Staff Reports
The Biden administration is cranking up the immigration machine once again, this time by resurrecting a program that allows would-be migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to traipse into the United States like it’s the world’s worst reunion. Just when it seemed the administration might finally hit the brakes on its runaway immigration agenda, it looks like they’re investing in a little extra vetting to address concerns that crooks might be pretending to be sponsors. Because nothing signals a serious commitment to border control like a boost in bureaucratic paperwork.
The Department of Homeland Security, conveniently shrugging off recent fraud reports, decided there’s no widespread foul play in the ranks of sponsors. Apparently, they believe that slapping together some new regulations on financial sponsors will greater align the program with a higher standard of integrity. If “integrity” means allowing up to 30,000 people a month to whizz through legal channels while still ignoring the elephantine concerns of illegal border crossings, then who could argue?
NEWS —The Biden administration is reopening a migrant sponsorship program it paused abruptly earlier this summer due to concerns about fraud.
The program will now include enhanced vetting procedures, including a fingerprint requirement for sponsors.https://t.co/MdTOiBhy84
— Camilo Montoya-Galvez (@camiloreports) August 29, 2024
Kicking off in January 2023, this initiative sits at the center of the Biden administration’s immigration strategy designed to tinker with legal entry criteria while making a mockery of border rules for those willing to sneak in. It’s as if they think the best way to engage with countries that refuse to take back deported nationals is to invite more of their citizens to live in the U.S. under what borders on a dubious sponsorship model.
Republicans have taken a hard stance against what they describe as a half-baked immigration plan—pointing out, with no small amount of frustration, that this is merely an invitation for more rule-bending. They maintain that the administration’s decision to breathe new life into this program without thoroughly addressing fraud concerns only compounds the problems related to ineffective vetting. Instead of scrapping the obviously flawed program, the Department of Homeland Security appears determined to let it roll with minimal interference as if washing its hands of the consequences.
The DHS, in an astounding display of confidence, assures critics that new tags will be added to the existing vetting system regarding financial backers—complete with fingerprints! They insist that migrants reaching U.S. soil through this program have been thoroughly checked and vetted. If that’s the case, how does one explain the dubious character of sponsors using fraudulent Social Security numbers? Sounds like a rigorous vetting process could use a little fine-tuning.
The administration’s strategy seems to rest on flimsy hopes and assumptions that simply foisting a few new questions at sponsors will divert attention from the elephant-sized loopholes that allow potential fraudsters—and possibly worse—to slip through. Meanwhile, as arrests for illegal crossings nose dive, one can’t shake the thought that maybe fewer guests at the America buffet would do the trick. But then again, why solve the problem when they can just keep adding more slices of pie to the plate? With over 520,000 people arriving under this program already, one has to wonder how many more will be boarding planes to a nation that seems to have lost the plot on effective immigration control.
