Op-Ed: Real Conservatives wouldn’t kick the can down the road on border reforms
By Michael Whitfield
Pink Hill Commissioner Michael Whitfield. Photo: Facebook
The crisis on our southern border is an emergency that demands our nation’s full attention. It can no longer be ignored or swept under the rug. We are now seeing reports of more than 12,000 encounters by Border Patrol daily, a pace of more than 4 million illegal immigrants a year. This is not sustainable. Our lack of control of the border presents an immense threat to our economy and national security. Instead of sitting on their hands, Congress ought to do its job and pull together a fix for this abject failure.
Fortunately, we have an opportunity to see real border security as Congress works on a national security funding bill. This is a positive development on two counts. First, it forces Democrats to finally acknowledge the issue — if they want to help President Biden advance his core foreign policy objectives, they must discuss border security with their Republican colleagues. Second, it gives Republicans the strongest leverage they’ve had in years to change immigration policy and restore border security.
Beyond leverage and political opportunity, Republicans are also right to make the connection. I’m all for helping our allies fight back against ruthless terrorists and dictators, but we need to make sure our homeland is secure before we send more dollars abroad — anything less would fail to serve our national interest. We can’t effectively project power around the world if we have a soft underbelly here at home. The good news is, we can kill two birds with one stone.
Republican leaders in Congress, like our own Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), are spearheading negotiations with Democrats to ensure we secure our border. I fully back these efforts because I want to see action on the border immediately, and it’s clear that Republicans have the high ground in the talks. For example, these negotiations have already borne fruit, with the Biden administration recently coming forward with significant concessions on Republican priorities, including new expulsion powers at the border similar to Trump administration policy, overhauling the asylum system to stop abuse of invalid claims, as well as expanded rapid deportation authority that can be used nationwide.
The very fact that President Biden is at the negotiating table now is proof of the real leverage Republicans have. And the fact that progressives are hysterically opposing these border security provisions means that negotiators like Senator Tillis are hitting the right mark. Conservative members of Congress should rally around the discussions being led by members of their own party rather than foolishly run from them or, even worse, undermine them.
I firmly believe Republicans can take back the Presidency and Senate in the next election but until January 2025, the fact of the matter is there is a Democrat majority in the Senate and a Democrat in the White House. Conservatives are in a strong position to set the terms of a deal today unless we ignore the political landscape and start attacking each other for simply negotiating with the other side.
The time is right for Republicans to drive negotiations on the border and secure major concessions from the other side of the aisle. Senator Tillis is right to seize this window of opportunity and force action to regain control of the border today, instead of allowing the situation to continue to spiral out-of-control and make it practically impossible for the next Republican administration to fix once and for all. Those seeking to undermine these talks, either to score political points for themselves or simply out of a stunning lack of understanding for the opportunity before us, should be ready to share the blame with President Biden for the continued unprecedented flow of illegal immigrants entering our country.
Michael Whitfield is serving his first term as a member of the Pink Hill, NC Town Council.
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