The Biden Effect on COVID and the Border

President-elect Joe Biden warns of a “very dark winter” as the U.S. approaches 10 million coronavirus cases. His moves on immigration, however, threaten to super-spread COVID at the southern border.

Take El Paso. Separated from Juarez, Mexico, by the Rio Grande, the two cities have become hotspots in the coronavirus epidemic. Amid sharply rising death tolls on both sides of the river, Juarez’s mayor has called for a temporary ban on Americans coming into his city.

Meantime, El Paso’s coronavirus cases, and deaths, are spiking as northbound border traffic into the city creeps toward pre-COVID levels. Encounters of illegal aliens by Border Patrol officers are also on the rise throughout the southwest.

More unhealthy indicators: Latin America recorded the highest COVID caseload of any region on the planet this summer, accounting for more than one of every four cases worldwide. Among the 20 nations currently most affected by COVID-19, Mexico has the highest case fatality rate.

For all his professed concern about the spread of COVID-19, Biden’s mask slips as he prepares to make America’s southern border even more vulnerable.

The Democrat has widely criticized the Trump administration’s use of Title 42, which authorizes the immediate return of illegal aliens to Mexico. He has also condemned Migrant Protection Protocols, which keep U.S. asylum seekers in Mexico under a negotiated safe third-country agreement.

Though Trump’s expulsion policy is consistent with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Biden’s team announced it will direct the agency to review the program.

As he looks for bureaucratic cover to collapse border enforcement, Biden has pledged a 100-day moratorium on deportations and a return to porous catch-and-release practices that embolden human traffickers who couldn’t care less about communicable diseases.

It is curious, to say the least, that Biden – who insists “we could save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for the next few months” – is so oblivious to the threats at our southern border. Backtracking on enforcement policies in the face of a pandemic will bring even darker days than he fears.

"Bob Dane : ."