If you, like many Americans, are wondering where in the world the nation’s immigration czar has disappeared to, you are not alone. I found myself again asking this question amid news that the Biden administration is sending 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern U.S. border before Title 42 ends on May 11.
And before you ask, no, it was not because Immigration Czar and U.S. Veep Kamala Harris requested it. It came about reportedly because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made the request to the Department of Defense (DOD).
This means 1,500 active-duty U.S. troops will be stationed at the nation’s southern border for 90 days. Is this the Trump or Biden administration? I’m confused!
CBS News quoted Brigadier General Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, as saying the military units will play a supporting role, assisting with transportation, administrative duties, narcotics detection, data entry, and warehouse support. This as roughly 2,500 National Guard troops are already at the southern border, supporting the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
But wait a minute. Remember when the Trump administration authorized dozens of similar deployments as part of a broader crackdown on illegal border crossings? Remember how that was criticized? Yet, here we are seeing the same play from the same playbook, and many are turning a blind eye.
Politics as usual, you say?
But back to the anointed immigration czar. Anyone know where she is?
This is in addition to the May 11 countdown, when the Republican-controlled House of Representatives plans to pass a package of border security measures next week to place tougher constraints on asylum seekers, resume construction of a wall along the southwest border with Mexico, and expand federal law enforcement.
And as Florida Republicans, led by their man Ron Death Santis, have passed a sweeping anti-immigration measure that will guarantee millions of dollars more for controversial programs like the ones used to fly migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard.
That means he could soon be sending migrants from the southern border to the White House and Harris’s own house, too, on the backs of Florida taxpayers, who can barely keep up with spiking rents, HOAs, homeowners’ insurance, and interest rates.
Additionally, Colombia has suspended U.S. deportation flights returning citizens detained at the Mexico border, because of claims of cruel and degrading treatment by U.S. migration officials. Fernando García, head of Colombia’s migration agency, blasted cruel and degrading treatment that some migrants were subjected to before boarding and during the flights, including use of cuffs for hands and feet.
“There are recurring complaints about the poor conditions in detention centers and mistreatment during flights, which represented a determining factor in the decisions adopted in the last few hours,” Garcia said in a statement.
Harris has been MIA on all those issues. Instead, I found out that she has apparently dropped the hot tamale that is immigration and moved on to being the administration’s new AI czar and the White House’s new face on Asian American Heritage.
On Cinco de Mayo, she added a new title: Taco Picker-Upper. Who needs Door Dash? Harris and Biden took off to Taqueria Habanero, a Mexican restaurant in the Bryant Street shopping mall in D.C., to get tacos.
I guess that’s as close as the immigration czar will get to the southern border and dealing with immigrants and things on the immigration front. Who cares about that? Let them eat tacos, OK!
The writer is publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com – The Black Immigrant Daily News.