This reluctance to defend and unwillingness to explain a policy that is being put in place by facts at the border suggest a suspicion that it’s widely unpopular. Candidate Biden made it clear he wanted a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country, and administration actions now invite many more to come in illegally.
This at a time when it’s not clear that the nation needs a new influx of relatively low-skill immigrants. The housing crisis of 2007-2008 reduced net migration from Mexico to zero for several years, and it has never rebounded to 1982-2007 levels. The Trump policies, after some stumbles and adverse court decisions, curtailed the Central American inflow.
The result is that total immigration flow has tilted toward Asia, and it has produced a higher percentage of high-skill immigrants — just what those on both sides of immigration arguments have said they want. Now, Biden is pursuing a policy that will hold down low-skill wages at a time when many have been involuntarily unemployed for months. Why?
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