As Election Day approaches, many of us are closely watching not only the presidential race but also the implications for our border, our security, and our national sovereignty. The Nov. 5 election is intensifying urgency among migrants in Mexico and beyond, who see this as their last chance to reach the U.S. under a “friendly” administration. Migrants are rushing northward, fearing the outcome if former President Donald Trump wins, while banking on a welcoming border if Vice President Kamala Harris ascends to the Oval Office.
A new report from Todd Bensman reveals the tense situation on the ground: Migrants fear Trump’s potential return, associating it with a closed border and stricter policies. “If [Trump] wins… one has to do what the government says, [wait] for my turn,” says Carlos, a Honduran man pushing north from Tapachula, alongside thousands of others who believe their only chance to enter is if the current administration’s policies remain in place. One migrant from Ghana added, “If after election day [Harris is elected], we know that everything is good, then we can enter.”
Let’s be clear: the crisis that has been taking place at our border since President Joe Biden took office isn’t accidental, it’s by design. Washington, D.C. and Mexico City are actively choosing to keep our border unsecured. For the Biden-Harris administration, this ongoing crisis is a strategic choice; it sees the open border as politically advantageous, ignoring the suffering, crime, and economic impact that Texans and communities beyond our border bear. Some of their motives are ideological, rooted in outdated and detached thinking that ignores the reality of cartel-driven chaos and crime. Some motives are financial—from profits in cross-border trade to sources of cheap labor. And some, we have to admit, reflect an underlying hostility toward the very idea of protecting American citizens.
For almost four years, the Biden-Harris administration has turned a blind eye to the human trafficking and drug smuggling that plague the border, enabling cartels and traffickers to exploit it as a lucrative goldmine. Their deliberate policy decisions, including dismantling effective security measures like Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program and imposing destructive policies like nationwide catch-and-release, have opened the floodgates. Harris can claim she’s “for border security” all she wants, but her actions speak far louder, and they betray our communities.
Meanwhile, Mexico plays its own dangerous game, treating the crisis as both a moneymaker and a bargaining chip with Washington. Migrants are a multi-billion-dollar industry for cartels, while remittances flow back to Mexico as migrants settle here illegally.
With U.S. elections around the corner, Mexico is making calculated moves: it has significantly increased enforcement efforts, detaining more than 700,000 migrants this year alone. Its role as an enforcer now is temporary—only a tactic to stave off a political shift they don’t want to see.
The truth is, Mexico’s leaders know the crisis gives them leverage, especially as election pressures mount in the U.S. They’re betting on a continued Harris administration to keep the flow of migrants north, allowing cartels to extend their influence north, unchallenged, and keep the profits coming south.
The Biden-Harris administration’s open-border policies have decimated successful border security measures that protected American lives. Harris recently promised “strong border security” if elected, yet her administration has pursued anything but. The results? A humanitarian crisis and a crime surge spilling into our communities, directly benefiting Mexican cartels and human traffickers.
The bottom line is this: a secure border is possible with strong leadership that prioritizes American citizens over ideology, profit, and globalist pandering. The Biden-Harris administration’s abandonment of these priorities has only emboldened those who seek to harm us. The border crisis they’ve created is the result of deliberate choices, and Americans—who live with the consequences every day—deserve better.
Now is the time to hold our leaders accountable for the choices they’ve made. The safety and security of American citizens are at stake. The choices made now will define the safety, prosperity, and very sovereignty of our communities.