These tantrums are sad and predictable. Republicans can’t sink Biden on COVID or the economy, so they reach for immigration, which is already perhaps the second most divisive public issue in America after race and which has paid off for them in the past. See: Trump.

The message is clear: Alert! Scary, dark-skinned, Spanish-speaking foreigners at the U.S.-Mexico border, bringing crime, disease and national security threats. Only Republicans can save the Republic.

In truth, when it comes to U.S. immigration policy on the U.S.-Mexico border, the Biden administration is making some wise moves.

It’s not perfect, of course. There are still too many young people—especially teenagers—being incarcerated in primitive holding cells at the border for much longer periods of time that the law allows.

But Team Biden is showing that it is capable of thinking outside the box in tackling this difficult problem. And that’s a good thing.