The immigration crisis that has seen the influx of tens of thousands of undocumented minors cross the southern U.S. border was caused by President Barack Obama, whose recent behavior demonstrates he is not taking it seriously, says Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review.
In an article for
Politico Magazine, Lowry said the president's refusal to visit the border, instead making time to play pool and attend fundraising events in Texas, presented a stark contrast to the desperate situation being experienced by border agents, migrants, and local communities.
"The first rule in a crisis for any executive is put on your windbreaker and your boots and get out on the ground. President George W. Bush didn't do it soon enough after Hurricane Katrina and, politically, could never make up for it, no matter how many times he visited New Orleans subsequently," Lowry wrote.
"The Katrina analogy is both over the top and too generous. It is over the top because the border influx isn't a deadly catastrophe swallowing an American city. It is too generous because Bush didn't do anything to bring on Hurricane Katrina, whereas Obama's policies are responsible for the influx of immigrants from the border."
He added, "It is, in the argot of his administration, a 'man-caused disaster.'"
Lowry wrote that one reason why Obama is not taking appropriate action is because he is politically beholden to groups that are opposed to immigration enforcement.
The president intends to spend much of the $3.7 billion he requested to manage the influx rather than strengthening enforcement that would reverse and stem the tide, the National Review editor wrote.
Specifically, Lowry said, the Center for Immigration Policy estimates that roughly half the money requested for the Health and Human Services Department is intended for "acquisition, construction, improvement, repair, operation, and maintenance of real property and facilities," and "is not truly geared toward removal."
"The administration's reaction to the crisis is just another in a long series of acts of bad faith on immigration. It is asking Congress for more money for its priorities at the same time the president is promising, in effect, to suspend yet more immigration laws," Lowry wrote. "Republicans in Congress should crumple up the president's request in a ball and start over."
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