By Cal Thomas

President Biden offered a deal on the border to congressional Republicans that they could refuse. To their credit, they did.

The president, speaking from South Carolina, said he would shut down the border “right now,” if Congress passed the proposed bipartisan deal now in front of them.

The proposed deal, Biden said, would “give me as president, the emergency authority to shut down the border until it could get back under control.”

This deal offer is ridiculous on its face. The administration has refused to enforce immigration laws that have been in place for years, but now the president says he will selectively enforce a new law?

Through the first 27 days in December, border authorities “encountered more than 225,000 migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border … marking the highest monthly total recorded since 2000, according to preliminary Homeland Security statistics,” reports CNN.

About 50,000 more arrived at official border crossings. There have been more than 96,000 “known gotaways” at the southern border since Oct. 1, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Who knows how many have come into the country with fentanyl?

Perhaps the most ridiculous suggestion made during what some have rightfully called an “invasion” came from the governor of Boston, Maura Healey, who is asking people to open their homes and businesses to the migrants. This isn’t equivalent to the temporary housing offered to the 7,000 passengers and crew from airplanes forced to land in Newfoundland following the 9/11 terrorist attack. Who in their right mind would take in unvetted migrants?

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, there are 11.35 million people living in the U.S. who arrived without documentation. They’re still coming. Why wouldn’t they when so much free stuff awaits?

The political element behind the grand migration is not hard to discern. Democratic mega donor George Soros has made six- figure donations through his Democracy Pac II to a group called Texas Majority PAC, whose goal is to turn Texas into a Democrat-majority state. The group was formed by people associated with Beto O’Rourke, who failed in three attempts to seek various offices.

In a statement, Texas Majority PAC spokeswoman Katherine Fischer said the Soros donations are intended to help the migrants register and turn out voters “on a scale never seen before.” She couldn’t be clearer as to the PAC’s intentions and presumably the goals of other enablers of those who broke our laws to get here.

It appears Vice President Kamala Harris is in on this deal. She wants the migrants to have “a pathway to citizenship.” There is no mystery how she and other Democrats expect most of them to vote should they acquire citizenship. If some of them break more laws after becoming U.S. citizens, what then? Would they get pardoned by the current or a future Democratic president?

As Ronald Reagan said: “A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.” Reagan signed a bipartisan, but flawed, immigration bill. This is different and if it continues, the United States of America will be “fundamentally transformed,” which former President Barack Obama and current President Joe Biden have said is their goal.

Uncontrolled immigration has reached the top of the list of voter concerns, ahead of the economy. Voters will decide in November what kind of America they want.

When Benjamin Franklin was supposedly asked what kind of country he had given us, he is said to have replied: “A Republic, if you can keep it.” Whether that quote is true or not is not important. The sentiment is correct. We’ll soon know if we are able to keep it. President Biden — and George Soros — have made their intentions clear.

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).