BIDEN’S EMBARRASSMENT. Much of Washington has been fixated on the coming hearing of House Democrats’ Jan. 6 committee. That could turn out to be a lucky thing for President Joe Biden if it distracts the public’s attention from an embarrassment he, not to mention the United States of America, is experiencing on the West Coast.
Biden is attending the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. A White House news release said he will focus on “pressing challenges, including economic prosperity, climate change, the migration crisis, and the Covid-19 pandemic.” As important as those might be, the part of the president’s trip that has gotten the most coverage is his planned appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. News reports have suggested that Biden’s appearance is the result of the president feeling “frustrated” by his low job approval rating and eager to improve his image. How dropping in on the third-rated late-night comedy show will fix that is not entirely clear.
In any event, perhaps the major story from the summit is not that the president is there but that others, quite a few others, are not there. It started when the White House said it would not allow Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to attend because of their records of human rights violations. That set off a wave of other countries saying that if the U.S. excluded Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, then they wouldn’t attend, either. The biggest boycotter is Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who insists that every country in the Western Hemisphere be invited. Lopez Obrador is joined by the leaders of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Bolivia. For a while, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he would not attend but then changed his mind.
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Yes, former President Donald Trump canceled a planned appearance at the last Summit of the Americas, in Peru in 2018. But of course Biden promised to reset and improve America’s relations with the world. So the number of nations that are refusing to come to Los Angeles, a real snub to Biden, is remarkable.
This could be seen coming. Last week, CNN published an article headlined, “Potential for a high-profile flop looms over Biden administration’s prep for next week’s Summit of the Americas.” The network reported that officials were “scrambling” to lock in attendees and come up with things for Biden to announce. “It’s an unusually last-minute attempt to salvage what officials once described as a top-priority event for relations in the United States’ own neighborhood,” CNN said. Why was the Biden administration struggling at the last minute? A White House spokeswoman “shrugged off questions about why details were being nailed down a week before the summit begins,” the article said.
Biden’s initial stand, denying entry to Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela on the grounds of human rights, is exposing him to charges of hypocrisy among attendees who wanted to see those nations at the summit. Isn’t Biden getting ready to visit Saudi Arabia? Isn’t he planning to meet with Mohammed bin Salman, that country’s effective leader and noted violator of human rights? Now, what was it Biden wanted to say about standing up for human rights?
Vice President Kamala Harris is looking bad in all this, too, although for different reasons. Remember that Biden put her in charge of something big involving the southern border. In the beginning, there was some confusion over whether Biden had appointed Harris the border czar or whether he just wanted her to deal with the “root causes” of the flood of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
Harris chose the “root causes” assignment and focused on the so-called Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. She didn’t do a lot, but she did visit the region and attend the inauguration of Honduran President Xiomara Castro in January. And now, the entire Northern Triangle, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, is boycotting the Summit of the Americas. And just yesterday, Harris announced that the U.S. had arranged for $1.9 billion in private aid to head to the three countries, ostensibly to improve conditions so their citizens will not leave for the long trip to the U.S. Such American generosity is not, apparently, enough to convince the three nations to attend the summit.
Meanwhile, what is said to be the largest migrant caravan of the year is on the move in southern Mexico. The caravan “provided a live illustration to regional leaders meeting in Los Angeles … of the challenges governments face in managing immigration flows,” according to an Associated Press account.
But to many people, the caravan, whether or not it makes it all the way to the U.S. border, is just one small part of the huge illegal immigration problem that has arisen since Biden became president. Biden sent a message to would-be illegal border crossers: If you come to the U.S., you will be allowed to stay. Yes, his administration is still turning some away, even though Biden has sought to get rid of Title 42, his main tool for sending migrants back to Mexico. In any event, for hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of illegal border crossers, the odds look pretty good. And so they try to come to the U.S.
Perhaps you remember the 2020 campaign, in which Biden presented himself as an experienced hand in international relations, a man who could restore comity and stability to America’s dealings with foreign nations after the chaos of the Trump years. Perhaps you heard the same Biden pledge to fix America’s “broken” immigration system. Perhaps you even believed him. Now, all that is in the past. If you did believe him then, there is a good chance you do not believe him anymore.
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