House Democrats blame Republicans, but want President Biden to use his executive powers to secure the border.
Fifteen Democrat lawmakers sent a letter to the president on Tuesday, imploring him to secure the border after Senate republicans blocked a bipartisan border package that was tied to $95 billion foreign aid in February.
“It has become clear that the current situation remains untenable, but with Republicans playing politics on border security, it is time for your administration to act,” they wrote to Biden.
“We urge you to use all tools at your disposal, including executive action, to better address security at the Southern border, interdict illicit fentanyl and allow for orderly legal immigration.”
The letter was composed by Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and endorsed by 14 other House Democrats, including Reps. Mike Levin (Calif.), Sharice Davids (Kan.), Hillary Scholten (Mich.), Chris Pappas (N.H.), Susie Lee (Nev.), Steven Horsford (Nev.), Susan Wild (Pa.), and Matt Cartwright (Pa.), amongst others.
They accused House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) of refusing to bring the bipartisan bill to the House floor, after former President Trump told Republicans not to support any border reforms ahead of the election.
According to The Hill, Johnson said the bill was “dead on arrival” in the House and a vote to push the package through in the Senate failed at 49-50.
“Our House colleagues would rather see the crisis continue and use it as a campaign ad instead of actually addressing this national security issue,” the letter accused.
“It is well past time for both parties to come together and agree on common-sense, bipartisan immigration reforms that both strengthen enforcement at the border and provide a path to citizenship for those who have been living, working, and paying taxes in the United States for many years,” they urged.
The sentiment aligns with another letter Democrat members of Congress sent to Biden on Wednesday, which called for him to use executive actions to “streamline pathways to lawful status for undocumented immigrants” before the November election.
“Deporting all such individuals — as former President Donald Trump has threatened to do if reelected — would devastate the American economy and destroy American families,” the second letter noted.
They laid out specific actions for the White House, suggesting improvements in how DACA recipients, or undocumented immigrants brought as children to the U.S., could transition to a nonimmigrant status.
The letter, which was signed by 80 Democrat members of Congress, also proposes measures to bring families together, suggesting undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens be considered for parole individually and calling for shorter wait times for green card processing that would enable these migrants to work.
Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.), who is the chair of the Hispanic Caucus, and spearheaded the letter, urged Biden to “seize this critical moment by exercising his Executive Authority to rebuild our broken immigration system.”
The “bill” that was rejected was an absolute bad joke! It did nothing whatever to stop the influx just made it easier to turn MORE criminal invaders loose on us! They were right to reject that. It was nowhere NEAR what needed done!
The dems are now realizing that they are going to lose if they don’t act like they now want the border secured. Too late. We all know that you dems have allowed millions of unvetted illegals into our country and now that you see that it is tearing America apart, you want us to think that you have changed your mind. Dream on.
Why do the Democrats want to do something now after all they failed for 3years to secure the border now they accuse Republicans for the failures of the Democrats majority to fix the problem. Just think 6 Million immigrants in 3 years.