William Haupt III 

The author is a Center Square contributor

“The best way to conceal the truth is to hide it behind something of less significance.” 

– Confucius

In 2008 during the Great Recession, President Barack Obama hammered an $800 billion stimulus bill through Congress. Those who actually read it found it was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It had little to do with stimulating the economic recovery and everything to do with stimulating the progressive docket.

When reporters queried President Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel about this deceptive tactic, he didn’t even try to hide the fact it was a progressive wish list. He stoically retorted, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste.” With a slip of the tongue, “Rahm’s Rule” for progressive politics was coined.

Progressives use Rahm’s Rule to publicize one crisis to cover up a crisis they chose to hide. The greater the magnitude of a crisis, and more public attention focused on it, the easier it is to enact unanticipated, regressive progressive policies.

“He who is out of sight is out of mind.” 

– Homer

Progressives know the world is focused on the crisis in the Ukraine and will “not let this crisis go to waste.” They have evoked “Rahm’s Rule.” Like Nero fiddled while Rome burned, as Ukrainian cities burn, progressives are “fiddling” with U.S. border policy with no concern for American safety.

The day he took office, President Joe Biden eradicated many of Donald Trump’s immigration policies with his executive eraser. This included halting construction of the border wall, reviving the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act and canceling most of Trump’s immigration constraint defenses.

President Biden axed these policies despite a projection from the Princeton Policy Advisors that showed this would result in as many as 2,000,000 illegal immigrants crossing the southern border based on recent trends. They noted that Biden’s policies would lead to the largest influx of illegal immigrants in U.S. history; and they did.

Illegal crossings reached 1.7 million in 2021, the highest since 1960. Securing our border was such a low priority, President Biden put Kamala Harris in charge of border security, which was obviously below her pay grade.

“I can see myself as the one in charge, not the one following the leader.” 

– Vice President Kamala Harris

The most critical immigration covenant that President Biden eradicated was the Migrant Protection Protocols, aka “Remain in Mexico” program. Since the Southern Border Processing Centers can only hold 4,750 migrants, border agents ran out of detention facilities a month after President Biden ended the MPP.

Confirmed security data show the number of illegal crossers increased from 101,098 in February, to 212,672 in July. This massive increase was a 60-year high, in a little over half a year.

“Our plan is to give everyone who wants to come to America a pathway to citizenship.” 

– President Joe Biden

In April, Texas and Missouri sued the Biden administration, arguing that his policies would increase crime and financial hardship for them. In August 2021, a Texas District Court judge ordered President Biden to enforce the MPP, citing his actions violated Section 1225 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The judge rejected Mr. Biden’s effort to block his ruling and the court ordered him to enforce it ASAP.

Progressives won a key court battle for migrant minors seeking asylum. This enabled parents to send their children across the border alone, which enabled them to then join them at a later date.

“Many of these asylum seekers are only seeking access to our social services.” 

– U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va.

The Russia-Ukraine war was the crisis progressives needed to invoke Rahm’s Rule to increase the number of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. With Americans focused on the Ukraine crisis, the word leaked out. Since President Biden failed to end the MPP,  he’d do an end run around it and scrap Title 42. This was a Trump policy that restricted illegal immigration to protect Americans’ health as well as their security.

Despite pleas from vulnerable Democrats up for re-election and warnings from border agents that the U.S. can’t handle thousands of more illegal immigrants, Mr. Biden says he plans to open our borders anyway.

“Viruses always spread regardless of borders. That’s no excuse to keep people out.” 

– President Joe Biden

When President Biden announced he’d be ending Title 42, it sparked fears in states around America. There is no way they can finance this record-shattering surge of illegal immigrants. Homeland Security anticipates more than 18,000 illegal migrants a day entering the U.S., which is over triple that of the current level!

White House spokesperson Kate Bedingfield said, “Yes, when the CDC lifts Title 42, there will be a massive increase in Southern border crossings. And we are looking into ways to deal with this.”

Title 42 was put in place with the onset of COVID-19 to allow border agents to stop the spread of the virus. Border agents claim this enabled them to keep more than 2 million illegal migrants out of the U.S.

“Texas can’t take care of its own citizens, let alone a new wave of aliens.” 

– U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas

The progressive panic to increase illegals in U.S. states stems from Census data that shows blue states are losing population to red states. With businesses and the middle class fleeing liberal high tax states for the tax and business friendly red heartland, the left needs bodies to replace them. Since Congressional representation is based on population, they are obsessed with having open borders.

It has been said that “rules are not as sacred as principles.” The Rahm Rule is the gold standard for progressives. Even though America has an endless potpourri of problems trying to enforce our immigration laws, President Biden is looking under every legal rock for ways to justify and “openly” break our immigration laws! 

Progressives only care about increasing the blue state head count in Congress.

This commentary was provided to the News-Press by The Center Square, a nonprofit dedicated to journalism.