In a recent episode of “American Thought Leaders,” host Jan Jekielek spoke with Chad Wolf about America’s border crisis: the policies of the current administration and of the non-governmental organizations (NGO) that exacerbate this catastrophe; child trafficking; solutions to this massive influx of migrants; and more. Mr. Wolf is the former Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and is now executive director of the America First Policy Institute.
Jan Jekielek: When we interviewed last, the border situation was very different. How does that compare to now?
Chad Wolf: In the first part of 2019, we had a crisis, seeing numbers along the border start to rise.
We started doing different things, like Remain in Mexico or the migrant protection protocols and asylum agreements with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. We started removing more individuals that didn’t have a legal right to be in the United States.
The Biden administration in January 2021 inherited a border that was somewhat orderly and secure, probably the most secure in my lifetime. The administration dismantled all of that.
In the summer of 2019, we saw 40,000 to 50,000 apprehensions over a given month. Compare that today to 250,000 to 300,000 in a month.
Mr. Jekielek: Many people in the organizations participating in this believe that borders shouldn’t be there in the first place.
Mr. Wolf: It goes back to the principles that immigration policy is based on. With the Biden administration, its foundational principles line up closely with the far-Left of the Democratic Party. They think that anyone should be able to come into the country for any reason: if they’re seeking a better life, if their home country is dangerous, or if they don’t like their next door neighbor.
If you believe those things and devise a system that way, which the Biden administration has done, then that plays into the goal of these non-governmental organizations that help move migrants north. On the U.S. side of the border, once they’re released from federal government custody, these NGOs take over as well.
All NGOs are not the same. Some have been around for decades, helping individuals. Some are in it for the right reasons. Some are in it for the wrong reasons, and the money flowing to them over the last three years has increased dramatically.
As soon as they release these individuals in Brownsville, Del Rio, and El Paso, they’re out of federal custody. Then the NGOs take over and say, “Where do you want to go? We'll buy your ticket,” which is reimbursed by the American taxpayer.
They’re going to New York or Chicago, and there are facilities they can go to. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more you fund this, the more individuals are going to come.
Mr. Jekielek: Let’s talk about child trafficking. How has this changed due to these increased numbers?
Mr. Wolf: Over the course of the Biden administration, we’re approaching about 500,000 unaccompanied children trafficked across that border. These children don’t come with any parent or guardian, or any family member at all. They are trafficked by the cartels. They either pay a fee upfront or they’ll have to work that off later. Unfortunately, all of these children are being abused, particularly if you’re a female.
During the Trump administration, we tried to do a number of things. All these individuals go to Health and Human Services, and then they’re released to sponsors. We increased the vetting of those sponsors. We also wanted to know the other adults in that household, to do background checks and vetting.
The Biden administration canceled all of that. They said, “The easiest way to get the children out of the facilities is to loosen the vetting requirements,” which is extremely dangerous.
Mr. Jekielek: Many of the people are single, military-aged males, and there’s quite a number of Chinese as well. How do you view this?
Mr. Wolf: There are families and children, but the majority continue to be single adults between the ages of 18 and 35. The numbers of Chinese nationals have spiked so significantly that something is going on. We’ve never seen these numbers of Chinese coming across that border illegally.
Mr. Jekielek: If you were to get your old job back, what would you do?
Mr. Wolf: You’re not going to turn this around overnight. But there are things that you can do, starting on day one, that send a signal not only to the American people but also to the cartels, the traffickers, and everyone that’s involved that it’s not going to be business as usual and that we’re going back to enforcing border security law. You can restart border wall construction. That is a force multiplier for Border Patrol. You’ve got to turn around the whole catch and release policy. You’ve got to let ICE law enforcement officers do their job and start to remove individuals.
Mr. Jekielek: There are comments on our articles related to the border asking, “What is Congress doing about this?”
Mr. Wolf: There is a role for Congress, absolutely. The crisis arose in 2021.
The Biden administration took 94 executive actions on immigration in the first 100 days and caused the crisis. Congress didn’t create this crisis, yet the Biden administration is saying that they’re the only ones who can fix it. That’s just not the case.
The president and the secretary of DHS have a lot of authority given them by Congress over the years. They could put policies in place that would bring this crisis under control. They choose not to. They’re passing the buck to Congress.
Mr. Jekielek: A final thought?
Mr. Wolf: This is a humanitarian crisis. Migrants are being trafficked, abused, raped, and, in some cases losing their life, on a magnitude we’ve never seen before. The immigration policies of the Biden administration are the most inhumane we’ve ever seen.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
