Stuck on stupid.

A group of migrants, mostly from Cuba, line up to board a bus after crossing the border from Mexico and surrendering to authorities to apply for asylum on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, near Yuma, Arizona. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Paul GleiserStuck on stupid.

We have need of some clarity with respect to the humanitarian disaster playing out day-by-day on our southern border. As is typical of the times, most of the media reporting on this subject is incompetent and lazy.

I’m sure you have heard TV pundits talking about the “repeal” of Title 42 set for next week.

Title 42 isn’t about to be “repealed.” Here’s what’s really going on.

The Code of Laws of the United States of America, usually simply called the “United States Code” or “USC,” is the official compilation of the federal statutes enacted by the Congress dating back to the First United States Congress in 1789.

The United States Code is divided into 54 areas called “titles.” Each title deals with a specific area of government. For example, Title 18 concerns itself with crimes and criminal procedure.

USC Title 42 contains the statutes having to do with “The Public Health and Welfare.” Chapter 6a of Title 42 contains the statutes dealing with public health emergencies. It is under authority granted in Title 42, Chapter 6a that the Trump administration issued an executive order that requires immigrants seeking asylum in the United States to wait somewhere outside the United States for their asylum petitions to be considered.

The stated purpose of that executive order was to reduce the flow of immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic. The real purpose was to stem the flood of illegal immigration using an argument that Democrats couldn’t easily slap down.

That order expires Tuesday. Nearly everyone – including some Democrats – expects the flood to become a tsunami.

In other words, you think it’s bad now? Just wait.

The stupidity of what is happening with respect to illegal immigration is beyond comprehension. Thousands and thousands of immigrants willingly turn themselves in to U.S. Customs & Border Protection every week saying that they are seeking asylum. They know what happens next. They are processed and given a date, years in the future, at which they are nominally to appear to have their case for asylum heard by an immigration court. They are then released into the country pending that court date.

Where they go no one in the federal government can tell you. Almost none of them appear on their appointed dates. Almost none of them qualify for asylum under our laws in the first place. Everyone in government, right up to President Biden himself, knows this. An immigrant’s encounter with, and processing by, the Customs & Border Protection Agency amounts to de facto permission by the U.S. government for permanent residency in the United States. The numbers swell every month, further burdening cities and states with the costs of social services, welfare, schooling, housing, health care and crime.

No other nation on the planet is this stupid. That’s true and bad enough.

But it’s even worse when you think about it and realize that just two years ago, under the previous administration, our nation wasn’t this stupid either.

Editor’s note: The original posting of this article made an incorrect reference to the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy. That incorrect reference has been deleted.

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Paul Gleiser

Paul L. Gleiser is president of ATW Media, LLC, licensee of radio stations KTBB 97.5 FM/AM600, 92.1 The TEAM FM in Tyler-Longview, Texas.

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9 Responses

  1. Buddy Saunders says:

    What is happening on our border is no accident. It is not the consequence of somebody’s stupidity or inattention. What is happening is calculated and intentional. The Democrat party sees the flood of illegal immigrants (now rebranded as asylum-seekers) as future much-needed new Democrat voters. Big corporations support the Democrats with millions of dollars in contributions because Biden is giving them what he knows they want–a massive pool of cheap labor. The absence of immigration coverage in the Wall Street Journal, the megaphone of big business, is telling.

    We can’t blame the newcomers, what ever they may be called, for wanting to come here. We can only blame the idiots who elected Joe Biden along with other Democrats, socialists and communists. The sad thing is, we still sane people will end up suffering the same as the idiots will as their chickens come home to roost.

  2. Linda M says:

    I will say the same thing as I did when clinton was president. These people are ILLEGAL no matter how you word it or try to make it sound good. There are STILL people waiting to become citizens the RIGHT WAY…LEGALLY. What the dems have done is slap every person who has waited their turn to become a citizen!
    Yes, I remember how clinton swore in people early for political reasons and to garner votes from them. And all these people are, are political pawns.
    What I said back then and continue to say today is this: If these people who are coming here illegally would stop and realize that their OWN Country could be made better and PROSPER if they would only put as much effort into making THEIR Country better rather than coming here ILLEGALLY with all the risks involved. The dems do not care about these people! All they are to them are political pawns to be USED to further the liberal agenda. The democrat party cares NOTHING about how drugs and violent criminals are crossing our borders EVERY SINGLE DAY! Drug deaths are way up and crime is out of control and what are the dems doing about it? Making it easier for ILLEGALS to to cross our borders. Making DRUGS, which are killing our kids, easier to get into OUR COUNTRY! Is this ok with you? It sure isn’t with me! Make these people go back and do something to make THEIR country better. As for the criminals, don’t just swat them on the behind and say don’t come back as they are deported. This hasn’t worked!

  3. Elaine says:

    What I am having to do for safety sake and financial is move in with friends. Rent went up $255 a month. Also, city of Dallas is housing street people in my current apartments.

    IT IS FRIGHTENING TO LIVE IN FEAR

  4. Pete A Fasanello says:

    How long before they herd the resisting Americans on to reservations to make room for the replacements ?

  5. Chris Clarke says:

    A recent poll indicated that 87% of the respondents did not have an accurate estimate of how many illegal crossings occurred last year. Most thought it was in the 500,000 range. I wonder why? Where do they get their news from? Could that impact elections? I wonder what percentage are Democrats?

  6. Jim A. says:

    Again, the answer to the Great Mystery of the “Root Cause” of the border crisis:

    Biden & the Dems are ROOTING for the coyotes!

  7. Jim A. says:

    And they want the Border Patrol to hold its breath until Texas turns blue.

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