Ben Murray - Letter to Editor

A lie repeated often enough doesn’t have to become the truth

A common refrain I see in local papers, most recently espoused by Country Cousin, is that the Biden Admin has an open border policy. This is not just a stretching of the truth. It is a blatant lie.

Biden kept Title 42, a Trump era enforcement policy, in place until May of 2023. Between May and July of 2023, there has been a 42% drop in illegal border crossings. As of July, illegal crossings have hit a 2 year LOW. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) got over $16 billion in funding for 2023 to include an increase of $1.5 billion from 2022, specifically to address southern border security. Border control agencies have seen year over year increases from the Biden Admin in funding. President Biden even convinced the President of Mexico to invest $1.5 billion to invest in border security. Remember when President Trump said “Mexico would pay for it?” Well, let’s all thank President Biden for fulfilling the promise.

US immigration policy is broken. Dramatically. We need a massive overhaul in our immigration system. BUT, that is Congress’ job. In fact, didn’t Republicans in Congress campaign heavily on border security? They did. Now, they control the house. They aren’t advancing secure border policies. They are still blaming Biden for their policy failures. And, surprise surprise, they will campaign on immigration reform in 2024…again.

And, to be fair, I don’t want to just blame Republicans in Congress. There are plenty of Democrats there too who are failing to advance the immigration overhaul we have needed for decades.

We also know that most fentanyl is trafficked, by American citizens, through legal ports of entry. So, beefing up border checks (which Biden has done) is a great way to combat the flood of drugs into the US.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Having differing opinions and discussing them is good and healthy. But, when those opinions are based on factually false information, it does nobody any good.

The truth matters. 

Ben Murray,
Porterfield