This is the first in a series of articles highlighting a topic from this Sunday’s airing of “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson” news show.
Illegal immigration and the border crisis are top issues in yet another presidential election. And you may not have heard much about it, but there’s a parallel drama driving politics in Europe where they’ve also been struggling with a tide of illegal immigration.
Public sentiment in Europe has taken a sharp turn since the welcome mat was rolled out in 2015. That year alone, Europe welcomed more than 1.8 million illegal or “irregular” immigrants, mostly from the Muslim nations of Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Europe tried to tap the brakes after a series of terrorist attacks by Islamic extremist immigrants in 2016, but foreigners continued to come. In 2022 alone, nearly 7 million people immigrated to Europe.
The influx has brought economic costs, immigrant crime, and religious conflicts, including attacks on Christian churches by Islamic extremists, and anti-Muslim burnings of the Quran.
On Full Measure’s recent visit to England, the friction was evident.
Three children were murdered in a mass stabbing of 13 people. When the attacker was rumored to be a foreigner, anti-immigrant rioting broke out. Police say the stabbing suspect was actually born in Britain— the son of Rwandan immigrants.
Today, vocal majorities in Europe overwhelmingly support greater restrictions on foreigners coming in.
Poland responded to an onslaught of illegal immigrants starting in 2021 by building a 15-foot tall border fence.
In July, a mob of illegal immigrants threw knives and spears through Poland’s border fence, murdering a 21-year-old Polish soldier and injuring several others. Poland’s Parliament quickly passed a law allowing border guards to use live ammunition. The vote — an overwhelming 401-17.
As in the U.S., illegal immigration is driving politics, with all sides promising to act. But even as vocal majorities on both sides of the political spectrum try to drive back Europe’s crisis, it’s already changed the face of the continent.
“Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson” debuts its Season 10 at 10 a.m. Sunday, WJLA (Channel 7) and WBFF (Channel 45).