Democrats Have Another Dirty Trick to Play on Illegal Immigration

Four U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told the Washington Post this week that the agency has "drafted plans to release thousands of [illegal] immigrants" to cover a $700 million budget shortfall that the now-dead Senate deal was supposed to cover. Arguably worse, ICE also threatened to "slash its capacity to hold detainees." It's an upgraded version of the existing catch-and-release system but without the catch part — so much easier, don't you think?

"The bill’s demise has led ICE officials to begin circulating an internal proposal to save money by releasing thousands of detainees and cutting detention levels from 38,000 beds to 22,000," the Post reported on Wednesday. "The opposite of the enforcement increases Republicans say they want."

Let's call this threat what it really is: political blackmail. "Give the Democrats what they want," ICE said in effect, "or we'll unleash even more illegals on you." And what the Democrats want, I don't need to remind you, is more illegal aliens.

The Post story also said that according to ICE, a "$700 million deficit is the largest projected shortfall the agency has faced in recent memory." Meanwhile, Biden's "transition" to "green" energy "will cost much more than initial estimates."

CBO estimates that the impact of new emissions standards, clean energy tax credits and falling gas tax revenue as people buy less gas, will add $25 billion to the budget deficit this year. Over a decade, CBO projects they will add $428 billion to the cumulative deficit.

This year's "transition" deficit spending could plug the hole in ICE's 2024 budget 35 times, just in case you wondered where Biden's priorities lie.

I know I can't be the only one sick of playing the Democrats' rigged games. "Heads, I win; tails, you lose," is only cute for the first few decades or so. In only three years under Presidentish Joe Biden, we've gotten trillions in new spending and debt, re-regulation in every facet of American life, the Green New Deal Lite, and somewhere around five million illegal aliens with millions more where those came from.

Conservatives sure could use some winning right about now, but maybe the constant losing would be easier to take if it felt like Beltway Republicans were invested in winning.

But we know what happened to ICE funding. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) agreed to a deal that gave the farm away, effectively setting a high floor on illegal immigration rather than a low, hard ceiling. When his fellow Republicans finally balked — as they were right to do — the deal fell apart. McConnell's mess landed right in ICE's lap, allowing the Democrat-controlled bureaucracy to provide aid and comfort to elected Democrat officials in D.C.

Today's news comes on the heels of Republicans losing the Long Island congressional seat previously held by George Santos, whom the GOP decided to eject from Congress even though he wasn't going to run for reelection this year. Republican state legislator Mazi Pilip put up a good fight, but the special election allowed Dems to pour in money (which they did) to trim down the GOP's already slender House majority.

It's almost (?) like Republicans want to lose, and like you, I could use a win right now.