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As you can see from his choice of words.
Mr. Johnson’s speech, which lasted for some time, focused on Republican resistance to new legislation aimed at addressing border issues and the party’s efforts to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. To the layman, his argument was likely persuasive, interweaving accusations against the Biden administration with data points intended to supplement those accusations.
For example, at one point Johnson lamented the existing process for immigrant arrivals.
He said millions of immigrants “spend years in the United States before they are expected to go before a judge.” Some of them were given a piece of paper with the words “See you in 10 years” written on it. That’s unreasonable. ”
that’s right. It is also a function of the strained system that handles asylum claims. Even before the recent increase in arrivals, there was already a huge backlog of cases. Its increase will only make the problem worse. The Biden administration is seeking new funding to allow for more immigration judges, reduce wait times and shorten the amount of time immigrants can stay in the country. Johnson instead urged the government to focus on preventing more people from entering the country in the first place.
At another point, Mr. Johnson compared Mr. Biden unfavorably to his former vice president.
“What we’ve learned is that the Biden administration is currently just letting 85% of the illegal aliens who come across the border into the country,” Johnson said. “They’re coming to your neighborhood.”
More on this fear-mongering later. He continued:
“For reference, by the way, if you’re looking at the metrics, in 2013, the Obama administration — listen to this — the Obama administration detained 82 percent of illegal aliens. 82 percent. How do we go from detention to 85% release? This will only happen by design. It will only happen if there is a systematic and deliberate effort by the regime to make that very thing happen.”
The phrase “deliberately” raises some eyebrows, given the popularity of conspiracy theories on the right that Democrats are opening the door to this country for some future political gain. But the numbers are also worth considering.
Let’s do some simple calculations here. Given space and personnel limitations, there are limits to how many people can be detained. (Increasing this type of detention capacity is another element of the border debate.) In fiscal year 2013, approximately 414,000 people were encountered at the border (and thus prevented from entering the country). Ta. In 2023, there were almost 2.5 million people, 2,475,669 to be exact.
Why did Obama detain 82% and Biden release 85%? Well, 82 percent of his 414,000 is about 340,000. According to Johnson, 15 percent of the 2,475,669 people (the percentage of detainees in 2023) is about 371,000 people. This suggests a capacity issue.
But we are moving somewhat away from the sharpest political element here, the rhetoric contained in Johnson’s “your next-door neighbor” line. The idea that immigration is inherently terrifying important part As for the Republican debate on the border, it doesn’t matter, given that it heightens the sense of crisis and failure of the administration.
Mr Johnson described his conversations with officials at the border.
“They pointed out that we are experiencing a surge in military-age single men flowing into this country across the southern border. Listen to this. By the way, even from hostile countries. And from terrorist regimes.”
He said he was also told that 60 to 70 percent of the attendees were single men of “military age.”
“These are not families flocking to seek asylum,” he continued.
It takes little unpacking to see the terrifying surface Johnson is applying here. What is a military age man? This is a relatively young man who, in a different, less politically charged context, might be called an “older working man.” It’s all a framework. Johnson wants listeners to hear the phrase “senior military” and think that immigrants are dangerous and trying to harm Americans. If he had said “working seniors,” the reaction would have been very different and would have evoked a much different and more general perception of immigrants.
I’ve heard this word before. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) used this technique during the last Republican presidential debate. You may not be surprised to learn that Fox News is also increasingly using the term, especially on Sean Hannity’s show.
Notably, the number of single adults stopped at the border began to increase in 2020 under the Trump administration. The number steadily increased until mid-2021, reaching 120,000. Since then, the number of single adults stopped at the border has averaged 130,000 per month. (In the early days of the Biden administration, this amount was inflated in part by policies that expedited the deportation of single adults, allowing them to enter the country more than once a month.)
In recent months, only about half of adults stopped at the border have been single, compared to an average of 64% since President Biden took office.
Please note that “single adult” does not mean “male of military age.” This means men and women from the age of 18 to her 75 years. There is little question that most people who enter the United States as adults are actually young men. However, even the above numbers are exaggerated.
Again, Mr Johnson is trying to make a political point, not just tell the public in unbiased terms what is happening at the border. So a 24-year-old man who entered the United States looking for a job suddenly finds himself lumped together with an army of hypothetical invaders — and it’s not just Mr. Johnson’s rhetoric, it’s Texas Governor Greg. It also strengthens the claims of Abbott and other Republican lawmakers, who are fighting against Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other Republicans. The transnational federal government is framed in terms of “invasion.”
Mr. Abbott understandably doesn’t want to describe the new arrivals as “people looking for work.”
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