Joe Biden's policies emboldened human smugglers by promising less enforcement, halting deportations, and offering sanctuary, signaling an open border. This has led cartels to pivot from drugs to a lucrative human-smuggling industry, charging migrants high fees for safe passage. The result has overwhelmed border patrol agents, unchecked entries, and a surge in diverse migrant populations, including from regions like Africa and Asia, with potential security risks.
The Biden administration sought to enforce immigration laws amidst a fundamentally broken system, as noted by both Democratic and Republican officials. Efforts like ending Title 42 and enhancing Title 8 aimed to manage migration legally, but the system's inefficiencies, like long court backlogs, continued to enable smuggling. Streamlining immigration could deter smugglers by offering legal pathways and reducing reliance on cartels.