President Joe Biden has recently begun making some long-overdue moves to get the southern border under control. Even though it took significant pressure and arm-twisting by the House GOP to bring him to this point, it is such a rare occasion that I get the chance to commend Biden about anything he does, I won’t pass up the opportunity now. Unfortunately, the most recent announcement from the White House regarding this issue contains at least one significant flaw. Biden has ordered the closure of two international rail crossing points, with the personnel working there to be redeployed to assist with the detention and processing of migrants. This move will provide at least some help with the overall border crisis, but it will create another problem needlessly. (Government Executive)

Two international railway crossings between the United States and Mexico closed on Monday as the Biden administration scrambles to detain and process record numbers of migrants arriving at the border.

The announcement comes as the White House is engaging with Senate Republicans on a plan to tighten immigration policy and ramp up border security, though the two sides have yet to reach a deal. The Biden administration has pushed for significant new resources in several components of the Homeland Security Department and other agencies to boost staffing levels throughout the immigration system.

The railway closures at bridges in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, followed the recent suspension of vehicular process at an international bridge at Eagle Pass, operations at San Ysidro Pedestrian West in San Diego and the port of entry in Lukeville, Ariz. Customs and Border Protection said the train crossing closures in Texas would allow the agency to redirect personnel to assist Border Patrol in taking migrants into custody.

Shutting down rail traffic at Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas might look like a no-brainer at first glance. By now, we’ve all seen the videos of hundreds of migrants riding on railway cars to make their way to the United States. Unfortunately, this closure will also curtail the flow of commercial goods and international trade between Mexico and the United States. Biden already closed the Eagle Pass border to vehicular traffic.

The end result is that all legitimate, legal passage of both people and goods has ground to a halt in the region. Meanwhile, the migrants who are no longer able to ride a train to the border will simply go back to walking as they previously did or rely on cartel mules to ferry them across. The goal must be to maintain the legal flow of international traffic of all sorts as we’ve traditionally done while shutting down the flow of illegal migrations and illicit goods, particularly narcotics.

A much better approach would have been to work with the President of Mexico to deal with the problem before it reaches our doorstep. AMLO could have ordered troops to be stationed on the exterior of rail cars to fend off any migrants seeking to climb on the trains. He could similarly have deployed troops on his side of the crossing to ensure the safe passage of trains through the pass without all of the extra migrant baggage. Trump worked with AMLO admirably and successfully on immigration issues, but Joe Biden has seemed either unwilling or unable to establish that sort of cooperative relationship.

If Biden really wanted to impress us on an issue that is significantly contributing to his collapsing poll numbers, he could have backed down from his initial orders and restarted construction on the border wall. The more of the border that we can fence off against easy access, the more people we can concentrate on the open sections where people are simply walking or swimming across unimpeded. More personnel are required in every aspect of border security and they are needed in large numbers. That’s something that Biden could take care of with a swipe of his pen if he really wished to. Productive, honest negotiations with House Republicans on the border issue could also go a long way toward substantial progress.

No matter how it plays out, any progress on border control is better than nothing, so I will commend the President on this minor course correction. But far more remains to be done. The damage that’s already been caused by the Biden border crisis is immeasurable at this point, but it shouldn’t be left to the next president to clean up his mess. If he really cares, he could start making positive changes today. But I won’t be holding my breath.