WEBVTT - Smugglers Marketing Biden's Policy. Mark Krikorian Talks to A&G 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:03.440 All I can do is communicate both to the American 0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:07.000 public and to the individuals seeking protection that they need 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:10.399 to wait. We are not saying don't come. We are 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:14.000 saying don't come now, because we will be able to 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:19.280 deliver um safe and orderly process to them as quickly 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:23.759 as possible. What point does it become a crisis? Well, 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:26.360 I would say, I don't think we need to meet 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:28.240 your bar of what we need to call it. We 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:31.639 had the Secretary of Homeland Security yesterday conveying it's a challenge. 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:34.920 We're going to approach this without labeling. We're going to 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:39.080 approach this with policy, with humanity, uh, and with a 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:41.520 focus on what we can do to keep these kids safe. 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:45.120 So I was struck by a level of what seemed 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:48.400 to me at the time dumbness yesterday of arguing over 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:52.120 whether something is a crisis or a challenge. Right, But 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:55.280 then I did see some quotes come forward from people 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.040 that called it a crisis when it was at a 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:01.920 much lower level when was president, but now say this 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:04.040 at a much higher level is not a crisis. So 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:08.120 to discuss the messaging and more importantly, the reality, it's 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:10.400 a pleasure to welcome back to the Armstrong and Getty show, 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:12.640 Mark Recordy and the executive director of the Center for 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:15.480 Immigration Studies Market It's been too long. How are you. 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:20.679 I'm doing very well. I guess we can't transfer germs now, 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:23.319 you know, over the phone, So I'm happy to come 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:25.440 back now after a while. Well, the reason we hadn't 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:27.520 talked to you is the whole immigration thing got solved 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.720 and there was really nothing to talk about. So yeah, 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:33.880 so hey, Mark, let's start with what is this situation 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:37.560 on the border and or moving toward the border right now? 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:46.319 The Biden administration has basically advertised that they're gonna undo 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:49.559 all of the stuff Trump did. I'm not gonna tear 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:52.840 down anymore wall with the're not building anymore. And more importantly, 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:58.440 they're discontinuing these various policies that Trump put in place. 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:03.640 Since Congress isn't changing changing laws to sick plug some 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:06.480 of the loopholes that were drawing people, he had to 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:09.560 do stuff with executive authority, and that means Biden can 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:13.399 undo it. He is undoing it. The thing is for him, 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:16.320 he realizes that if he just undoes everything all at once, 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:19.040 you're gonna have huge number of people just show up 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:22.880 at the border. So they're trying to slow walk some 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:27.040 of these changes, and you know what, the illegal immigrants 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:33.320 aren't cooperating with the Biden administration's agenda. Yeah, exactly, And 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:37.840 so that's why you end up with these farcical performances 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:40.880 where the Homeland Security Secretary is saying, no, it's a 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:45.240 it's a stressful challenge, it's not a crisis. I mean, 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:48.679 it's ludicrous. Uh, and they just can't admit it that. 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.680 I don't know that they really have much of a 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:55.000 way out of it, because if people who are coming 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.240 across and you're seeing these people with kids who are 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:00.680 coming across. A lot of this you've seen in South Texas, 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:03.640 but not just there. They're you know, given a piece 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:05.760 of paper and let go, just like it was before 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:08.919 the catch and release thing. And you know, these people 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:10.960 aren't stupid. They have cell phones. They call home and 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:13.120 they say, hey, yeah, you know, it worked, and so 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:15.079 they're you know, neighbor across the street and the brother 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:16.960 in law says, hey, you know, maybe we should give 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:20.600 it a try to And how do you stop that? Um, 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:23.520 this administration has kind of been a blind I mean 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:26.600 it's bad for the country, but it is kind of 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:29.359 you know, it's kind of like past the popcorn and uh, 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:33.320 you know, watch these guys twist themselves like pretzels, trying 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:36.840 to explain this ridiculous situation that they've helped create. So 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:38.080 I was trying to dig up. I don't know if 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:39.800 you have in front of in front of you some 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:42.520 of the numbers that came out in the last few 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.080 days about how many people are trying to come across 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:48.080 the border, how many kids they now have, they're um 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.800 just I mean, it's it's a huge increase very recently, 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:53.920 and you're saying that those numbers could go up from 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:57.840 there almost certainly. I mean the unaccompanied miners, these are, 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:00.680 you know, people under eighteen, not really on a company. 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:03.760 They're illegal immigrant relatives in the US. Sometimes their parents 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:07.240 sometimes other relatives pay smugglers to bring them up to 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:11.040 the Mexican border, and then they get across and flag 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:15.640 down the border patrols. Those numbers have gone. They grew 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:20.640 in January, they were like more than December. In February 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:24.880 they were like fifty more than in January, and they're 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:28.920 projecting something like thirteen thousand in May. And I think 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:32.520 that's low because last month was nine thousand something like that, 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:37.159 of these so called unaccompanied miners who obviously under law 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:41.680 have to be dealt with differently rather than just, you know, 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:44.640 with the way you would deal with an adult. And um, 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:48.320 it's only gonna get worse. I mean, it's just until 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:53.039 the Biden administration does something to change what they're doing 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:55.720 at the border, there's just gonna be more and more 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:59.680 people coming. And they're not just from Central America. They're 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.760 coming from the Caribbean, but also from Africa and the 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:05.480 Middle East and all over the place. I appreciate you 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:08.520 bringing up the stark rise in the numbers of folks 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:11.200 trying across the border, because I think the unsophisticator, people 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:13.600 who just aren't news junkies, figure, Okay, you've got a 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:15.720 more or less constant flow of people who'd like to 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:17.680 come into the country. Then you have little changes in 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:21.640 policy and administration to another. But as you point out 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:25.760 the change in policy, the announcements by the Biden administration, 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:30.680 those echo deafeningly loudly throughout Central America in the world, 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:33.680 and the coyotes and the cartels they say, Okay, now 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:37.359 let's ramp up our operations, let's pour people into the 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:41.400 US border. They react, and they react quickly, of course. Yeah. 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:44.960 And I mean the you know, January and February are 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:47.839 months when the numbers of crossings almost always go down. 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:50.560 As you can imagine, you know, it's it's flow. They're 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:54.440 going up. And there are you know, there are people 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:57.440 from the people who follow this stuff down in Central 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:03.400 America are saying that the smugglers are actually marketing Biden's 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:06.680 you know, policies and the fact that now Trunk has 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:11.080 gone their marketing that in you know, towns and villages 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:14.040 in Central America as a reason to get while they're 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:16.480 getting is good before the green goes changed their minds 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:19.640 and it's so bad, and we published we posted something 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:23.400 on this on our website cis dot org yesterday that 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:28.760 some of the smuggling groups are now um making wrist 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:32.640 bands like at a water park for the aliens that 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:35.000 they're smuggling, to make sure they can keep track of 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:37.600 who's paid and who hasn't because there's so many people there, 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:40.679 and the different smuggling groups have different color wrist bands 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:44.159 with logos. They've got numbers on them, their computerized you know, 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:46.760 have you paid, have you where's your relatives? Live back 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:49.440 in the Old Country all that kind of stuff, because 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:54.040 it's it's such a flow that even the smuggling groups 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:57.120 are having trouble sort of getting a handle on how 0:06:57.120 --> 0:06:59.440 many people there are. Hey, what do you use for 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:01.719 a number for how many illegals we have in the 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:05.040 United States? Um, I was watching on Tucker Carlson showing 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.200 Fox here the night he was he did a montage 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:11.320 of how many people use the number eleven million. It's 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:14.400 just like became a talking point over many years, and 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:16.360 he said there was a study out of Harvard and 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:19.040 m I t I believe it was, and their number 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:22.880 was more like somewhere between sixteen and twenty nine million, 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:28.560 with the with the most likely number being somewhere around three. Yeah. 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:30.920 I mean, we've looked into it some we're doing a 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:34.280 deeper dive into it now. And some of the problems 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:37.280 that Tucker highlighted in that piece on his are real 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:41.040 problems with the numbers. The thing is, I just you know, 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:44.120 I do not think it's twenty million people. It just 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:49.360 isn't now. I don't think it's yea. And one of 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:52.160 the real you know, the reason people are suspicious is 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:54.400 because he look the number isn't changing what's going on. 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:55.920 It's been the same. You know, how can it be 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.200 the same all these years? Well, the fact is new 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:01.520 illegals are coming all the time, but people leak out 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:04.320 of the illegal population all the time to some go home. 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:09.240 But also one out of four new Green card recipients, 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.280 new so called legal immigrants, are illegal aliens were already 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:15.280 living here. So there's always this churn. There's new people 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:18.280 coming in, and there's people who were illegals were basically 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.680 no longer illegals one way or another. So you know, 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:25.240 maybe it's twelves, maybe it's thirteen million. Uh, it just 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:29.280 can't be twenty million. You'd see it in the birth records, 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:31.680 the death records, the school enrollment. I mean, you can't 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:34.040 just misplace ten million people, you know what I'm interesting? 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:38.840 And how many illegals do you need? You know, Mark, 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:41.199 we've got about thirty seconds left before a hard break. 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:45.199 But even you're occasionally called anti immigrant, which is ridiculous 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:48.320 and insulting. Give us thirty seconds on c I S 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:52.960 is vision of immigration policy in the US. We're a 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:55.600 think tank as opposed to an advocacy group, and what 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:57.760 we try to do is make the case for a 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:03.200 pro immigrant policy of lower numbers, in other words, fewer immigrants, 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:05.959 but a warmer welcome for those people we do legally 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:08.680 lead into our country. And I think that's kind of 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:12.760 where most people. I think you're right. I think you're right. Yep. 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:16.000 Center for Immigration Studies Market Correans, the executive director c 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:17.960 i S dot org. Will have a link in Armstrong 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:19.760 and getty dot com so you can read and look 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:23.880 at more markets. Always enlightening. Thanks for the time, Thank you, 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:27.520 and uh and who do you take? Should be a 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:34.280 major part of the conversation. Um. I like the philosophy 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:36.560 We've got enough poor people. Why would we want more 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:41.400 unskilled poor people? How does that benefit America? Well? How 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:44.079 does that benefit the poor people? Sometimes got a job? 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:46.400 Caesar Chavez. That was one of his main points. He 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:49.560 wanted to stop a legal immigration Excuse me, my allergy 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.760 is going crazy this time here, uh, to avoid undercutting 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:54.720 the wages of his people.