By Matt Rooney
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You were barbecue supply shopping or navigating Shore traffic this time last week when Cory Booker was escorting five non-citizens across the U.S.-Mexican Border.
Yup, Save Jerseyans. That really happened.
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Cory announced his unorthodox field trip – surprise surprise – on Twitter:
Today I crossed the US-Mexico border in El Paso with @fams2gether and @LasAmericasIAC to help five women present themselves for asylum. These are my observations. Please don't look away.
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) July 3, 2019
Of course it was an attention-seeking scheme. Our junior senator had a concerning flair for the dramatic well before he decided to launch a quixotic national campaign; now he’s so far back in the 2020 Democrat primary polling that science has yet to invent a telescopic device capable of helping you see him behind the seemingly ever-expanding pack of far-Left wannabe presidents.
The five women aided by Booker’s Independence Eve border crossing expedition? Allegedly “asylum” seekers.
“My belief is they should be granted asylum, but they have a process to go through, but we are going to try and follow them through that process,” Booker told reporters. “They should have their asylum case evaluated, I think they are legitimate, and I think they should be allowed entrance into the United States of America.”
Are the women legit?
The better question might be “can we ever really know” with the current system in place.
I know what you’re thinking. It’s doubtful whether a man infamous for inventing an imaginary friend is a reliable judge of what constitutes “legitimate.” What’s even less believable than T-Bone is the fact that a high elected official could turn a blind eye to the clear abuses of our asylum system and then go a step further and potentially PARTICIPATE in the fraud. The prevalence of asylum isn’t up for debate; the stats are harrowing. Sneaking into the U.S. and claiming asylum (especially with a kid in tow) almost guarantees you the ability to hang out indefinitely on American soil. We’ve even seen asylum “mills” help immigrants concoct false or fabricated stories to get into the U.S. You know it’s egregious when NPR felt the need to cover it.
I try to stay away from clicking and pasting long block quotes but DHS explained the problem pretty well and succinctly back in November:
“In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number and percentage of aliens who seek admission or unlawfully enter the United States and then assert an intent to apply for asylum or a fear of persecution. The vast majority of such assertions for protection occur in the expedited-removal context, and the rates at which such aliens receive a positive credible-fear determination have increased in the last five years to nearly 90 percent. Having passed through the credible-fear screening process, many of these aliens are released into the interior to join an overloaded immigration court system that takes years to bring cases to a final conclusion. Yet, many aliens who pass through the credible-fear screening thereafter do not pursue their claims for asylum. In the last year we saw 89% of those claiming asylum from the norther triangle pass a credible fear screening. However more than half never applied for asylum after being released or failed to show for their initial hearing. Eventually, only 9% of those who applied for Asylum out of these countries actually qualified before a judge. The bottom line is that a substantial number of applicants fail to appear for their final hearings before an immigration judge, or fail to comply with removal orders. Even when they appear for their hearings, only a very low rate are ultimately granted asylum.”
[Emphasis added.]
The saying goes “[g]ive me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” not “let everyone in ASAP who doesn’t want to wait in line.” But that’s pretty much what’s happening thanks to a ridiculously broad asylum system that’s really a massive entry loophole big enough to sail a cruise ship through. Booker is falling for it (on purpose) to aid his drowning campaign.
Sweetening the deal for fraudsters are Sanctuary States like our own New Jersey and California, too, that are loudly and proudly giving it all away for free. Their actions are political (like Booker’s) and guaranteed to make the problem worse, not better. I mean, who the hell wouldn’t brave the Rio Grande when governors of major states are promising you free health care regardless of legal status and ICE-free cities? And U.S. Senators are willing to walk you across the border and press your asylum claim?
Madness.
Many of you have asked my opinion: I don’t think Booker broke federal immigration law. Or at least good luck proving it. The asylum loophole is incredibly broad. We could fix it tomorrow if our decision-makers’ priorities were properly ordered.
But we don’t have a critical mass of principled leaders with the courage to make big moves and, for a guy in Spartacus’s position, flagrantly violating the spirit of the law is more damaging for the body politic. Gullible, greedy, self-interested grand standing politicians like Cory Booker are actively allowing encouraging and aiding con artists in their efforts to take advantage of the hardworking American people’s generosity. Human traffickers, drug peddlers, abusive coyotes, fake asylum seekers, and plenty of other shitty people we’d be better off without are the only winners. Legitimate immigrants and resident taxpayers are paying the price for a relative handful of politico’s ambitions.
It’s an infuriating situation.
A dangerous, ugly, awful situation Cory Booker is doing his best to exacerbate all in order to win a damn caucus or primary (which he won’t). He’s losing to ‘someone else’ in the latest national poll.
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MATT ROONEY is Save Jersey‘s founder and editor-in-chief and a nationally-noted New Jersey political commentator. When he’s not on-line, radio or television advocating for conservative reform and challenging N.J. power-brokers, Matt is a practicing attorney at the law firm of DeMichele & DeMichele in Haddon Heights (Camden County).
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