In the ever-evolving debate over illegal immigration, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s recent statement during the vice-presidential debate comparing border crossing numbers under the Biden and Trump administrations deserves a closer look. His remarks came in response to a claim by Senator J.D. Vance that Vice President Kamala Harris had let a large number of illegal immigrants into the country. Walz sidestepped the claim, instead pointing to the fact that crossings were down compared to Donald Trump’s last months in office. While technically accurate for the most recent months of available data, this comparison does little to reflect the overall scope of the border crisis under President Biden.

Cherry-Picking Data: A Convenient Political Move

Yes, it’s true that apprehensions of illegal immigrants dropped in July and August 2023, following a series of executive actions Biden implemented in June. These actions included temporarily restricting asylum eligibility and expediting removals once border crossings exceeded a certain threshold. However, focusing on this narrow window of time is cherry-picking in the extreme.

Walz’s comparison to the last two months of Trump’s presidency ignores the fact that for the majority of Biden’s term, illegal immigration surged to unprecedented levels. The truth is, until June, illegal border crossings had spiraled out of control under Biden, overwhelming Border Patrol and endangering national security.

In fact, a closer examination shows that apprehensions for the 12-month period ending in June 2023 reached 1.89 million—an alarming 273% higher than in Trump’s final year in office. Even with the most recent decline, illegal crossings under Biden remain significantly higher than during any comparable period under Trump. Walz’s claim is the kind of selective storytelling politicians use to deflect from real issues.

The Reality of the Crisis

The Biden administration’s lenient immigration policies directly contributed to this historic surge. On his first day in office, Biden reversed Trump-era measures like the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which required asylum seekers to wait outside the U.S. for their claims to be processed. He also halted construction of the border wall, a physical deterrent that Trump had made a cornerstone of his immigration policy.

As a result, the message sent to the world was clear: the U.S. border was now more open than before. This perception, combined with the administration’s lax enforcement, encouraged a flood of illegal crossings, putting immense pressure on already strained immigration resources. Migrants from Central and South America, fleeing violence, poverty, and instability, took advantage of what they saw as an open invitation.

The Biden administration only changed course in June 2023, well into its third year, when the crisis became politically untenable. The new policies were implemented as a desperate attempt to control the damage that had been done. While these measures have temporarily slowed crossings, the overall problem persists, and the long-term consequences of the administration’s earlier missteps are still being felt.

Trump’s Success on Immigration

In contrast, the Trump administration took a hardline approach to illegal immigration, focusing on deterrence. Trump’s border policies, which included building hundreds of miles of border wall and empowering Border Patrol agents, were effective in reducing illegal immigration. By the end of his term, apprehensions were far lower than what we’ve seen under Biden.

Critics of Trump’s policies often called them cruel, but they were undeniably effective. Under Trump, illegal immigrants knew there were serious consequences for breaking U.S. laws, leading to a sharp decrease in crossings.

Conclusion

Governor Walz may have been technically correct that illegal crossings were down in recent months, but his comments are misleading when considering the broader context of the Biden administration’s disastrous handling of the border crisis. The drop in apprehensions is a blip in a much larger trend of failure, marked by a massive surge in illegal immigration due to the administration’s misguided policies.

To truly understand what’s happening at the southern border, we need to look at the full picture. And the full picture reveals that illegal immigration has reached unprecedented heights under President Biden, threatening national security and undermining the rule of law.