When it Comes to The Border, a Good President Makes All the Difference

Democrats And the Media Claimed that Bipartisan Legislation was Needed

Usually, it takes a while for a new President to undo the damage of the previous administration. And sometimes it takes a few Presidents to undo the damage done by one really bad President, which Joe Biden was. Safe to say it will take years for Trump and maybe even his successor to undo the damage that Biden inflicted on our country. However, there is one promise that Trump made on the campaign trail that he has already delivered on, a promise that Biden, Democrats, the media, and never Trump Republicans said was nearly impossible.

Historically, it takes a year or two for a new President’s policies to take effect. A couple reasons for this. First a President doesn’t get to sign a budget until later in their first year on office, and the budget is one of the biggest ways that a President can make a mark. Their budget can have a major effect on the economy, and even then, it will take some time for those economic policies to work their way through the economy. For example, there is no way a President can wipe out inflation in a few months, and certainly no way to do it before he gets to pass a budget.

Secondly it is unlikely that a President will get an opportunity to fill court vacancies on the federal bench right away. It may take several months before a President can start appointing Judges to the bench, and filling the judiciary is one of the ways that a President leaves a legacy. Judicial appointments have major impact on the courts that will be felt for a generation or two at least. But despite only being in office for six-weeks President Trump has already made our border and country more secure, already the Biden migrant invasion has slowed to a crawl.

According to CPB (Customs and Border Protection) border crossings in February, Trump’s first full month in office, were around 8,500 for the whole month. Low especially when you consider that in the two previous years February 2023 and 2024 there were over 130,000 encounters at the border in those months. Truely a night and day difference.

What makes Trump’s quick border success all the more remarkable is that the Democrats and the media said it couldn’t be done. They told us this in 2024, when Biden was still running for President.

In his fourth year in office Biden had to come up with an excuse for his failure at the border, a failure by design, and so he claimed that the border couldn’t be secured without an act of Congress, telling reporters:

“I’ve done all I can do. Just give me the power. Give me the border patrol. Give me the people. The judges. Give me the people who can stop this and make it work right.”

That’s right he attempted to shift the blame. He claimed he was powerless.

He and the media pushed an amnesty bill, despite what they claimed it wasn’t a border security bill, it would have allowed 5,000 migrants to come into the United States per day, before the border would be shut down for the rest of the afternoon. The next day another 5,000 would be let in and so on day by day. Now a few things to keep in mind. First the media claimed that it was a “bipartisan bill”, well, really it is better described as a Senate bill, the Democrats controlled the Senate. The House, which was controlled by Republicans, already passed a border security bill the previous year. The Democrats who controlled the Senate defeated the House Bill and then decided in an election year that they needed political cover, so they claimed that they had a “Bipartisan bill.” As I recall it ultimately was tabled, that is it never even came up for a vote in the Senate.

Some more background, for the first two years, 2021 and 2022, of the Biden administration Democrats controlled both Houses of Congress. It is significant to note that Biden didn’t push for changes in the law to secure the border then. Just the opposite, he purposely opened the border. In fact, he created the problem immediately after his inauguration. He granted parole to over a million migrants, and he got rid of the remain in Mexico policy, which Trump had negotiated with Mexico, and he encouraged millions more to come. They did so in droves, or should I say in caravans! And Biden couldn’t wait to make them legal, so much so that he created an app which allowed them to check into America while still on the road.

Then Republicans took the House of Representatives in 2023, and they promptly passed a bill to secure the border, but Biden was not interested in that and promised a veto if it reached his desk. However, by 2024 the bad politics of the open border was smacking Biden in the face, up for reelection he needed to find a way to blame Republicans, so he pushed for a bill, which he knew Republicans couldn’t possibly support. The bill he and Democrats pushed was an amnesty bill, light on border security. Sure, it was a bad bill, but they knew that the media would praise it, and it could possibly provide some cover for Democrats, so they thought. A fig leaf of protection on an otherwise completely naked body.

Well, it failed because Republicans, especially in the House, had no desire to support an amnesty deal. The media tried to blame Donald Trump, who at the time was a private citizen in Florida, for killing the bill. Well sure Trump denounced the bill, but he was running for President at the time and naturally wanted to go on record in opposition. And even if he didn’t take a position on it, there was no way that House Republicans could support such a bill. Any member who did so would have faced a primary challenge, which of course no incumbent wants.

At the time I was stunned at the audacity of Democrats and the media to try to shame Republicans into supporting such a bill, a bill that was so unpopular with conservatives. For one thing it allowed 5,000 migrants a day to come into the country, indeed it would codify it into law. No way a Republican could vote for it and Republicans rightfully said no.

Well, House Republicans were vindicated, what’s that line that the lefties love – the right side of history. Trump already has gotten it down to 8,500 crossings a month and soon he may reduce it to just hundreds per month. If we had listened to the never Trumpers we’d have 5,000 migrants a day coming in for years.

In his speech on Tuesday Trump responded to Biden’s claim that there was nothing he could have done to secure the border:

“The media and our friends in the Democrat Party kept saying we needed new legislation; we must have legislation to secure the border. But it turned out that all we really needed was a new president.”

Even Democratic Senator Mark Warner, from my state of Virginia, acknowledged Trumps success telling Fox Business, “I’m probably not gonna be jumping up applauding a lot but the president has made great, great progress on border crossings.” Yes, Warner proves that even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Why did Biden and the Democrats allow, and really encourage, millions of poor migrants to come into the country? They were poor people who would need support, who would need to use public services, and their presence would cost taxpayers billions of dollars, and even more if just a small percentage committed crimes. The migrants may be great people, but they are not going to be a net positive, at least for the economy.

So why were they let in? Why would anyone who loved their country allow millions of poor people, without background checks into the country? The most common theory I hear from my fellow conservatives is that Democrats wanted the invasion because they wanted and believed that they would get the votes of the invaders. That is that they believe these folks will vote for Democrats for generations. The other common reason I have heard is that Biden and the Democrats let them in based on the theory that their presence would grow government. The migrants would need government services, and this need would grow government and perhaps most importantly force up taxes, at all levels of government. This has long been the goal of Democrats. Higher taxes are the goal because higher taxes make income redistribution possible.

There is something to both these theories, but I think it is something else that motivated the open borders crowd. Biden and his party wanted the flood of migrants for leverage. Ever since the much-deserved death of the Kennedy-McCain amnesty deal in 2007 they have wanted to force Republicans to agree to an amnesty deal for the millions of illegal aliens already here, and by overwhelming the system with millions more newcomers they believed Republicans might feel enough pressure to cry uncle and work with Democrats for “comprehensive immigration reform.” Which is amnesty. And by agreeing to amnesty Democrats would put in some border security measures. But of course, amnesty only encourages more migrants to come, which is what Democrats really want.

Fortunately, Republicans didn’t buckle in 2024. They said no deal, and Trump won. Trump proved that to secure the border we didn’t need a new law, just a new President.

David Shephard is the author of two books. Elections Have Consequences, A Cautionary Tale.

Norton’s Choice: An Inside Politics Exposé: Shephard, David: 9781892538802: Amazon.com: Books