an immigration reset and to start engaging Congress on reform. Catherine Rample criticized Biden for keeping some of Trump's worst policies in place. Republican politicians nationwide have already begun running against Biden's alleged open borders policies to bolster their campaigns and careers. It all raises a question. What exactly are these nativists unhappy with? In many respects, Biden is doing exactly what the Stephen Millers of the world want him to do, keeping Donald Trump's worst border policies in place. One year into his presidency, Biden has made relatively little progress rebuilding the U.S. immigration system, particularly when one considers his soaring pro-immigrant campaign rhetoric. In fairness, Biden had his work cut out for him. Miller and other Trump officials effectively

sabotaged the immigration system on their way out the door. They erected arbitrary new hurdles for immigrants, drove out qualified public servants, and generally mismanaged government resources. When Miller et al. condemn Biden's immigration record, they zero in on his decisions at the southern border, which is, frankly, odd. You never know it from the right-wing hysteria about Biden's supposedly open borders or Biden's own campaign promise to end Trump's detrimental asylum policies. But Biden has continued Trump's most restrictionist, inhumane, and possibly illegal border policies. In some cases, Biden has even expanded them. a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+.

Paul Reyes says Biden needs an immigration reset. In a statement to CNN, a White House spokesperson noted that the president has made clear that restoring order, fairness, and humanity to our immigration system are priorities for this administration. Really? Then the administration should drop the use of Title 42 along the border, Reyes said. This is a Trump policy that was put in place on public health grounds ostensibly to protect the U.S. from the spread of COVID-19. It allows the U.S. to turn back migrants at the southern border, preventing them from applying for asylum. But many experts say it does not protect public health, while immigration

advocates rightly point out that it amounts to a violation of migrants' legal right to apply for asylum. Ironically, the continued use of Title 42 is a gift to the anti-immigration crowd, he added. Because the provisions turn back migrants swiftly, they are free to turn around and try to cross the border again. This drives up the overall number of apprehensions. The use of Title 42 makes the number of illegal border crossings appear higher than they really are, which provides the GOP with confirmation of its talking point that the border is out of control. Consider that in fiscal year 2021, 27% of people apprehended by Border Patrol were apprehended more than one time. In the Arizona Republic, Elvia Diaz said hardly anyone is splashing the second part of the numbers equation.

The same CBP data show that most people, 1.2 million of the 1.7 million encountered at the border during 2021, were quickly expelled, at the border during 2021 were quickly expelled, mostly under the Title 42 health provision that former President Trump invoked to avoid the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. That's a terribly inconvenient truth that neither Republicans nor the Biden administration are publicizing. Republicans' motives are easy to spot. They're seizing on the border invasion to capitalize on voters' anti-immigrant sentiment to win congressional and state seats during this year's midterm elections. But what about Biden? On the one hand, Biden is trying to fool pro-immigrant activists with the illusion that he's implementing humane immigration policies by rescinding a bunch of Trump's executive orders like boosting refugee admissions, not enforcing the public charge rule that barred people from getting a visa or becoming a permanent

resident if they were likely to receive public benefits, and protecting young immigrants known as dreamers. On the other hand, Biden not only failed to pass the comprehensive immigration reform he promised for the millions already living illegally here,, which brings us to my take. All right, that is it for the left and the right's take, which brings us to my take. So the state of the immigration debate is a great reminder of how tough it is to be a moderate president on anything, but especially on an issue like immigration. In one corner, you have Republicans hammering Biden for the staggering number of border apprehensions, which is both reflective of an increased desire of migrants to get here and of the Title 42 policy, which does lead to so many people re-attempting a border crossing after they have been expelled. But 1.9 million is a huge number, and for immigration restrictionists, it is even more frightening when paired with images of makeshift migrant camps under the Del Rio International Bridge or single

male adults being flown across the country after apprehension. In the other corner, you have Biden's own immigration appointees resigning because his policies are so inhumane they can't stomach them. Or the six immigration officials who announced they were leaving but just gave no reason why. And then, of course, you have the immigration lawyers and activists lined up around the block ready to hammer Biden for not immediately ending Trump-era policies like remain in Mexico. Of course, Biden tried, but a federal judge stopped him. The difficult thing about fixing our immigration system is that because we obsess so much over what drives migrants to the borders, we rarely ever address the simple problem of being

able to handle them properly when they come. Vice President Kamala Harris's explorations of the root causes don't solve for the fact that we literally don't have the infrastructure to hold the migrants who are crossing the border right now, as I write this sentence. We know why the vast majority of migrants come. Economic opportunity or fear. They want jobs and money and stability, or they are running, sometimes for their lives, from a home they can no longer stomach, or oftentimes both of those things in one. stomach, or oftentimes both of those things in one. My long-held position is that the single most important logistical thing for us to do is to expand the number of immigration judges and our capacity to house and process migrants who show up here claiming asylum or crossing the border illegally. Both sides are scared of this prospect because the appointment of the judges

could lead to more migrants getting legal admittance, which Republicans don't want, or it could get more migrants expelled swiftly, which Democrats don't want, based on what policies are in place and which judges are on the bench. But this is the reality of political life in America, and accepting what we have now as the plan is clearly not working. How much longer will we keep trying the same failed policies before we realize the insanity of them? Trump's major success, in his supporters' eyes, should be how he slowed the flow of legal

immigration. He put up a paper wall, not a border wall, and if you're an immigration restrictionist, that is a win. I'd personally like to see more legal immigration, not less, but that's a separate argument from what's happening on the border right now. Still, it's important to remember that before the pandemic basically ground the world to a halt, Trump faced his own wave of migrants that overwhelmed Border Patrol agents and forced the administration to release thousands of undocumented immigrants into the U.S., something he promised not to do. His plan to create disincentives for migrants with harsh rhetoric and a proposed wall didn't actually do all that much to stop them from coming. That's why a new approach is so desperately needed. Neither side has worked this

out. Of course, it'd be nice if Congress did its job and actually engaged in immigration reform legislation, but it's hard to imagine anything breaking there. There is, of course, plenty to criticize about the horrors of remaining in Mexico or the ineffectiveness of Title 42 at actually stopping COVID-19. But until we can simply process and actually account for the migrants coming across the border, it doesn't matter what policies we have in place. They are destined to fail. All right, that is it for my take. This brings me to a reader question. This is actually kind of more just a reader criticism, but I'm going to respond to it. It's from Hamilton in Atlanta, Georgia. They said, I take issue with the claim that the format of Tangle addresses many of the problems regarding media bias when Tangle plays into those biases by trying to define what

is left and right. Those terms are arbitrary and subjective to each individual and the topic at hand. Instead of acting like Tangle is either the arbiter of what is left or right, just cite the source and potentially their publication and let the readers decide for themselves. People and issues are more complex than squarely defining any position as part of a relative spectrum. The mainstream media currently uses its bias to pigeonhole people into various corners, and Tangle is no different when doing the same. Okay, so I have addressed this in the past, but it's been coming up a lot in my inbox these days, so I will address it again now. Yes, Hamilton, I actually kind of agree with you. The question of how to label arguments in Tangle is a huge source of debate for us.

It is something I think about a lot, probably a lot more than you have, I promise. I do not think it is arbitrary at all. There are clear divides among the left and the right, liberals and conservatives, and Democrat and Republican axes in America today on big issues. But I do agree with you that it is subjective, and I do think it reinforces binaries that I'm often trying to break out of, especially given that I don't like it when anyone tries to pigeonhole me into a left-right spectrum. To address this, I've proposed some potential solutions to readers. One is simply presenting two sides of arguments, like on the one hand and on the other hand, instead of what the left or right are saying. But when I've polled readers about this potential change, they have rejected it. Many readers say they like knowing broadly what the positions of Republicans and Democrats

or conservatives and liberals or the right and the left are, so I haven't made the change. Instead, I've just tried not to commit to the binary for every issue, and I've tried to call out people when they're crossing the line or there are areas of agreement on the right and the left. When I started Tangle, I promised that readers would be able to shape the future of the newsletter and the podcast. Initially, those sections used to be what Democrats and Republicans are saying, which I ultimately changed to broader terms like left and right because so many people didn't subscribe to those labels and didn't like how the sections were formatted that way.

Changing it again is a big enough move that in order to make it, I sincerely doubt I will commit to it unless a majority of Tangle readers want the change to happen, which just hasn't happened yet. But I will continue to poll you and in the future, if the day comes

when Tangle readers make it known that they want to see that change, I will make it quite gladly. All right, that is it for the reader question. That brings us to a story that matters. In January of 2021, just 2.8% of all car buyers paid above the manufacturer's suggested retail price, also known as the MSRP. In January of 2022, 82% of car buyers did. The soaring price of car and consumers' willingness to keep buying one is one of the major drivers of inflation, and it's creating a lot of tension between automakers and the

independent car dealers who sell their cars. Ford and General Motors recently uprated dealers for ignoring the manufacturer's suggested retail price, a practice that was practically unheard of a year ago, and GM calls unethical. They've threatened to withhold deliveries of their most popular offerings, including Ford's buzz-generating F-150 Lightning pickup and other forthcoming electric vehicle models, The Washington Post reports. There is a link to that story in today's newsletter, and you can go find it there. All right, that brings us to our numbers section. 46.2 million is the estimated number of legal and illegal immigrants in the United States in 2021. 14.2% is the percentage of the U.S. population that was foreign-born as of November. That's the highest percentage in 111 years. 6,600 is the estimated number of refugees admitted to the U.S. in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2021.

4,000 was the estimated number of refugees admitted to the U.S. in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020. 240,000 is the number of immigrants who became U.S. in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020. 240,000 is the number of immigrants who became U.S. citizens in fiscal year 2021. 178,840 is the number of unauthorized migrants who were stopped at the southern border in December of 2021. All right, last but not least, our have a nice day story. Welcome to one of the most unproductive work days in America. Super Bowl Monday is always one of the least productive days in the U.S., but this year's Super Bowl Monday is doubly unproductive thanks to Valentine's Day. Challenger Gray and Christmas estimates that the U.S. will lose $3.5 billion in productivity

through people skipping work today, and potentially as will lose $3.5 billion in productivity through people skipping work today, and potentially as much as $6.5 billion if you include the people who spend most of the day talking about the Super Bowl and their crush. For some reason, these numbers just bring me a great deal of joy, so I'd like to wish a very, very happy Valentine's Day to my beautiful wife, and a shout out to all of you slackers today who are taking off because you had one too many beers during the Super Bowl last night. There's a link to that story in today's newsletter. All right, everybody, that is it for the podcast for today. As always, and like I said at the top of the podcast, if you want to support our work,

please go check out the episode description and click around. There are links to do that. And we'll see you tomorrow. Peace. Tangle's social media manager, Magdalena Bokova, who also helped create our logo. The podcast is edited by Trevor Eichhorn and music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. For more from Tangle, subscribe to our newsletter or check out our content archives at www.readtangle.com. Thanks for watching! Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+.