The 4PM

So many illegal immigrants are coming into the United States on President Joe Biden’s watch that they could repopulate some of the biggest American cities.

SO WHAT

Biden is making some of the most paranoid fears about immigration seem less crazy.

WHAT HAPPENED

In the first nine months of Biden’s presidency, about 1.5 million migrants were caught illegally crossing the southern border — an influx nearly the size of Philadelphia, the sixth most populous U.S. city.

you've had the equivalent of the entire population of Philadelphia unlawfully migrate across the southern border, this calendar year alone. In 9 months, enough people to populate the 6th largest city in America, have been trafficked across the border by gangster rapist cartels… pic.twitter.com/62YrmjOiN8

— Aimee Terese (@aimeeterese) October 4, 2021

Between January and August 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended more than 1.3 million illegal immigrants at the southern border, according to the agency’s data, with the rate breaking a 21-year monthly record in July.

• In September, U.S.-Mexico border crossing appeared to be on pace to exceed 170,000 for a seventh consecutive month.
• Former President Donald Trump kept illegal immigration at about a quarter of that level, with the exception of a surge in 2019.

Biden has faced some short-term factors outside his control, like natural disasters, COVID-19 and gang warfare, but his weakening of Trump’s immigration policies appears to have made the border crisis much worse.

• Last July, under Trump, 92% of the illegal immigrants caught at the southern border were expelled via “Remain in Mexico” and Title 41, and just 8% were released into the U.S. pending court dates.
• This July, those numbers were 47% expelled and 53% released.
• In the latest crisis, which saw some 15,000 Haitians arrive in Del Rio, Texas, about 2,500 of the migrants were sent back to Haiti, and 12,500, 83%, were let into the U.S.

The difference?: Biden canceled the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which requires migrants to wait outside the U.S. for their court dates, and he exempted minors from Title 41, which allows migrants to be turned away to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks.

“GREAT REPLACEMENT” FEARS

Fox News host Tucker Carlson, echoing others on the right, has alleged that Biden’s immigration policies seek “the replacement of legacy Americans, with more obedient people from faraway countries” who will purportedly vote for Democrats.

Tucker Carlson Exposing The Point Of Biden's Border Crisis & Mass Immigration

"To change the racial mix of the country, that's the reason."

"In political terms, this policy is called the Great Replacement." pic.twitter.com/BfGGAY2p6X

— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) September 23, 2021

Even critics of Trump and the populist right have acknowledged that Biden is making Carlson’s warnings seem more plausible to many Americans.

• “You want to take the wind out of the racist ‘Great Replacement’ canard that appears to be gaining traction? You can huff and puff on Twitter, and feel great. Or you can get serious about border control,” anti-Trump journalist Andrew Sullivan wrote on Substack last week.
• “If mass migration continues to accelerate under this administration, and Biden seems unable or unwilling to do anything about it, Tump could win that election in a romp. And deserve to.”