The Patriot Post® · Refugee Smoke and Mirrors

Ever since Joe Biden took the presidential oath “to support and defend” the Constitution, his number one goal has been to violate that oath in as many ways as possible. “Moderate.” “Unity.” Pfft.

A key component of his America Last agenda has been undoing President Donald Trump’s work to secure our southern border. Or, as Biden puts it, “undo[ing] the damage of the last four years.” Biden issued a slew of executive orders in his first few days reversing numerous enforcement mechanisms, and the predictable result has been a border crisis.

A couple weeks back, our Thomas Gallatin recounted how Biden had finally admitted it’s a crisis, even though the president and his handlers quickly walked that back. Part of the calculation there was Biden’s waffling about Trump’s cap on refugees. As Gallatin explained, the administration is trying to “erode and expand the definitional distinctions the U.S. has long had in place when it comes to recognizing genuine refugee status.” Rather than welcoming those suffering various forms of persecution, Team Biden wants to fling the doors open wide for “refugees” who’d merely rather have a better-paying job.

After facing significant leftist backlash for signing an executive order last month saying that he’d keep Trump’s cap of 15,000 refugees, Biden quickly acquiesced. He announced Monday that he’ll raise it to 62,500, declaring, “It is important to take this action today to remove any lingering doubt in the minds of refugees around the world who have suffered so much, and who are anxiously waiting for their new lives to begin.” In other words, “to remove any lingering doubt in the minds of” Biden’s leftist puppeteers. Meanwhile, the effective message to everyone south of the border: Just cross the Mexican border, man!

This numbers game is partly smoke and mirrors. “The cap increase comes eight months into the government’s fiscal year, meaning it is unlikely that the full 62,500 people will enter the U.S. before Sept. 30,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “The U.S. has admitted just over 2,000 refugees so far this year, by far the lowest ever.”

Biden tried to bolster his “compassionate” credentials by lamenting, “The sad truth is that we will not achieve 62,500 admissions this year.”

No, the sad truth is that far more migrants than that will come across the border. Some 19,000 unaccompanied minors came across in March alone.

There are “admissions,” and then there are “admissions.” While just 2,000 refugees came in under lawful channels, and while the nation may not reach 62,500 refugees this year, the border has been flooded with migrants coming in illegally. If they’re apprehended, they’re often given a court date and released; most never show up in court. Biden knows this because it’s by design.

The United States has always been a bastion of hope for the world’s refugees. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” written by Emma Lazarus, is on a plaque mounted at the Statue of Liberty. But that was at a time when “E pluribus unum” — Latin for “Out of many, one” — was literally still the motto of our nation. Democrats have turned that on its head, and for them it’s now “Out of one, many.”

They have destroyed the idea of cultural assimilation, meaning today’s refugees become little more than their political pawns in a nation of tribal divisions. Democrats have undermined Rule of Law by offering lavish benefits that cost taxpayers far too much. They’re also putting American citizens last. “Increasing the refugee admissions cap will put American jobs and safety at risk,” said Senator Tom Cotton. “The Biden administration should be focused on getting Americans back to work.”

No nation can long survive such ill-conceived policies. When you hear Biden speak of this as compassion and “America’s values,” just remember that he and his fellow radical Democrats are utterly redefining “America’s values.” It’s “a statement about who we are, and who we want to be,” he says. Well, borderless socialism is utterly antithetical to our nation’s founding principles and values, and it’s not who Patriots want to be.