Many Americans rank security at the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration policy among their top political concerns. While the partisan debate rages on about whether the U.S. should welcome more immigrants or fewer immigrants, other important issues — like the trafficking of deadly fentanyl — continue to fuel popular concerns about border security.

Straight Arrow News contributor Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., contends that the federal government holds a fundamental duty to safeguard our borders and protect Americans. He argues that the president’s reluctance to enforce immigration laws is directly responsible for a range of issues, including crime, human trafficking, the proliferation of fentanyl, the parole crisis and other dangers stemming from Biden’s open border policies.

Because of his failed policies, every state is a border state. By contrast, President Trump’s border policies brought illegal border crossings to a 45-year low.

So how did we get here? Well, instead of continuing the last administration’s successes, Joe Biden reversed them. In the first 100 days in office, Joe Biden issued 94 executive orders undoing Trump’s border policies. President Trump had built nearly 500 miles of border wall. President Biden signed an executive order stopping it. President Trump detained illegal aliens seeking asylum. President Biden has allowed the abuse with them to explode. President Trump prioritized immigration enforcement. He had also gone after sanctuary cities that refused to enforce the law. President Biden signed an executive order repealing it. In addition, President Biden has abused a parole authority to let more illegal immigrants into this country, a literal catch-and-release policy.

Under President Trump and President Obama, an average of 5,600 people each year were granted parole. In the last fiscal year alone, President Biden gave parole to 1.2 million people coming to our country illegally. Our parole system is supposed to be about individuals with special circumstances. Wanting a better job is not a legitimate reason to get asylum. And what did Joe Biden’s open border policies give us? Those policies create a national security, humanitarian and drug catastrophe at our southern border.


Senator Ricketts is the son of SAN owner Joe Ricketts.