Border & Immigration News
The Daily Signal provides border and immigration news, including reporting, analysis, and commentary on policy, enforcement, and political debates.
-
- Opinion
Rep. Michael Guest ‘Very Optimistic’ Bill to Address Fentanyl Crisis Will Receive Democrat Support
In fiscal year 2022, Customs and Border Protection seized more than 14,000 pounds of fentanyl. The lethal opioid drug has become a leading cause of death in adults ages 18-45. “The fentanyl seizures continue to increase, each fiscal year, and we know that of those seizures, we’re probably only apprehending 5% to 10% of the…Virginia Allen -
- News
Conservatives Celebrate Death of Immigration Bill That ‘Ignores’ Border Crisis, ‘Puts Big Tech’ Ahead of US Workers
An immigration bill that sought to eliminate per-country caps on employment visas died in the House of Representatives Wednesday. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., introduced the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment, or EAGLE, Act, in June 2021. The House reintroduced it this year and lawmakers scheduled it to go up for a vote…Gillian Richards -
- News
Sheriff Reveals Hidden Benefit of Gov. Ducey’s Makeshift Border Wall
Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s shipping container wall along the U.S.-Mexico border has garnered attention and criticism, but a local sheriff says the makeshift barrier has a positive impact for the community. Ducey’s border wall project in Arizona’s Cochise County has received attention this week after environmental protests brought construction to a halt, but this…Virginia Allen -
- Opinion
Republicans Shouldn’t Fall for Lame-Duck Session Fool-Me-Twice Immigration Bill
If Sam Bankman-Fried offers a new cryptocurrency investment scheme, are you in? Not likely. I’d rather trust the ghost of Bernie Madoff with my money. Once bitten, twice shy. That’s why conservatives don’t trust the immigration “compromise” proposals being discussed on Capitol Hill in the lame-duck session of Congress just weeks before control of the…Simon Hankinson -
- Opinion
Root Cause of Human Trafficking Is ‘Individuals Who Decide to Exploit’ Vulnerable People, Expert Says
Today, there are believed to be more people trapped in slavery than at any other time in history. These are individuals who are victims of sex trafficking and forced labor. They are women, men, and children. There are “27.6 million people [who] are estimated to be victims of trafficking,” John Richmond, the former U.S. ambassador…Virginia Allen -
- News
GOP Senators Press Homeland Security Chief on Why 63,500 Cases Against Illegal Aliens Were Dropped
The failure of the Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security to carry out the most basic enforcement of U.S. immigration laws has led to skyrocketing crime and drug deaths, a Republican senator told The Daily Signal. “While illegal immigration and the resulting fentanyl overdose deaths and violent crime continue to skyrocket, the Biden administration must…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
China Benefits If Congress Rearranges Deck Chairs of Legal Immigration as Southern Border Burns
The House is about to debate a wrongheaded bill that is touted simply as a mechanism to speed up the availability of green cards for certain employment-based applicants. But the bill, HR 3648, actually would upend the nation’s legal immigration system while benefiting China and inviting an immediate, immeasurable influx of new applicants to overwhelm…Joseph Edlow -
- Opinion
Amnesty for DACA Flunks Border Security Test
The U.S.’s nearly two-year-old border crisis continues unabated, yet Senate Democrats and some Republicans are foolishly resuming a push to grant amnesty to hundreds of thousands—and perhaps millions—of people living in this country illegally. There is a simple test to determine if a given policy will reduce illegal immigration, and amnesty—whether for Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals…Lora Ries -
- Opinion
Supreme Court Justices Question Biden Administration’s Reckless Border Policy
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by Texas and Louisiana over Biden administration guidelines that severely restricted the Department of Homeland Security’s enforcement of federal immigration law against illegal aliens. Twenty other states supported Texas and Louisiana with amicus briefs, ranging from Arizona to Florida and West Virginia to Wyoming. The…Hans von Spakovsky -
- News
Border Patrol Warns Illegal Migrants: ‘This Journey Is Deadly’
Rows of unmarked graves are visible behind Chief Border Patrol Agent Jason Owens as he pleads with those seeking to enter America not to cross the southern border illegally. “Don’t risk it,” Owens says in a short video with Spanish subtitles posted on the Facebook page of the Border Patrol’s Del Rio sector over the…Virginia Allen -
- Opinion
Historic Levels of Illegal Immigration on Southern Border Likely to Get Worse
The historic level of illegal immigration on the southern border is likely to get much worse, if that’s possible. On Wednesday, a federal judge declared that the Biden administration had to end Title 42 by Dec. 21. The ruling came from Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who…Jarrett Stepman -
- News
Majority of Hispanic Voters Want Government to Do More to Enforce Immigration Laws, Exit Poll Finds
Hispanic voters say the U.S. government should do more to enforce immigration laws, according to new polling data. An exit poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports and NumbersUSA found that more than half of Hispanics who voted in the 2022 midterm elections agree that the government isn’t doing enough to reduce illegal immigration. The survey asked Hispanic…Virginia Allen -
- Opinion
Chris Magnus’ Opus: A Record-Setting Disaster for the Head of Border Protection
Chris Magnus was forced to resign as head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Nov. 12. He was unprepared for the job, never had the support of the workforce, and cared more about internal “social justice” than executing CBP’s mission. Not surprisingly, he utterly failed to secure the U.S. border in his tenure of…Simon Hankinson -
- Opinion
4 States Addressed Illegal Immigration on Ballot, but More Need to Do So
While most eyes are on the emerging new balance of power in Congress as vote counts continue after Tuesday’s midterm elections, state leaders should note the outcome of immigration-related ballot measures in four states. Voters weighed in on immigration-related ballot questions in Arizona, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and Ohio that provide models for introduction of similar measures…Hannah Davis -
- News
Martha’s Vineyard, While Touting ‘Humanitarian’ Response, Quickly Decided to Ship Illegal Aliens to Mainland
Immediately after the arrival of about 50 illegal immigrants from Venezuela, Martha’s Vineyard officials pushed a public image of a humanitarian response from the affluent island resort off the coast of Massachusetts. However, internal emails reveal officials’ intent to ship the migrants off the island to a military base on the mainland shortly as soon…Fred Lucas -
- News
Why Fentanyl Is Killing So Many Americans
Two milligrams. That’s all the fentanyl it takes to be potentially lethal to the average adult in America, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. It’s killing thousands of Americans, and it’s flooding into the country. More than 107,000 people in the United States died of drug overdoses and drug poisonings in 2021, according to…Samantha Aschieris -
- Opinion
Neither Trick Nor Treat: What Parents Need to Know About ‘Rainbow Fentanyl’
The end of October is nearing, which means Halloween is just around the corner for many American kids. The holiday, known for trick or treating and consuming copious amounts of candy, is a bit spookier than normal this year: Parents now have to worry about the possibility of so-called rainbow fentanyl ending up in their…Samantha Aschieris -
- News
Reality of Illegal Immigration: ‘Dead Bodies All Over the Whole of the Border,’ Local Leader Says
BRACKETTVILLE, Texas—It was 5:15 p.m. on a Monday afternoon and the 13th hour of Sheriff Brad Coe’s workday. “Phone call came at 4 a.m. this morning,” said Coe, the sheriff of Kinney County, which borders Mexico. A human smuggler had been caught trying to sneak illegal immigrants across the border into the U.S. The…Virginia Allen -
- Opinion
Fentanyl: Too Dangerous to Trust Moscow With, but You Can Score Some in Middle School
The Commerce Department announced last week that from now on, the chemicals needed to make fentanyl can only be exported to Russia with a license. The Commerce Department considers them “potentially useful for Russia’s chemical and biological weapons production capabilities.” Meanwhile, also last week, a 13-year-old in Bakersfield, California, brought 150 fentanyl pills to his…Simon Hankinson -
- Opinion
Border Towns, Martha’s Vineyard, and the Reality of Illegal Immigration
“We don’t have the services to take care of 50 immigrants, and we certainly don’t have housing.” These remarks were made by a Martha’s Vineyard local after 50 illegal migrants arrived last week on the resort island off the coast of Massachusetts. The average price for a house on Martha’s Vineyard is around $1.3 million,…Virginia Allen