The Biden administration has proven itself unwilling to secure the southern border. It is, however, apparently more than willing to secure Texas' northern border if that means fencing in the fallout of failed Democratic policies and sparing blue states from facing repercussions over their long-standing support of illegal immigration.
Three U.S. officials not authorized to discuss the matter recently told the Los Angeles Times that the Biden administration is considering the possibility of using geofencing to force illegal aliens to remain in Texas while awaiting asylum screening.
According to this plan, a possible expansion of the Family Expedited Removal Management program, migrant families would be fitted with ankle bracelets or other such GPS monitoring devices and tracked during their wait.
This in theory would preclude Republican Gov. Greg Abbott from busing migrants to the various Democratic sanctuary states and sanctuary cities whose incentives and invitations have exacerbated the underlying problem.
The New York Post reported that roughly 35,000 illegal aliens have been bused from Texas to sanctuary cities, including over 13,000 to New York City.
An end to the busing would no doubt be greatly appreciated by the likes of sanctuary city Mayor Eric Adams, who admitted this week that "this issue will destroy New York City" and has littered the border with flyers telling migrants not to compound his city's difficulties.
Los Angeles, presently taking legal action against Texas over the busing initiative, would also likely be pleased with not having to honor its sanctuary city commitments.
A possible silver lining for beleaguered border towns and critics of what Abbott has repeatedly termed an "invasion" is that by keeping illegal aliens closer to the border, it might be easier to locate and boot them out of the country should they fail their screenings, reported the Times.
After all, migrants whose incursions take them deep into the American heartland are reportedly much harder to capture "because of the complicated logistical planning needed to apprehend children and their parents." Additionally, various Democrat-run municipalities and regions around the country refuse to cooperate with immigration officials.
Despite the prospect of easier deportations, in the meantime, forced retention of illegal hordes would likely further overwhelm the Lone Star State's facilities and sap its remaining resources.
Yael Schacher, director for the Americas and Europe at Refugees International, told the Times, "There hasn't been an attempt to force asylum-seeking families to remain in border towns for 35 years," referencing the Reagan administration's requirement that illegal aliens apply for asylum and wait where they crossed the border in south Texas.
Abbott responded to the Times article, writing, "This scam was tried years ago & was shot down by a judge. We will send Biden the same swift justice. And, we will add even more buses of migrants to D.C.."
When pressed about the prospect of burdening Texas with the illegal aliens Democrats no longer want to deal with, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman told Fox News Digital that the Biden administration "is committed to expanding safe and orderly pathways for migrants to lawfully enter the United States, while imposing consequences to those who fail to use those pathways."
"DHS continuously holds policy and operational discussions on how to leverage our authorities to ensure a fair, humane, and effective immigration process that efficiently removes those without a lawful basis to stay in the country," continued the statement.
The proposal has been widely criticized online.
Megyn Kelly wrote, "So this is Biden’s solution? Keep the immigration problem in Texas so he can get the blue state governors and mayors off his back?"
Jon Gabriel, the editor in chief of Ricochet, shared an image captioned "Biden's Border Wall," showing Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas walled out of the United States.
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Sean Davis, co-founder of the Federalist, noted, "So if it's possible to confine illegal immigrants to a specific geographic area, why not just 'limit their ability to travel' into the U.S. in the first place?"
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) tweeted, "Biden once again wants to make Texas bear the brunt of the open borders MAYHEM he’s caused. Innocent Texans are going to DIE because of this. These migrants shouldn’t stay in Texas, THEY SHOULD STAY IN MEXICO!! CLOSE THE BORDER NOW!!"
Not only has the Biden administration recently been looking for ways to simultaneously relieve Democratic cities and add to Texas' burden, it fought the Lone Star State's latest effort to stem the flow of illegal aliens into the nation. Texas recently installed a floating barrier along the Rio Grande. The Biden administration fought the initiative, and a federal judge recently ordered it to be temporarily removed.
Abbott indicated on Wednesday that Texas would appeal and "is prepared to take this fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court."
Under Biden's watch, nearly 2 million illegal aliens, including tens of thousands flagged as possibly having terrorist links, stole into the nation between October 2022 and July 2023. Roughly 3.7 million more entered in the previous months of the Democratic president's time in office.
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Chaos Begins As Biden Sits in Silence While Reporters Try To Simply Ask Questions