Students who initially disavowed former President Donald Trump’s border policies, including the construction of the border wall, changed their minds after seeing photos of the current situation in Del Rio, Texas, where thousands of mostly Haitian migrants are quartered in a makeshift camp.
When Campus Reform reporter Addison Smith went to the University of Texas at San Antonio to ask students their opinions on immigration policy, one student said, “I personally don’t think that we should have borders. I think that it should be a lot easier to get into the country.”
“Definitely not in support of the border wall,” another student answered. “Every immigrant that comes here should be allowed to become a citizen.”
People hold up signs as they protest the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) and the recent detentions of illegal immigrants in Washington, DC on July 16, 2018. – The coalition of activists called on the government to abolish ICE. (Photo by Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
Haitian migrants use a dam to cross to and from the United States from Mexico, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. Thousands of Haitian migrants have assembled under and around a bridge in Del Rio presenting the Biden administration with a fresh and immediate challenge as it tries to manage large numbers of asylum-seekers who have been reaching U.S. soil. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
But when Smith showed them photographs of Del Rio, which is currently populated by more than 14,000 migrants living outdoors in the encampment, the students admitted that Joe Biden’s approach isn’t working.
“There is definitely a lot of people there, that’s more than I was expecting,” one student said.
“Yes, definitely,” another responded. “We’re not handling that situation as we should be. These people need to go somewhere, they can’t just be there.”
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“Absolutely. I feel like there’s definitely — I mean, if there’s that many people, obviously there’s an issue,” a third student said.
When asked if they believe President Joe Biden bears some responsibility for the chaos in Del Rio — given that on the campaign trail he encouraged migrants to surge to the border if he became president, and then immediately halted the border wall construction the day he became president — students agreed.
“Definitely,” one student said. “I feel like he kind of just rushed it and didn’t really think about the influx of immigrants that would be coming over.”
“Yeah, if you’re making promises like that, most of it’s going to be on your hands,” another answered.
“If Trump was given all the responsibility for the immigrants, I think Biden should be responsible for it right now, too,” a third student responded.
When asked if this could have been avoided, students answered in the affirmative.
“After seeing all this influx and a lot of people from the past couple months, yes, it could have been avoided,” one student answered. “He probably shouldn’t have stopped the wall.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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