As the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border continues to escalate, President Biden has taken a page out of former President Trump’s playbook, announcing a new deal with Canada to allow both countries to turn back illegal migrants at their shared border. The updated Safe Third Country agreement also includes Canada’s commitment to accepting an additional 15,000 migrants from the Western Hemisphere in response to the migration crisis.

U.S. and Canada have also renewed their commitment to combatting fentanyl smuggling, which is responsible for over 70,000 U.S. deaths per year. As the situation worsens, Biden has been forced to focus on separating families at the border, stopping the flow of fentanyl, and improving construction, which has now become key issues in his messaging throughout 2023.

The current crisis at the border under President Biden:

Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported a record high of 180,000 migrant encounters along the southwest border, the highest number recorded in the last two decades. This represents a 76% increase since February and is seen as a significant challenge for the Biden administration’s immigration policies. While some have attributed the surge to the change in policies from the Trump administration, others have pointed to factors such as poverty, violence, and climate change as major drivers of migration.

According to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, since Biden took office, there have been over two million migrant encounters at the U.S. southern border. The Biden administration has faced criticism for its handling of unaccompanied minors at the border. As of March 2021, there were over 17,000 unaccompanied minors in U.S. custody, a record high.

Reports indicate that President Biden has considered restarting the Obama-era practice of detaining migrant families since early March. This practice was continued under President Trump, and while it was largely ignored by the media and left-wing lawmakers under Obama, it caused outrage under Trump by the mainstream media and left-wing advocates. During his presidential campaign on Joe Biden for President’s official website in October of 2020, Biden criticized Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy and used the issue of family separation to paint Trump as “racist” and “cruel,” saying:

“Trump Administration forcibly separated from their parents as part of its cruel “zero-tolerance” policy, 545 children are still separated from their parents years later. This Administration ripped babies from their mother’s arms, and then it seems, those parents were in many cases deported without their children and have not been found. It’s an outrage, a moral failing, and a stain on our national character.”

Biden condemned the Trump Administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy of separating families at the border and expressed concern over the 545 children still separated from their parents. However, due to the current border crisis, he may need to restart these policies. While emphasizing the importance of keeping families together, he failed to acknowledge the dangers posed by human traffickers who frequently assault and rape migrants. During the 2020 U.S. presidential debates, Biden also seemed unaware of the term “coyote” used to refer to human smugglers.

President Biden appears to copy former-President Trump’s tone prior to the 2024 U.S. Presidental election:

In his 2020 campaign, Joe Biden showed his support for illegal immigration by promising to roll back President Trump’s policies and promoting a comprehensive immigration reform package. He prioritized the interests of illegal immigrants over American citizens by vowing to immediately end the Migrant Protection Protocols program, which helped prevent fraudulent asylum claims by requiring asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while awaiting their court hearings in the United States.

Biden also proposed to establish a task force to reunite families separated at the border, a program that would undoubtedly lead to an influx of illegal immigration. His promise to increase the number of immigration judges and expand alternatives to detention would only encourage more illegal immigration into the United States.

Furthermore, Biden’s pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including those brought to the United States as children under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, would reward illegal behavior and encourage more illegal immigration.

However, Biden has since looked into going back on his promises. Migrants have been relocated to left-leaning cities and areas such as New York City, Washington D.C., and Martha’s Vineyard, causing concerns among liberal lawmakers in these areas. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has even publicly criticized President Biden, demanding better security measures at the southern border and calling for an end to this influx of migrants.

The crisis at the southern border has forced Biden to shift his focus towards separating families at the border, preventing the influx of fentanyl, and improving construction. These have now become key issues that Biden frequently discusses in his messages in 2023 – as he can no longer turn a blind eye to the worsening situation.