Biden’s Sanctuary Policies Leave No Safe Haven for Victims, Federal Agents

On his first day in the Oval Office, President Joe Biden signed a record 17 executive orders, many of them voiding commonsense policies enacted during the Trump administration.  
One of the worst—and most dangerous—was his “Revision of Civil Immigration Enforcement Policies and Priorities.” A more apt title would be “Providing Sanctuary for Criminal Aliens.” 

Biden’s short order revoked President Donald Trump’s 2017 executive order on interior immigration enforcement. It’s not enough, apparently, to refrain from removing illegal aliens who commit crimes after they break into the country—the new president wants states and cities to provide such aliens sanctuary. Worse, it seems, he wants to hide their offenses and ignore their victims. 

When combined with the radical new guidance on immigration enforcement the Biden administration issued on Feb. 18, the ability of federal law enforcement to enforce our immigration laws has been all but eviscerated. The stark policy of the Biden administration is, in essence, nonenforcement of our immigration laws with only certain minimal exceptions.  

The vast majority of illegal aliens (a forbidden term, according to the guidance—they must be called “non-citizens”) will now be given a free pass. 

To appreciate the contrast, consider the four main facets of Trump’s executive order, which was designed to enhance immigration enforcement and ensure public safety. 

First, the order made it a top priority for the Department of Homeland Security to concentrate on removing aliens who had been convicted of criminal offenses or who posed “a risk to public safety or national security.” With Biden’s cancellation of Trump’s executive order and the new guidance, removing dangerous criminal aliens is apparently no longer a priority. 

The top priority in the new guidance is limited only to those engaged in, or suspected of, terrorism and espionage—but even then, only if they are presumed to be a threat to “national security.” The third priority, criminal illegal aliens, can be removed only if they have been convicted of “aggravated felonies,” as opposed to felonies the administration evidently considers more ordinary.