The American Dream is turning into a nightmare. When Emma Lazarus penned the words engraved on the Statue of Liberty it gave everlasting hope to those who sought the freedom and the opportunities the U.S. offered. All they needed to do was to knock at our door. As Ms. Lazarus put it, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

She didn’t say break down the “golden door” and let yourself in. But that seems to be how some would interpret it. The result has been life-threatening chaos at our southern and southwestern borders where the influx of illegal immigrants has reached overwhelming proportions.

To be fair, illegal immigration has been a problem for the U.S. for many years but since Joe Biden took office the numbers of illegals have been steadily growing. Prior to his taking office the traffic was measured by increments of tens of thousands; since February — his first full month in office — they are being measured by increments of 100s of thousands. According to The Hill: “Illegal border crossings have reached a 20-year high. In the four months before Biden took office, illegal crossings averaged 70,000 a month. The number rose to 97,640 in February, the first full month of Biden’s presidency; to 169,204 in March; and to 173,686 in April; and it was 172,011 in May.”

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) says the numbers rose again in June, reaching 188,829, just about doubling the number in just five months.

Why the surge? The Wall Street Journal put it this way: “Many migrants also say they believe that Mr. Biden is more welcoming than Mr. Trump, who targeted illegal immigration in his campaigns and as president. The notion of the U.S. being more welcoming has been reinforced through the news and on social media as would-be migrants see others successfully entering the U.S.”

So, what is Mr. Biden doing to stem the flow of illegals? He put the matter in the hands of his not-so-competent Vice President, Ms. Kamala Harris. But, as I have noted in the past, she must be working in deep — very deep — cover at her job of dealing with the crisis on our southern border.

It took her more than three months after she was put in charge of the mess at the border to actually make a visit to the border. A lot of good she was. When reporters asked her what she had accomplished, she gave them this pithy reply: “I met with the children, with the young girls. And you know, it was interesting, they have obviously fled great harm. They’re there without their parents. They are also full of hope. They were asking me questions: ‘How do you become the first woman vice president?’”