The Five Stages of Border Crisis Grief

This past week I have observed a streak of pessimism in a couple of Florida Republicans when it comes to the border crisis, and it struck me how much current events around it resemble the five stages of grief.

First, we have denial. Democrats and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas have been telling us up and down not to believe our lying eyes when it comes to the thousands and thousands of people of whom we have no idea about crossing the border like football fans storming the field after a big win. 

Mayorkas has actually lied to Congress about the border being secure several times, for which he is finally being impeached.

Related: Can Mayorkas Be Impeached for Being an Incompetent Idiot?

Naturally, the anger part comes from Republicans and anyone with common sense seeing just how bad this border crisis really is. Whether it is illegal migrants getting off with a slap on the wrist for crimes or the sheer insidiousness of those allowing this to happen, there is plenty to be mad about when it comes to a crisis of this magnitude.

For the past few weeks, we have seen the "bargaining" phase. This one is in quotes because the current deal being hashed out by the likes of Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), and James Lankford (R-Okla.) does nothing to actually stop the crisis.

Assuming the leaked draft of the deal is accurate, as it stands, this border deal would cap border crossings to 5,000 per day, expand the issuance of green cards to 50,000 per year, and apparently subsidize migrants' lawyers.

Naturally, House Republicans have already signaled that this dog won't hunt and are going so far as to say the government should be shut down if they do not get a better deal.

Related: Bipartisan Border Deal Hanging by a Thread as Trump Tries to Blow It Up

This is where the depression phase comes in: the pessimistic Florida Republicans mentioned at the beginning of this article are Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who have both said that a satisfactory border deal with the Biden administration is basically pointless.

Not only will the provisions of a deal go ignored, but Rubio added that because House Republicans aren't budging in their demands for stricter border security, the Biden administration can offer up some border bill they will reject and thereby make Republicans look bad for not agreeing to it.

Other Democrats have hitched their wagon to this line of thought (not that Biden came up with that one himself). By saying "Yes, the border is a problem; let's fix it," and with Republicans saying, "No, we do not trust you to secure the border," the Democrats can point at them and say, "See, they just want this to be an issue Trump can run on!"

There might be an element of truth to that since Gimenez said that the border crisis will only be solved once Biden is replaced.

Of course, his remark might fall more in line with "acceptance" than it does "depression," but I would hate to see what happens when the rest of the country reaches its own "acceptance" phase. I assume it will look like permanent Democrat control thanks to their new imported voting bloc.