Time to update the talking points: Border conditions keep improving
"We also have an illegal immigration crisis, and it's taking place right now," Trump said, adding, "The greatest invasion in history is taking place right here in our country. ... They're coming at levels that we've never seen before. It is an invasion indeed, and this administration does absolutely nothing to stop them."
Republican voters have heard this message so many times, they assume it's true, though reality tells a different story. In fact, as a CNN fact-check piece noted soon after, "Trump's claim that the Biden administration is doing nothing' is incorrect. Illegal crossings at the US border dropped in June and the Biden administration has imposed significant restrictions on asylum along with other measures to curb illegal immigration."
"July is on track to see the fifth consecutive monthly drop in migrant apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border and the lowest level in illegal immigration there since the fall of 2020, during the Trump administration, the internal Department of Homeland Security figures show."
To help drive the point home, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut added via social media that border crossings are now even lower "than in Trump's last non-pandemic summer."
To be sure, conditions might yet change again, and there are a variety of factors that have contributed to the improved numbers. The bottom line, however, remains the same: To believe that "the greatest invasion in history" is underway at the U.S./Mexico border is to believe stale and discredited nonsense.
Steve Benen
PS: The most important factors lowering the numbers of migrants showing up on our border are these:Anyone who cares about border security should support a presidential candidate with (ahem) good diplomatic relationships.
The biggest factors, though, appear to be measures not from the United States directly but from our allies. Most significantly: Mexico.
Most migrants crossing illegally from Mexico into the United States are not Mexican nationals. They're citizens of other countries, such as Guatemala and Ecuador, who transit through our southern neighbor. In early December, Mexico's immigration agency ran out of funds to continue its migrant deportations and transfers. Not coincidentally, that is when unlawful crossings from Mexico into the United States peaked.
But by the end of the month, after negotiations with Biden and his top aides, the Mexican president committed to providing more funding and military resources to address irregular migration.
"It's mostly about Mexico's interdiction efforts, especially the ongoing efforts to stop migrants from getting to the U.S.-Mexico border," said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council. "That came after negotiations with the Biden administration."
U.S. leadership and Biden's relationship with key allies have encouraged other countries to share more of the global burden of mass migration. "I cannot overstate the importance of these new labor pathways abroad," a Homeland Security official told me. "Economic opportunity is an incredibly significant driver of migration patterns, including to the United States."