The Biden White House has gotten a lot of attention: Tim Kane’s perspective on immigration and the border surge in El Paso, Texas

Tim Kane is visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, and the president of the American Lyceum. His most recent book was about the immigrant. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN.

How many times has the Biden White House had an unresolved conflict between idealism and pragmatism on the issue of immigration? How many times has it hesitated to take action, opting instead for political messaging? The answer to both questions is the same.

Most of the officials appointed by President Joe Biden to work on immigration have resigned in frustration, according to a bombshell report from The New York Times in April. “The White House has been divided by furious debates over how – and whether – to proceed in the face of a surge of migrants crossing the southwest border,” the report said.

Some wanted to be more open with immigrants. Others wanted a set of rules to be applied to the people at the border. Some people wanted to compromise with Republicans to create a merit-based, green-card system. They all got nothing.

Too often the White House plays politics. Early last year it engaged in a rhetorical word game as if a crisis existed. It blocked Cubans fleeing communism while allowing in just over 1 million individuals who crossed the border illegally.

It blamed everything on the Trump administration, while pretending Barack Obama’s executive actions hadn’t led to an explosion of families and minors crossing the border. The Biden administration reflexively points to root causes of poverty and violence even though conditions have improved for a decade across Central America.

Already, over the weekend, more than 2,400 migrants crossed into the United States each day in only one section of the border, according to a senior Border Patrol official, marking what he described as a “major surge in illegal crossings” in the El Paso, Texas, sector.

The Immigration Crisis: Why Immigration is Too Small to Be Accepted? Why Foreigners Are More Refugees Than Americans — and Why Does Obama Care?

Legal immigrants bring intelligence, strength and bravery to America. First- and second-generation immigrants have been awarded 20% of the US military’s Medals of Honor. Immigrants are more patriotic than natives in regards to America and the American dream.

In contrast, open border chaos increases human trafficking and drug trafficking. It turns what should be a foreign policy strength into a weakness.

There’s a partisan gap, but focus on that instead of the surprising fact. Democrats, Republicans and independents all support immigration more than in the past. Gallup polls dating back to the 70s confirm this trend.

Biden can reform American refugee policy by taking advantage of his time in history. The difference between those granted temporary protection and those who are awarded permanent residency in the United States is what could be changed at the stroke of a pen.

The traditional way to be categorized as a refugee is to have green cards and pathway to naturalized citizenship. According to Section 8 of the Constitution, naturalization is a congressional authority. However, foreign policy and the granting of temporary welcome to foreign refugees is entirely in the President’s power. He should use that power now.

It would be a changed game if refugees are redefined as temporary noncitizens. There are 200 million foreigners who visit America a year for business, education and tourism, and anyone worried about the flood of refugees should remember that.

Context for those millions is the paltry 200,000 total refugees admitted to the United States from Europe during Hitler’s rule in Germany, amounting to fewer than 20,000 per year. More people are being arrested at the southwest border than at any other point in time this year.

The State Department claims that Honduras is receiving more than 16 million dollars a year from the United States. This is wrong. Hondurans should be given refuge, or their government should get aid, but not both.

Poverty is not real tyranny and should not be confused with it. Beijing’s communist government is setting up a state of watch with reeducation camps. Nearly 7 million Venezuelans have fled President Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship and are hiding in neighboring countries. The Russians invaded more than a dozen million Ukrainians. It’s not hard to find genuine refugees.

Why not call a dictatorship a dictatorship? The President should put the world on notice by ordering the State Department to designate “oppressive” nations – and only their people could qualify for asylum. Such a bold move would resolve the border crisis and align with Biden’s stated values. Too simple? No, the world needs moral clarity more than ever.

Mexico’s Secretary of State meets with the Foreign Minister in Washington, DC During the Biden-Blinken Roundtable on Central and South America

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Mexico’s foreign minister on Thursday for the second time in just over a month, as the Biden administration focused on Latin America amid politically perilous levels of migration at the southern U.S. border.

The subject of immigration was a hot topic at the meeting at a time of huge migration across Central and South America, which is just a month before the elections.

Biden officials chose their words very carefully, avoiding phrases such as border crisis and emphasizing the effects of social and economic upheaval in the region are not unique to the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security put together a plan months ago to deal with thousands of migrants arriving at the border: flying some of them to cities deeper inside the US for processing.

A number of administration officials and sources within the White House say it has been an endless cycle since President Joe Biden took office. Agency officials dream up a plan but then struggle to get White House approval, even as the problem compounds and Republicans step up their criticism.

“Everything seems to influence each other,” one Homeland Security official told CNN. “Things develop. People change their minds. They lost one battle and do this again.

Concerns over increasing border arrests is in part based on mass movement across the Western Hemisphere, where thousands of migrants, particularly Venezuelans, are fleeing deteriorating conditions.

“Interior assistance and community support is something the White House is only serious about discussing when encounter rates rise,” another Homeland Security official told CNN, adding that additional big policy changes aren’t expected until after the midterm election.

The process can sometimes be bogged down by the White House and DHS. The department, under pressure to mitigate the situation on the US-Mexico border, floats proposals to the White House, which in turn asks for additional information, fueling frustrations between the two, sources told CNN. There are disagreements and questions over policy within the DHS.

There may be differing opinions among agencies as well as within them, and a source familiar with internal discussions said these are areas they have been working through together.

The Trump-era immigration system: Plan for a humanitarian parole program and an immigration court docket for migrant families in the United States

And last week, one significant plan came to fruition: The administration announced a humanitarian parole program for Venezuelan migrants while also expanding the use of the controversial Trump-era pandemic emergency restriction on the border.

“Encouraging robust debate, hearing different ideas, and getting lots of expertise before making policy decisions that impact millions of lives is a feature, not a bug,” said Abdullah Hasan, a White House spokesperson, in a statement. The immigration system was gutted by the previous Administration and we’ve seen significant progress in rebuilding it.

The DHS defended its response to an immigration system it said was broken and dismantled by the Trump administration.

“The administration has effectively managed an unprecedented number of noncitizens seeking to enter the United States, interdicted more drugs, and disrupted more smuggling operations than ever before, all while reversing the cruel and harmful policies of the prior administration,” the spokesperson said.

Immigration was among the first issues Biden faced when a surge of unaccompanied minors caught the administration flatfooted in the first months of his presidency. It is just one of the factors that continue to loom over the administration’s immigration agenda.

And by shipping migrants to places like Manhattan, Washington and Martha’s Vineyard, Republican governors like Florida’s Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott of Texas meanwhile seem keener to score points with potential Republican presidential primary voters by using migrants as political pawns than to draw attention to the burden borne by states in this crisis.

The Trump administration has come under fire from immigrant advocates and Democrats for its policy of turning back thousands of people coming into the United States from Venezuela under the guise of Title 42.

“Expanding Title 42 to now include Venezuelans adds salt to an open wound while further eroding our asylum system that President Biden promised to restore,” said Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey in a statement.

A regulation allows asylum officers to hear and decide claims when they are presented at the US southern border, and there is a dedicated immigration court docket for migrant families. The immigration policies were laid out in a White House document.

White House officials are talking to DHS officials on a daily basis, according to sources. The National Security Council, which has been heavily involved in migration management amid mass movement across the Western hemisphere, has also played a critical role, sources said.

The source said that you have to meet the directions of Congress in ways that also match the priorities of the Secretary of Homeland Security.

The Venezuelan Refugee Crisis: From the Biden Administration to the U.S. It’s a Political Problem, Not a Problem for President Barack Obama

Poor economic conditions, food shortages and limited access to health care, for example, are increasingly pushing Venezuelans to leave, posing an urgent challenge for the Biden administration. According to the UN, more than 6 million citizens of Venezuela have left their country, making them the second most refugees in the world after Syria.

He said in a statement that the only way to enter the United States for Venezuela is lawful and orderly. Those who try to cross the southern border of the United States illegally will not be allowed to do so in the future.

Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of homeland security, said last week that refugees from Venezuela shouldn’t cross the border without a visa.

Administration officials have also been working closely with countries across the Western Hemisphere to try to manage the flow of migration north and set up protections closer to migrant origin countries.

A former Obama administration official thinks that the issue is a challenge because it sits in the cracks of a whole set of structures. Logistic management of moving people around is only one aspect of the process that is very complex. Let alone, the expansion of alternative avenues for people to have access to relief.”

The former director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Barack Obama said most of the focus is on the short-term emergency, as well as managing the movement of people.

Every decision is fraught because the Republicans have made it clear that they intend to make political payouts of the situation. There is more than the merits of the contemplated action that can influence a decision. All of it has political resonance, according to Munoz.

The President Joe Biden Call on the Border: Making Sense of a Predictive Proposed Resolution to the Covid-19 Crime

As administration officials considered a border proposal reminiscent of the Trump era this month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Ron Klain, President Joe Biden’s chief of staff, with concerns, according to three sources with knowledge of the call.

The call – one of many that have come in from lawmakers to the White House – was indicative of the politically precarious position for Biden as officials try to fend off Republicans pounding the administration over its handling of the border and appease Democrats concerned about barring asylum seekers from the US.

Title 42 was introduced early in the Covid-19 emergency and allowed officials to turn away certain categories of migrants. Critics say that it was unfair and cruel to make an asylum claim while it was in force, and that it abused public health principles. A federal judge in Louisiana blocked a previous bid by the Biden administration to cancel the order, but a federal judge in Washington struck it down in November, declaring it “arbitrary and capricious.”

Since March 2020 border patrols have been able to quickly remove unauthorized immigrants, but will no longer be able to do that because of the end of the authority.

Schumer and Klain speak regularly and often daily or more in critical moments like the year-end legislative sprint currently underway. But the border issue’s emergence in discussion provides a window into a complex policy and political moment.

Schumer, a New York Democrat who has been pushing the administration to end Title 42 for a long time, isn’t the only one. Administration officials have received a steady stream of calls from lawmakers as well as state and local officials, reflecting often sharply divergent views on the merits of the authority, people familiar with the matter said. The calls, however, all echoed consistent concerns about the termination of Title 42 and what it will mean along the border in recent weeks.

The Biden administration is preparing for a moment when officials have been wrestling with how to navigate. It is the latest phase of an effort that has been going on for a long time, and officials knew when the policy would come to an end. Increased levels and resources are expected in the days ahead, after personnel and technology infrastructure have been directed to key entry points.

Amid growing concerns that large groups of migrants waiting in Mexico could cross over the border next week, Biden’s team said Thursday it was surging resources to the area, improving processing efficiency for immigration claims, imposing consequences for unlawful entry, bolstering nonprofit capacity, targeting smugglers and working with international partners.

“We’re going to do the work, we’re going to be prepared, and we’re going to make sure we have a humane process moving forward,” Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday at the White House briefing.

The White House’s Last-Ditch Request for an Asymptotic Reform of the Border Control Law, and the Status of the Asylum System

One new layer of difficulty for the administration has arisen from the diplomatic component tied to the rapid change of countries of origin for migrants that are caught at the border, because of the cross-cutting viewpoints on border policy.

Administration officials have stressed the necessity of Congress acting to resolve the problem, noting the bipartisan framework released in the Senate last week.

But the political tradeoffs and goodwill required for such a reform defied Congress during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. A last-ditch effort by Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and newly independent Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema that would have led to the protections of Dreamers and new measures to halt border crossings in this Congress just fizzled.

The framework was unlikely to build on the previous day’s gains in the waning days of the session.

The request is meant to strengthen resources for border management and technology. It is not specific to the end of Title 42, the source said.

If adopted, the asylum proposal would be reminiscent of a policy put in place during the Trump administration that dramatically limited the ability of migrants to claim asylum in the US if they resided or traveled through other countries prior to coming to the US. There hasn’t been a decision on the proposal.

When Covid restrictions are lifted this month following a court order, there will be a big influx of migrants, and the Administration has set other plans in motion. The legal fight heated up this week when a group of Republican-led states requested that the federal appeals court decide on their request for a reprieve by Friday.

DHS called for congressional action to update outdated statutes in order to create a functioning asylum system as the current one is under immense strain.

“The 21st (is) going to be a disaster. There are many things that will happen but nothing is ready to go, so December 21 is when Title 42 will end, an official said.

Mayorkas meets with officials and partners in El Paso, the border problem, and what next for the border patrol and immigration system at the IHEP

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas underscored the whole of government approach in a statement, noting that mass movement of people around the globe has posed a uniquely difficult challenge.

“Despite our efforts, our outdated immigration system is under strain; that is true at the federal level, as well as for state, local, NGO, and community partners. In the absence of congressional action to reform the immigration and asylum systems, a significant increase in migrant encounters will strain our system even further,” he said.

He added that addressing this challenge will take time and resources and that they need the partnership of Congress, state and local officials, NGOs, and communities to do so.

If there are more people in the valley, they will move them down there. If more people come across, they will move agents over to Eagle Pass. They are moving agents to El Paso. He called for Biden to go to the border to see what’s going on, and added that this is not the way to secure the border.

El Paso city officials said Tuesday they’re monitoring the situation and are in ongoing discussions with federal, state, and local partners. On Tuesday Mayorkas met with the Customs and Border Protection workforce and local officials in El Paso.

Reply to the Biden Administration Cosmology of the Border Crisis in Texas and the City of Laredo, Calif.,”

A source familiar with the Biden administration’s request for Congress said the administration wanted $3 billion as it prepared for the end of Title 42.

If Republicans in congress are serious about border security, they would ensure the Department of Homeland Security has the resources it needs to build a safe, orderly and humane immigration system, said the White House in a statement.

Cuellar, who represents Texas’ 28th District, told CNN he’s in close touch with the city of Laredo about preparations, adding that the city may bus migrants to other locations as they’ve done in the past if nonprofits can’t handle the influx of arrivals.

Washington was bombarded for much of the year with a pointless argument about the southern US border. But no one is now doubting the chaos and potential migrant surge that could be triggered by an imminent policy shift next week.

The Department of Homeland Security came up with a six-point plan to address the border crisis Thursday, as the Republicans prepare to take over the House.

Even some Democrats are warning that an huge influx of immigrants next week could cause multiple adverse consequences. Critics say the administration took too long to engage on the issue and hasn’t done enough, though they also fault Congress for failing for decades to reform the immigration system and border enforcement – a goal that polls repeatedly show the public supports.

Resolving the Problems of Immigration and Drug Abuse in the Post-Title 42 Era: Attorney General Lisa Monaco and Vice President Kamala Harris

The judge said on CNN that there was a leak. “We need a plumber to come and stop the leak. And instead, what we’re doing is we’re sending us more buckets to hold the water.”

The policy known as Title 42 expired at the end of the month and the governor of California believes it could overburden his state. “The fact is, what we’ve got right now is not working, and it’s about to break in a post-(Title) 42 world unless we take some responsibility and ownership,” he said.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told CBS News she was worried about an increase in “illegal migration” and drug smuggling. Some Democratic jurisdictions, like New York City for instance are already struggling to cope with immigrants who have already arrived as they brace for more.

A federal judge in Texas put a hold on the administration’s attempt to end the “Remain in Mexico” program, which sent non-Mexican citizens who entered the US back to Mexico.

The new GOP House majority seems to want to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for a bad crime in order to retaliate against Trump for his two impeachments, instead of working on solutions to the nation’s problems.

Republicans are right to highlight the epidemic of deaths from fentanyl in the United States that is coming across the border from Mexico often using precursor chemicals from China. But they also spent four years indulging Trump’s obsession with a border wall that does little to stem the influx of the narcotics that mostly comes through border checkpoints, concealed in vehicles by drugs cartels.

The plight of migrants who make perilous journeys to the United States from central and South America are highlighted by the end of Title 42.

Biden assigned Vice President Kamala Harris to address the root causes of immigration from nations in the Western Hemisphere. Her task is fraught because of the corruption, unstable states, and tensions between nations such as the United States and Mexico.

Any permanent solution to border issues would involve a massive investment to secure the frontier, with barriers where it makes sense but also with new tracking technology and manpower where walls don’t help. It would address the plight of undocumented migrants brought to the US as children who are known as Dreamers. For instance, it would allow a path to legal status for millions more illegal immigrants and allow for reform of the legal immigration system to better address labor shortages in certain industries.