Former vice president Joe Biden speaks during the Democratic presidential debate in Washington, D.C., March 15, 2020. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

The coronavirus pandemic highlights the dangerous imbecility of Joe Biden’s immigration plan. As previously noted, when Savannah Guthrie asked the contenders for the Democratic nomination whether their respective health-care plans would cover illegal immigrants, Biden raised his hand along with all the others. The fiscal lunacy of extending health-care coverage to illegal immigrants would be exacerbated by Biden’s immigration platform. He would cease construction of the border wall, cease deportations entirely during his first one hundred days, and thereafter for all but those convicted of a felony while in the U.S. Biden further insists that illegal immigrants arrested for crimes shouldn’t be turned over to ICE and asserts that there should be a path to citizenship for all 11 million (a dubious figure) illegal immigrants currently in the country.


The promise of the best health care in the world would act as a powerful magnet for illegal immigrants even without lax border security. Add lax border security and interior enforcement and the financial strain would be substantial even in ordinary times (treating illegal immigrants currently in the country for coronavirus is imperative for the health of both the immigrant and the broader population). During a pandemic the promise of health-care coverage for illegal immigrants combined with effectively open borders is nothing short of fiscal and national security insanity.

Nonetheless, as recently as last Friday Biden said, “A wall will not stop coronavirus. Banning travel from Europe — or any part of the world — will not stop it.”


Is it okay to at least slow it down, Joe?