President Donald Trump’s tariff threat against Mexico has at least initially been much more successful than many mainstream media naysayers would care to admit. As we earlier noted, Trump got the Mexican government to finally act on previously agreed to terms. Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised Trump’s action, stating, “I think the cold, hard reality is, even though almost none of my members were enthusiastic about the prospect of tariffs, you have to give the president credit — it worked. The president deserves applause — not condemnation — for the outcome, which has a good chance of solving this crisis at the border.”

Speaking of that crisis, on Tuesday, acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee laid out just how problematic the current asylum situation is. McAleenan noted that 90% of asylum-seekers have been no-shows for their scheduled case hearings. Upon hearing this, Sen. Lindsey Graham questioned, “90% did not show up?” McAleenan responded, “Correct. That is a recent sample from families crossing the border.”

McAleenan placed blame for this growing problem on the Flores consent decree that prevents the government from holding a minor longer than 21 days. “Currently, due to a single district-court order, we cannot obtain effective immigration-enforcement results for the families arriving at our border,” McAleenan said. “They cannot be held for longer than 21 days and do not receive rulings from immigration courts for years,” he stated, adding that “unless you’re a single adult, it is very unlikely you’ll be repatriated.” This is chain migration on steroids.