Opinion | Beto O’Rourke: One Person Can End Cruelty at the Border ( web.archive.org )

It’s on Mr. Biden to stop this madness. In fact, promoting a humane immigration and asylum system is exactly what Mr. Biden promised to do when he ran for office.

On the campaign trail and early in his presidency, Mr. Biden vowed to put an end to the “cruel and reckless immigration policies” of his predecessor Donald Trump and build a “fair and humane immigration system in the United States that welcomes immigrants” and “keeps families together.”

…

[Instead, he has] imposed new asylum restrictions that cut off access to protection for far too many, while leaving thousands more to wait for weeks or months in squalid tent camps in Mexican border towns, where they suffer alarming rates of kidnapping, sexual assault or worse. This “prevention through deterrence” framework risks worsening the humanitarian crisis at the border. When those who simply can’t return home for fear of violence or death are prevented from applying for asylum at legal ports of entry, they’re left with little choice but to take dangerous, illegal routes into the United States and walk right into Mr. Abbott’s death trap.

Mr. Biden must change course, and that begins by stopping Mr. Abbott. The president should order the immediate removal of the lethal razor wire and obstructions in the Rio Grande and ensure that Border Patrol are unimpeded by Texas Department of Public Safety officers — today. He must then take prompt action to replace Mr. Abbott’s disregard for human life with leadership that upholds our values as Americans, including by providing better legal pathways for those with valid asylum claims to safely and in an orderly fashion apply for refuge at legal ports of entry instead of desperately crossing dangerous stretches of the river. This is the president’s chance to show Americans that a humane approach is not only the right thing to do but also that it is the best way to establish order and safety at our southern border.