There’s a little trick that President Biden and Democrats have when they need to pull one over on gullible journalists: They emphasize how much they care.
People are still dying from the coronavirus.
Yes, but Biden cares that they’re dying.
Black, brown, and transgender people are still disproportionately affected by policing.
Yes, but Biden cares that they’re disproportionately affected.
That’s nearly always enough to shut reporters up, instantly stunting any further critical or hostile questions.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas offered up a clear instance of this Friday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Asked about the previous administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, whereby migrants seeking asylum in the United States were mandated to stay south of the border while their cases are considered, Mayorkas said Biden opposes it but that it won’t be ending anytime soon.
Well, that’s strange. Biden campaigned on reversing each and every one of former President Donald Trump’s executive actions on the border, calling them inhumane and racist. In effect, then, Biden is continuing an inhumane and racist border policy that kept tens of thousands of destitute Guatemalans, Hondurans, and Salvadorans on the other side of our fence to wait for entry.
Ah, but the difference there is that Biden cares. Mayorkas made sure to lay that on thick.
“One of the greatest sources of our pride as a nation is our tradition as a country of refuge for those seeking a safe haven from persecution in their countries of origin,” said a saccharine Mayorkas. “Our source of pride, our asylum system, our refugee system here in the United States was brought to a screeching and inhumane halt during the prior administration, and we are incredibly devoted to rebuilding those programs and restoring our proud traditions and those sources of pride.”
Mayorkas had been introduced for his segment as bearing news. Here it is:
“On Feb. 19,” he said, finally, “we will begin to process individuals and consider their asylum claims through a program that we have built … to allow them to make their claims of asylum in a safe, orderly, and efficient manner.”
So, now all those people who were hoping to get in the U.S. under the new, more lax administration will still have to wait in Mexico, but at least there will be a process! Hang on — wasn’t that already the case? Well, a different process.
And, yes, they will still have to wait. Mayoraks said so explicitly. “It’s going to take time,” he said. “We launch the program on the 19th, but it’s incredibly important for people, for these migrants who indeed have been suffering terribly, it’s very important for them to understand that they must wait.”
Note that Mayoraks was sure to acknowledge again that these people are “suffering terribly.” Biden cares.
He went on to say that “a drive to the border in haste will only exacerbate the humanitarian conditions that have been plaguing this program under the Trump administration.”
Ah, so Biden gets it. All of that noise from Trump and conservatives about there being a crisis at the border wasn’t a joke. The crisis is still real, and it’s still there. But that’s OK. Biden is here now, and he cares.
