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South Dakota Removes 273 Noncitizens from Its Voter Rolls Ahead Of 2024 Election


By: Shawn Fleetwood | October 08, 2024

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2024/10/08/south-dakota-removes-273-noncitizens-from-its-voter-rolls-ahead-of-2024-election/

A South Dakota welcome sign.

South Dakota announced Monday it has removed 273 noncitizens from its voter rolls, dealing a major blow to Democrats’ narrative that foreign nationals aren’t interfering in U.S. elections. The announcement was revealed in a Department of Public Safety (DPS) press release, which noted that the “discovery was part of a review to ensure the integrity of South Dakota’s elections and safeguard against improper voter registration.” The agency said the efforts to remove these noncitizens from the rolls are being handled by the office of Republican Secretary of State Monae Johnson.

“Ensuring the integrity of our elections is our highest priority,” Johnson said in a statement. “We are proud of the thorough work done to safeguard South Dakota’s voter rolls. We worked closely with DPS to resolve this issue, and we’re constantly working to make sure that only eligible citizens are participating in our elections.”

While regularly dismissed by Democrats and their media allies as a non-issue, foreign nationals inserting themselves into America’s electoral process is anything but. In recent months, numerous states have collectively removed thousands of noncitizens who were registered to vote in their respective jurisdictions.

On Monday, Oregon announced that state officials identified “an additional 302 people on the state’s voter rolls who didn’t provide proof of citizenship when they were registered to vote,” according to Fox News. That figure brings the total number of suspected noncitizens registering to vote since 2021 up from its previous estimate of 1,259 to 1,561.

In May, the office of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose discovered 137 voter registrations “assigned to Ohio residents who have twice confirmed their non-citizenship status” to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. State officials revealed in August they subsequently found an additional 499 noncitizens who were registered to vote.

In an August executive order, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin disclosed that the commonwealth’s department of elections had removed 6,303 foreign nationals from the state’s voter rolls since he took office in January 2022. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen revealed that same month plans to clear 3,251 potential noncitizens from the Yellowhammer State’s voter registration lists.

Texas has similarly removed 6,500 suspected noncitizens from its voter rolls since 2021, according to an August announcement by Gov. Greg Abbott.

[READ: Federal Data: Thousands Of Illegals Are Registered To Vote, But In 21 Years DOJ Has Only Prosecuted 35]

Last month, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird brought charges against Jorge Oscar Sanchez-Vasquez, a noncitizen legally residing in the United States, for allegedly registering to vote and casting a ballot in a 2024 city council race.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood

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14 Lies Kamala Harris Told During Her DNC Speech


By: Shawn Fleetwood | August 23, 2024

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2024/08/23/14-lies-kamala-harris-told-during-her-dnc-speech/

Kamala Harris giving her DNC speech.

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Implementing destructive policies isn’t the only thing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have in common. Following the latter’s acceptance speech during Thursday’s Democratic National Convention, it’s clear America’s vice president has learned a thing or two about lying from her senile boss. From abortion to immigration, Harris parroted numerous falsehoods about her record and that of Donald Trump. In case you missed her lackluster screed, here’s a definitive list of the Democrat presidential nominee’s biggest whoppers.

[RELATED: Tracking Kamala Harris’ Biggest And Baddest Lies: 20 And Counting]

1. Jan. 6

Vice President Kamala Harris falsely claimed that Donald Trump “sent an armed mob to the U.S. Capitol” on Jan. 6. 2021, and further accused the former president of “fann[ing] the flames” after “politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help.”

That is false. During his J6 speech, Trump specifically telegraphed to protestors to “peacefully and patriotically make [their] voices heard.” Trump also released a video calling for peace during the riot and had previously sought to deploy thousands of National Guard members to the Capitol ahead of the demonstrations.

2. Supreme Court ‘Presidential Immunity’ Decision

Kamala Harris distorted the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision on presidential immunity by claiming the decision means Trump “would be immune from criminal prosecution.”

“His explicit intent to jail journalists, political opponents and anyone he sees as the enemy. His explicit intent to deploy our active duty military against our own citizens,” Harris contended in a hyperbolic fashion. “Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails, and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States.”

The vice president’s claim is misleading at best. While a majority of justices determined that presidents possess “absolute immunity” for “actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority” and “at least presumptive immunity” for “official acts,” they separately noted that “[t]here is no immunity for unofficial acts.”

The justices further remanded the Biden-Harris Justice Department’s get-Trump lawfare back to the lower courts to determine whether the actions alleged by Special Counsel Jack Smith constitute “official acts.”

3. Trump’s Record on Entitlements

Kamala Harris claimed Donald Trump “tried to cut Social Security and Medicare.” Even The Washington Post’s so-called “fact-checkers” rated a previous version of this claim from the Harris-Walz campaign as “misleading.”

4. School Funding Statistics

During her DNC speech, Kamala Harris attacked Donald Trump for pledging to get rid of the Department of Education.

“We are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our public schools,” Harris said.

As the left-wing “fact-checkers” would say, this statement “needs context.” While the federal government does finance public school systems, those funds typically account for less than 10 percent of taxpayer monies given to schools in a given year. During the 2019-2020 school year, for example, “47.5% of funding came from state governments, 44.9% came from local governments, and the federal government provided about 7.6% of school funding,” according to USA Facts.

5. ‘Middle Class’ Roots

Kamala Harris falsely claimed that she came from the “middle class.” As previously noted by journalist Megyn Kelly, Harris’ father was a professor at Stanford University, while her mother was a biomedical scientist at UC Berkley.

6. Trump’s Tax Cuts

Kamala Harris falsely insinuated that the 2017 tax cuts approved by the Trump administration disproportionately benefited America’s wealthiest citizens.

“[Trump] fights for himself and his billionaire friends,” Harris claimed. “And he will give them another round of tax breaks that will add up to $5 trillion to the national debt.”

That is not true. Data produced by the IRS has shown that “on average all income brackets benefited substantially from the Republicans’ tax reform law, with the biggest beneficiaries being working and middle-income filers, not the top 1 percent,” according to The Hill.

7. Trump’s Tariff Policies

Kamala Harris claimed Donald Trump intends to impose a “national sales tax” on Americans that she contended will “raise prices on middle-class families by almost $4,000 a year.”

This claim is misleading and needs context. It appears Harris is citing figures from the left-wing Center for American Progress Action Fund, which, according to The New York Times, estimated that a potential policy “floated” by Trump to raise tariffs to 10 percent on most imports and at least 60 percent on Chinese imports could cost American families $3,900 a year. Other economic groups cited by the Times predict such policies would cost less than the figures estimated by the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

8. Nature of Abortion

The vice president falsely asserted that signing a federal law authorizing abortions nationwide would “restore reproductive freedom.” As The Federalist’s Jordan Boyd accurately noted, however, the law would actually “subject thousands of babies and women, nearly 70 percent of whom felt their abortions were forced, unwanted, or contradicted their views, to harm.”

9. GOP Pro-Life Laws

Kamala Harris falsely claimed that Republican pro-life laws that protect thousands of unborn babies from elective abortions bar doctors from treating women dealing with a pregnancy-related health issue, such as a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy.

“I will tell you, over the past two years, I’ve traveled across our country, and women have told me their stories. Husbands and fathers have shared theirs. Stories of women miscarrying in a parking lot, developing sepsis, losing the ability to ever again have children, all because doctors are afraid they may go to jail for caring for their patients. Couples just trying to grow their family, cut off in the middle of IVF treatments,” Harris claimed.

As The Federalist previously reported, “[t]here is a clear legal distinction between an induced abortion, which deliberately intends to end the life of the baby, and the medically classified ‘spontaneous abortions’ such as an ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, or early delivery with the intent of saving the baby and mother.” Furthermore, every pro-life law currently in effect contains exceptions allowing abortions when necessary to save the pregnant mother’s life.

10. Trump’s Position on Abortion

Kamala Harris untruthfully accused Donald Trump of attempting to “enact a nationwide abortion ban, with or without Congress,” designate “a national anti-abortion coordinator,” “force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions,” “limit access to birth control,” and outlaw a popular and dangerous abortion drug regime.

As The Federalist’s Jordan Boyd previously noted, Trump has regularly taken the position that laws limiting the murder of children in the womb should be left “up to the states.” He’s voiced opposition to signing a federal law curbing abortion and his vice-presidential pick J.D. Vance “similarly claimed the pill responsible for a 500 percent increase in abortion-related emergency room visits should remain legal and ‘accessible.’”

11. IVF

Kamala Harris falsely insinuated that Donald Trump is to blame if couples are “cut off in the middle of IVF treatments.”

As The Federalist previously reported, “Trump has openly touted in vitro fertilization, even though it is marred with ethical and moral pitfalls, as a procedure that Republicans and pro-life conservatives should promote.”

“Trump has openly touted in vitro fertilization, even though it is marred with ethical and moral pitfalls, as a procedure that Republicans and pro-life conservatives should promote.”

12. Disastrous Border Bill

Kamala Harris lied when claiming that a congressional immigration bill proposed and defeated earlier this year is the “the strongest border bill in decades.”

That statement is categorically false. The bipartisan measure would have enshrined the existing invasion into federal law.

13. Trump’s NATO Comments

While falsely claiming that Donald Trump “encouraged [Vladimir] Putin to invade our allies,” Kamala Harris distorted the former president’s remarks by claiming he told Russia it could “do whatever the hell [it] want[s].” Harris’ characterization of Trump’s remarks is as inaccurate as when her boss said it during his State of the Union address earlier this year.

Trump’s remarks came during a South Carolina rally, during which he recounted a story from when he was president and speaking with a NATO member. Trump purportedly told this state that he would withhold U.S. support if they didn’t pay their minimum defense spending obligations.

“‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’” Trump recalled telling the unidentified NATO member. “‘No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.’”

14. America’s Enemies

Kamala Harris claimed “tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong-un” are “rooting” for Donald Trump to win this November.

While there is no definitive way for Harris to know this, the actions of America’s biggest adversaries in the years since she and Biden assumed the White House suggests the exact opposite. Thus far, Russia has invaded Ukraine, Iran-backed Hamas launched a deadly terrorist attack on Israel, North Korea disavowed potential peace with South Korea, and China has ramped up its threats toward Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood

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Human Trafficking Czar Ignores Democrat-Invited Human Trafficking Over U.S. Border


BY: JORDAN BOYD | APRIL 24, 2024

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2024/04/24/human-trafficking-czar-ignores-democrat-invited-human-trafficking-over-u-s-border/

Cindy Dyer

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The ongoing border invasion is perhaps the largest source of human trafficking inside the United States. Yet the woman President Joe Biden tasked with monitoring and combating this problem has largely neglected that nexus in her reports, speeches, and other work since assuming her role in January 2023.

On paper, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Cindy Dyer appears qualified to lead that State Department office. Her official bio boasts “three decades of experience working at the local, national, and international levels to prevent and respond to human trafficking, sexual assault, and domestic violence” as well as her lengthy track record as former vice president for human rights at a nongovernmental organization.

It’s safe to say Dyer is no stranger to the conditions that breed exploitation at home and abroad. That might be why the Senate unanimously confirmed her as human trafficking czar in 2022. Notably missing from her work at the TIP office, however, is a focus on what has quickly become the nation’s biggest hub for human trafficking: the southern border.

The Elephant in the Room

Human trafficking was a huge, bipartisan issue until a few years ago when corporate media started associating it with the “far-right.” That narrative shift directly coincided with Democrats’ zeal for unfettered illegal immigration. That means it’s like pulling teeth to get anyone in the regime (including the nation’s lead woman on the job) to talk about the mass human trafficking at our compromised southern border.

Still, it’s happening and, with the help of a vast nongovernmental organization system, is funded with American tax dollars and enabled by American policies.

In 2007, the majority of trafficking victims in the States were clocked as female border crossers. Even our federal government admits on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website that “border smuggling frequently involves human trafficking.” Since that report was released in 2007, the number of men, women, and unaccompanied minors indebting themselves to smugglers so they can illegally enter the United States has skyrocketed.

At least 10 million illegal border crossers have entered the United States since President Joe Biden’s presidency began. Since illegal immigrants rarely get across the U.S.-Mexico border without paying a price to cartels, those millions likely shelled out thousands of dollars to ensure their illegal passage from Mexico into California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

The people demanding these payments are “coyotes,” the billion-dollar human smuggling arm of criminal organizations that control the Northern Mexico territory. The profitability and frequency of these cartels’ kidnapping and ransom schemes have increased since Biden effectively legalized illegal border crossings after taking office in 2021.

Tara Lee Rodas, who worked with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement to place unaccompanied migrant children with sponsors, told the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement in April 2023 that children “are being trafficked through a sophisticated network that begins with being recruited in home country, smuggled to the US border, and ends when ORR delivers a child to . . . Sponsors” who may be “criminals and traffickers and members of Transnational Criminal Organizations.”

“Whether intentional or not, it can be argued that the US Government has become the middleman in a large scale, multi-billion-dollar, child trafficking operation run by bad actors seeking to profit off the lives of children,” Rodas said.

See Something, Say Nothing

The 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report, released by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Dyer last June, acknowledges that human trafficking “often occurs transnationally” but stops short of acknowledging that the influx of illegal border crossers welcomed under President Joe Biden contributes to the nation’s modern slavery problems. Instead of addressing the root cause of U.S. trafficking problems — unfettered and incentivized access to the United States via a compromised border — Dyer said the State Department is focused on promoting “equity” that prioritizes “diverse groups and marginalized communities” in foreign countries.

“Promoting equity with respect to race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and for marginalized communities is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. When we partner to support vulnerable migrants, advocate for women’s rights, or enact legislation to protect LGBTQI+ individuals, we are creating a more just and equitable world that is also more impervious to human traffickers,” Dyer wrote in the report’s introduction.

Later in the 116-page document, Dyer also demanded foreign governments “re-double their efforts to proactively identify all victims, protect them, support survivors, prevent trafficking even in the face of new and complex challenges, and ensure that law enforcement holds traffickers accountable.” The report confirmed this by calling for U.S. security and government “assistance” for other countries deemed in need of trafficking prevention resources.

Yet Dyer failed in the report to specifically address securing the U.S. border or cracking down on the criminal trafficking that stems from it.

The United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking Annual Report 2023, released under the Dyer office’s supervision, does touch on the relationship between the border invasion and trafficking but fails to link it to the Biden administration’s open border polices or recommend any serious policies aimed at combating the problem. Instead, the report merely suggests the Department of Homeland Security increase its “oversight,” “support,” and “awareness” of the issue.

Why hasn’t Dyer directed her or her subordinates’ attention to the ongoing border chaos despite its clear connection to human trafficking?

She admitted the quiet part out loud during May 2023 testimony to the House Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations when she told Chairman Chris Smith, R-N.J., that her office supports the Biden administration’s goals to facilitate amnesty for illegal border crossers instead of deportation.

“Addressing the challenges of irregular migration, specifically providing protection to refugees and asylum seekers and offering lawful migration pathways are key priorities for the administration,” Dyer said.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ymw7-T3p4Ww%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26enablejsapi%3D1

The Federalist asked Dyer if she believes cracking down on illegal immigration and securing the border would reduce the risk of human trafficking, but she did not respond.

Emboldening crime organizations with promises of citizenship for all doesn’t simply put illegal border crossers at risk of exploitation and harm, it endangers Americans too. Simply put, failure to curb the border crisis is a direct failure to cut down on human trafficking and American suffering in the United States.

Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.

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Mom Of Boy Killed By Illegal Border Crosser Speaks Out: ‘His Life Was Taken Way Too Early By Someone Who Shouldn’t Be Here’


BY: JORDAN BOYD | MARCH 28, 2024

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2024/03/28/mom-of-boy-killed-by-illegal-border-crosser-speaks-out-his-life-was-taken-way-too-early-by-someone-who-shouldnt-be-here/

Alex Wise Jr. holds his little sister

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MIDLAND, Texas — Alex Wise Jr. would have turned 11 years old in May, but he won’t be at his birthday party this year. Instead of celebrating another trip around the sun for Wise, his extended family will gather without him to honor his 10 short years on Earth.

“I wish he was here. I really do wish I had him here. But unfortunately, his life was taken way too early by someone who wasn’t even supposed to be in the country,” Sykia Benson, Wise’s mom, told The Federalist.

Wise became one of the many victims of the ongoing border invasion in February, shortly after he was struck and killed by an illegal border crosser as he headed home from school. The elementary school student used to ride the bus, but after his family moved apartments, he was asked to walk.

Thursday, February 8 was Wise’s first and last day to walk his new after-school route. Before the 10-year-old could even make it to the stop sign where someone was waiting to meet him, Wise was hit by a truck driven by an illegal border crosser.

“Everybody else let [Wise] cross the street but this car was so impatient that it went around. And he was almost on the grass, like a step away from being on the grass when he got hit,” Benson said.

Rogelio Ortiz Olivas, a 50-year-old Mexico native who re-crossed President Joe Biden’s open border after facing deportation at least five times previously, was registered as intoxicated at the time of the crash. He fled the scene but was later arrested after an officer at a traffic stop noticed his damaged truck hood bearing an “impression of a skull.”

Ortiz Olivas faces a third-degree felony of “hit and run, accident causing death” charge for “driver negligence” and failing to stop and render aid. Local arrest records confirm that, to this day, the Midland County Sheriff’s Office is holding Ortiz for “collision involving serious bodily injury,” “driving while intoxicated,” and an immigration detainer.

Benson says police told her Ortiz Olivas had a New Mexico driver’s license and the vehicle he drove was in his name.

“Somebody helped him get identification,” Benson said. “Somebody helped him in New Mexico get an ID.”

The Midland Police Department did not immediately respond to The Federalist’s questions about this alleged driver’s license and whether it was still valid at the time of the incident. It wouldn’t be impossible, however, for an illegal border crosser like Ortiz Olivas to have obtained a standard license at some point under New Mexico’s lax ID laws.

‘The Sweetest Kid’

Benson received the devastating call that her son was injured and would be life-flighted to the nearby city of Lubbock for medical care as she was picking up her father from the local airport. By the next day, Benson’s “sweet,” “helpful,” and “friendly” boy was gone.

“He was a kid. He got into things,” Benson recalled. “But he was still just a sweet, sweet person.”

Wise wasn’t just sweet, he was also smart, making mostly A’s and B’s in school. When he wasn’t learning math, his favorite subject, Wise was playing sports with friends

“He loved football, basketball, soccer. He loved it all. He was about to start playing football. He already played basketball and soccer,” Benson said.

Wise also loved playing with his one-year-old sister. Benson said her daughter doesn’t quite understand Wise’s absence but she recognizes it.

“I don’t think she knows too much now but you can definitely see a void where she’s used to running to him, running in his room,” Benson said.

As for Benson, she’s taking things “day by day.”

“I feel like I’m at a standstill because it’s surreal that he’s gone,” Benson said through tears.

A Preventable Death

Since Wise’s passing, Benson and her family have received an outpouring of support from their church, friends, and Wise’s school, which promised to erect a park bench in her son’s name. But not even the most heartfelt gestures can take away the pain she feels when she wakes up early to take her son to school only to remember he’s not there.

“It’s been hard. Trying to get used to him not being here, it’s been really, really difficult,” Benson said.

One of the most unexpected parts of her grieving process, Benson said, is her concern that a tragedy like the one her son endured could happen again. She said her son’s death could have been prevented if the United States had better deportation enforcement and border security.

“There should be laws put in place where if you’re deported one time and you get caught a second time, it should be mandatory automatic jail time. So you keep sending them back and they keep coming over and they’re getting over some kind of way. It’s no control over the border,” Benson said.

Currently, Benson does not know when legal justice against her son’s alleged killer will be served.

“I actually haven’t heard anything from anyone,” Benson. “Nobody’s been informing me about anything. I’ve been going to them, and they still don’t know too much.”

The Midland County District Attorney’s Office confirmed to The Federalist on Wednesday that there are no scheduled court dates for Ortiz Olivas.

No matter how long the wait, Benson hopes justice will come for “the sweetest kid ever.”

Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.

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To Stop the Border Invasion, Get Tough on Mexico


BY: JOHN DANIEL DAVIDSON | MARCH 22, 2024

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2024/03/22/to-stop-the-border-invasion-get-tough-on-mexico/

riot overwhelms border patrol at the border with Mexico

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A group of several hundred illegal immigrants forcibly pushed past Texas National Guard troops on Thursday in El Paso, Texas, breaking through razor wire and assaulting guardsmen as they forcibly rushed a border gate. Video of the clash, which was filmed by reporters from the New York Post, quickly went viral. It shows the crowd of migrants, all of them adult men, at first putting their hands up as they crowd around a small group of Texas guardsmen trying to block an opening in the fence the migrants had created. After what appears to be a brief physical altercation, the crowd rushes past the guardsmen. The Post reporter at the scene described it as a “riot.”

The video is shocking. It underscores not only how unstable the border has become but also what has been true for a while now: This is an invasion. What began as a crisis created by the Biden administration’s lax border policies is now an open conflict careening toward disaster.

What can be done to stop this? In the near term, mostly nothing. The riotous scenes at the border, the millions of illegal immigrants processed and released into the country by federal immigration authorities, the chaos of homeless illegal immigrants camped out on the streets of major American cities — all of these were totally predictable policy outcomes that the Biden administration knew would happen. They did it anyway, and they will probably not do anything to stop it.

But even if the Biden administration recognized that the border invasion might be a political liability going into the November presidential election, the steps required to bring the situation under control at this point are so drastic that there’s almost no chance the Biden White House would even consider them.

The key thing to understand about the crisis is that it’s being managed by Mexican cartels, along with their partners inside the Mexican government, as a for-profit enterprise. Under Biden, the cartels have turned illegal immigration into big business, a massive black market in which every illegal immigrant who crosses the border represents a source of income for the cartels. They are all being trafficked, in other words. It is not too much to say the cartels are running slave markets, as my friend Joshua Treviño did in these pages recently, “in which children are bought and sold to increase the chances that the norteamericanos will admit a supposed family unit, and also to provide supply to the vile and ravenous market in sex.”

The Mexican government is complicit in all this. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, popularly known as AMLO, has not tried to hide his longstanding connections to the country’s most powerful cartel, Sinaloa, nor has he done anything to rein them in during his presidency, consistently pursuing the drug war policy he outlined when running for president in 2018: “hugs, not bullets.”

In recent years, he has become testy and aggressive on matters related to immigration and the border. AMLO is especially incensed at efforts by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to crack down on illegal immigration. Asked about the new Texas law that would allow state law enforcement officers to arrest and deport illegal border-crossers, which a federal appeals court temporarily blocked this week, AMLO strongly implied the Mexican military would help illegals cross the border. His foreign secretary, Alicia Bárcena, said the government would put “increased vigilance and controls” at border crossings to prevent Texas from carrying out deportations if the law goes into effect. While AMLO would not say clearly what steps he would take, he did suggest some kind of retaliation: “We will not just sit around with our arms crossed.”

This is not how a friendly neighbor talks nor how a partner nation behaves. The truth is, Mexico is neither. One of the great fictions Washington policymakers have labored under for decades is the notion that our southern neighbor is anything but an antagonist on the border issue and that carrots, not sticks, are sufficient to secure its cooperation.

But the truth is just the opposite. Unless Mexico is credibly threatened with concrete measures that would harm its economy, AMLO will not act to alleviate the illegal immigration crisis. During Trump’s term in office, he was only able to get his Mexican counterpart to cooperate with his border agenda by threatening to slap tariffs on Mexican goods coming across the border. In many ways, Trump’s clear-eyed dealing with Mexico is what made policies like Remain in Mexico successful.

Something similar will be required in any future Republican administration. The only way to deal with the border crisis, at this point, is to carry out mass deportations. That will mean forcing Mexico to accept deportees and do more — far more — to control the flow of illegal immigrants north to the U.S. border. Absent the threat of crippling economic sanctions — or something worse — Mexico will not act to stem the tide of illegal immigration.

Until GOP leaders get that through their heads, they will be left in the ridiculous position of doing what House Speaker Mike Johnson did Thursday after the El Paso video went viral: pathetically tweeting about how it’s all Biden’s fault for “refusing to secure our border and protect America.” This, from one of the only Republicans in a position to actually do something about the border. Johnson could shut down the government over the Biden administration’s refusal to address the crisis, but he won’t.

It’s going to take stronger leadership than that to really deal with the invasion at the border, if and when a Republican takes back the White House. It will mean a total shift in conventional thinking about Mexico — and a willingness to treat our southern neighbor like the antagonist it has become.

John Daniel Davidson is a senior editor at The Federalist. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Claremont Review of Books, The New York Post, and elsewhere. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Pagan America: the Decline of Christianity and the Dark Age to Come, to be published in March 2024. Follow him on Twitter, @johnddavidson.

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