Kerby Anderson

Americans are rightly concerned about what is happening at our border. But skeptics ask whether the US can control the border. Todd Benson, in a recent PragerU video, provides some answers. He has spent the last twenty years of his life dealing with the issue of immigration, both as a reporter and as an intelligence officer in the Texas government.

From 2021 to 2024, 8 million people have entered the country illegally, and that does not count the 2 million “gotaways.” He calls this the “greatest mass movement across national borders in US history, and maybe the greatest in human history.” And it is worth mentioning these people are coming from 150 different countries.

Why are they coming? He says it gets down to risk versus reward. If the reward is greater than the risk of deportation, migrants will come. Under the Trump administration, the risks were higher. The president extended the border wall, instituted a “remain in Mexico” policy, and empowered border and immigration agents to detain, deport, and expel illegal immigrants.

The current administration reversed all those policies. He laments that now “border agents became like Walmart greeters; deportation officers were chained to their desks; most anyone who showed up was guaranteed entry.”

The odds changed significantly, and word got out to other countries. We now have a “mass movement of people toward a single goal: to get across the border.” Once they get here, then we have the responsibility to feed, house, and care for millions of people from other countries we didn’t invite to this country.

How can we reverse this trend? The answer is simple: reverse the risk/reward calculus. He reminds us that we did it in 2017 to 2021. We can do it again.