Doctors treat major hemorrhages with Band-Aids only when they have no wish to stop the hemorrhage.
When it comes to illegal immigration, the federal government has an endless supply of Band-Aids.
On Wednesday, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced that an estimated 472,000 Venezuelan nationals already in the United States illegally would become eligible for temporary protected status and work authorization.
According to a DHS news release, expanded TPS eligibility amounts to an “extension and redesignation” under an existing policy.
An estimated 242,700 illegal immigrants from Venezuela have already benefited from TPS, according to the release. Thus, the new “extension and redesignation” could bring the total number of Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries to more than 700,000.
In short, TPS means that nearly three-quarters of a million illegal immigrants can receive both protection from deportation and the right to work legally in the U.S.
The DHS news release cited “enduring humanitarian, security, political, and environmental conditions” in Venezuela that precluded illegal immigrants’ safe return.
Furthermore, it called these conditions “extraordinary and temporary” and used them to justify an 18-month TPS extension.
Curiously, however, the extension applied only to Venezuelan nationals who arrived prior to July 31.
In fact, Mayorkas appeared quite adamant on this point. He called it “critical that Venezuelans understand that those who have arrived here after July 31, 2023, are not eligible for such protection, and instead will be removed when they are found to not have a legal basis to stay.”
Surely nothing so preposterous could originate anywhere but in government.
First, we hear that approximately 472,000 illegal immigrants must remain in the U.S. because they cannot safely return to Venezuela.
Next, we learn that those safety concerns apply only to illegal immigrants who arrived before July 31. Apparently, for those who arrived Aug. 1 or later, Venezuela remains a perfectly safe return destination.
Meanwhile, we find the DHS labeling Venezuela’s terrible conditions “temporary,” as if government officials possess the power of oracles.
In reporting on the TPS extension, Reuters noted that Democratic leaders have pushed for illegal immigrants to receive work authorization.
New York Mayor Eric Adams, for instance, has seen public resources depleted as illegal immigrants overrun his “sanctuary city.” Adams, in fact, has made apocalyptic predictions about his city’s future.
Almost no one opposes legal immigration. Many Americans loathe tyranny and thus welcome immigrants in genuine need of asylum.
Nonetheless, let no one confuse federal immigration policy with compassion for asylum-seekers.
As a federal official, if I wished to protect the interests of American citizens and legal immigrants, I would secure the border immediately.
If, on the other hand, I wished to flood the labor market and depress wages, I would open the border. Then, I would cite “extraordinary and temporary” conditions elsewhere as an excuse to grant illegal immigrants work authorizations.
If I found myself in a particularly cheeky mood, I would choose an arbitrary date. Then, I would announce that those “extraordinary and temporary” conditions posed great peril to anyone who arrived in the U.S. prior to my arbitrary date but not to those who arrived later.
After all, some of my listeners still believe they need cloth masks when entering a restaurant but not when seated in one. Those people will understand my logic. I can always rely on them.
In short, if I had extreme contempt for ordinary Americans, I would do exactly as the Biden administration has done.
Meanwhile, for as long as I must pretend to care about ordinary Americans’ opinions, I would hope that my Band-Aid distracts them while the hemorrhaging continues.
