How Many 'Illegals' Has Biden Let In? Does He Have Authority to Close the Border? Crime Is Down. Who Brings Fentanyl?

Migration Is long-term problem without simple solutions

Simply building a wall and deporting millions of undocumented immigrants will not solve the problem of illegal immigration.

Donald Trump asserts, falsely, that President Biden has let in between 10 million and 13 million illegal aliens into the country. The actual number is probably less than half that, due to a lack of border patrol, the difficulty in managing surges, and the huge backlog in immigration courts.

He blames Biden for not closing the border. But real constitutional questions arise as to how much authority a president has to address immigration and border issues without congressional authorization. Immigration policy is historically the responsibility of Congress, not the president. Republican Senator James Langford of Oklahoma agrees with that interpretation and drafted a bill giving the president such authority, but Trump told Republicans not to support the bill because he wants to campaign on the issue of immigration.

Trump also asserts that migrants bring crime and illicit drugs like fentanyl. Despite a few high-profile cases, there’s little evidence of that. Fentanyl is brought over the border almost exclusively by American citizens.

Immigration is a long-term not a short-term problem for the U.S.

Here are summaries and links to articles that address these points.