Carine Hajjar’s April 7 Ideas piece, “Biden’s border bungle is souring America on immigration,” focused on the Biden administration as the reason for the problems at the border. I suggest instead that the blame belongs squarely with the last 20 to 25 years of congressional inaction on our outdated immigration laws. The problem has existed through at least five administrations, with each trying to get revised laws considered by Congress. President Biden is not the cause of the current situation.
Hajjar writes that “in February Republicans canned a bipartisan border bill that they said didn’t go far enough.” It was “fashioned to get tougher on the border and illegal immigration, but it also would have boosted the number of visas for legal immigrants.” What she leaves out is that the majority of Congress supported the bipartisan measure, and it probably would have passed; however, the minority MAGA wing of the House received instruction from its lord and master, Donald Trump, to scuttle the bill, since it would have given Biden a win and might have helped solve the immigration problem in this election year.
Further, the implication that there is resistance to an increase in visas for legal immigration is questionable. Millions of businesses are struggling to find workers, and good orderly immigration could address the demand and help keep the economy growing.
I agree with her closing statement that restoring an appetite for immigration requires restoring order at the border. Congressional revision of Title 8 and other outdated immigration laws is the first step in the process, not building a wall of razor wire.
John Greichen Jr.
Newport, R.I.
