This story was originally published by Real Clear Wire
Written by Douglas Schoen
Real clear wire
The tragic murder of 22-year-old Lakin Riley in Georgia two weeks ago by Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan immigrant in the country illegally with a criminal record, is the latest example of a much larger problem: criminal gangs brazenly exploiting America's broken immigration policies to invade our country.
Quite simply, the flow of criminals pouring across the country's southern border is now a tsunami with potentially catastrophic implications not only for America's national security but also for President Biden's re-election chances. Unless the president takes bold action to seriously strengthen the border, voters will likely punish him in November.
However, any attempt to address the border issue is doomed to failure if the president does not confront the problem at its source.
Venezuela, the largest source of illegal immigrants, is fast becoming a failed state, and its powerful leader Nicolas Maduro – who has worked to deepen economic and military ties between his oil-rich nation and other hostile regimes such as Russia, China and Iran – is reportedly emptying the country's prisons, And it pushes criminals and gang members north, right across our porous borders.
According to a former Venezuelan official, Maduro “releases convicted criminals on the condition that they emigrate from the country to the United States.” Unsurprisingly, these criminals set up local cells for the same criminal gangs, especially the Tren de Aragua, which is notorious for drug trafficking, human smuggling, and kidnapping for ransom.
Law enforcement is sounding the alarm, with a top FBI agent recently warning that Tren de Aragua is “rapidly expanding its criminal empire,” particularly in New York and Miami, where the FBI says gang members are behind a string of robberies and one incident. at least. killing.
Considering the 340,000 Venezuelans encountered on the southern border last year alone, the FBI is deeply concerned that these gangs will have little trouble finding new recruits to fuel their expansion.
A South American dictator opening his prisons and dumping criminals in American cities sounds more like a movie than real life, but the data is clear. The rise in Venezuelan immigration to the United States coincides with a decline in violent crimes in Venezuela to levels not seen in the country for nearly a quarter of a century.
Notably, deaths from violence in Venezuela fell from 35.3 per 100,000 people in 2022 to 26.8 per 100,000 in 2023 – the lowest level since 2001, according to a Bloomberg report. Meanwhile, the same report quotes the director of the Venezuelan Violence Observatory, who notes that “gangs migrated because of the lack of opportunities to commit crimes.”
For his part, President Biden last year struck a deal with Maduro, offering to ease sanctions in exchange for increased political liberalization — specifically, free and fair elections — and agreeing to deportation flights of migrants from the United States to Venezuela. The deal was supposed to be a victory for Biden, who could claim to be taking a tougher approach.
But early last month, those flights suddenly stopped after only 1,300 migrants were deported. Some speculated that the move was due to Biden reimposing sanctions after Maduro reneged on his promise to hold free and fair elections.
Although trying to stem the uncontrolled flow of migrants may have been admirable, the president should have known better. Never close to anything resembling an ally, Maduro's Venezuela has firmly joined the new “axis of evil” alongside Russia, China and Iran.
The relationship between these countries should greatly concern the White House, particularly in light of intelligence reports suggesting that Iran is looking to build a naval base in Venezuela, China's growing investment in the country, the massive flow of Russian arms to Caracas, and the power wielded by Maduro. Supporting Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – crucial to helping both countries avoid US-led sanctions.
In addition, Venezuela's role in hosting Russian troops and advanced air defense systems, not to mention the deep ties between Maduro and the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, which has a significant presence in the South American country, cannot be overstated, especially in light of the role of Venezuela in hosting Russian troops and advanced air defense systems. Hizb allah. Daily attacks on Israel since it began its war with Hamas on October 7.
In light of this, it is clear that Venezuela represents more than just a migration problem, but rather an extreme foreign policy and national security challenge. The Venezuelan threat extends beyond the typical discussion about immigration – and resolving this problem falls squarely within the president's purview.
It also represents a rapidly expanding political weakness for Biden, one he has so far failed to address.
In fact, last month, Americans ranked immigration as the most important issue facing the country, the first time since 2019 that it has topped the list. Nearly 3 in 10 (28%) Americans chose immigration, eight points ahead of the second-place issue, “government,” and more than double the portion that determines the economy (12%) and inflation (11%), according to Gallup polls. .
Even worse for Biden is that while the president's overall approval rating is a subpar 40%, his approval of immigration is a dismal 31%, according to the RealClearPolitics average.
Voters do not trust Biden's ability to address this issue. A majority (52%) of swing state voters say they trust Donald Trump — rather than Biden — to handle immigration, while only 30% trust the president, according to a Morning Consult poll.
To be sure, while Biden does not bear full responsibility for the recent collapse of the border security agreement in Congress, he is not powerless to deal with the issue, even if through executive order.
Even passing a border security bill wouldn't do much to stop the problem anyway. Many blue states and cities define themselves as “sanctuary cities,” prohibiting them from cooperating with immigration officials — even when illegal immigrants commit felonies, as Mr. Ibarra did in New York before killing Ms. Reilly.
To be clear, unless President Biden takes concrete steps to strengthen the border and engage with Venezuela, his re-election will be — justifiably — in grave jeopardy.
Ultimately, Biden must close our southern border and make it unequivocally clear to Maduro that dumping criminals on American shores will not go unpunished. Nor will Maduro's deep ties with enemy states, which include hosting an Iranian naval base in the Americas.
After that, Biden must put America's full economic, political, and diplomatic weight behind holding free and fair elections in Venezuela. Carrot and stick: the promise of much-needed sanctions relief, or the threat of increasingly stringent sanctions.
If Biden does not do so, he will have to explain to the nation why he could not subjugate the South American dictator and thus jeopardize the safety of all Americans. This is hardly a winning campaign strategy.
This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.
