Note: The following column was published by the Detroit News on Thursday, April 18

Since President Joe Biden took office and eliminated the Trump administration’s border policies, there have been more than 7.2 million migrant encounters at our southern border, including an additional 1.7 million known “gotaways.”

This avoidable crisis is negatively impacting every state and community, regardless of its proximity to the border with Mexico. Michigan is no exception.

Unfortunately, within this unprecedented number of encounters are at least 150 people whose names appear on the terrorist watchlist, tens of thousands with criminal convictions or outstanding warrants and thousands of pounds of fentanyl — enough to kill every American several times over.

To make matters worse, we don’t know how many dangerous people are coming into our country.

But rather than recognizing their mistakes and reversing course, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, along with Biden, continues to double down on their open border policies.

Ironically, they blame Republicans and former President Donald Trump to create a false narrative while holding border security as ransom in exchange for unrelated spending bills catering to a global agenda and added national debt.

The current administration has sent a clear message that they will not secure the border nor enforce immigration laws that include immediate deportations.

This message has resonated with drug cartels, human traffickers and other criminals — escalating the crisis and diminishing those with legitimate claims for asylum, temporary migrant workers and other legal migrants seeking opportunities and earning U.S. citizenship.

Bad immigration policies don’t stop at the border. Many Democrat-run states, counties and cities are contributing to this problem with sanctuary regions that limit cooperation with federal authorities and prohibit police from inquiring about immigration status, as well as free travel, healthcare, food, housing, driving privileges and other subsidies all paid for by our already stretched tax dollars.

Michigan Democrats led by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are “ridin’ with Biden” when it comes to putting undocumented immigrants before the residents of our state. These radical policies were underscored most recently with the murder of 25-year-old Ruby Garcia in Grand Rapids and a subsequent admission by undocumented immigrant Brandon Ortiz-Vite.

Another unintended consequence of out-of-control immigration policies is the stigma created for seasonal migrant workers that visit our rural or agriculture communities for work.

Lack of temporary housing and transportation for foreign employees adds to the negative optics which lead to presumptions and misunderstanding from local citizens.

It also allows for people to exploit both legal and undocumented immigrants for profit on both sides of the border, including taking advantage of federal and state government programs.

There’s also the potential for foreign governments to reduce their own burdens by sending their less than desirable people, convicted criminals, or — worse yet — terrorist operatives to the United States.

The manufactured crisis weakens national security and public safety, threatening our sovereignty and insults immigrants who came here legally in search of a better life.

State Rep. Mike Hoadley, R-Au Gres, represents Michigan’s 99th House District.