The refusal from President Biden to call a migrant surge at the border a “crisis” has given Republicans an opening to criticize his handling of a migrant surge at the southern border, placing the blame at the new administration’s feet.
“It’s disorder at the border by executive order, to channel Dr. Seuss,” New York Rep. John Katko said in a press conference on Thursday.
As Democrats moved to take a victory lap following the passage of the $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” last week, House Republicans held two press conferences in two days about “Biden’s border crisis” — the first on Wednesday, with mostly border-state Republicans, and the second on Thursday with conference leadership.
“Just last month alone, 100,000 migrants were encountered attempting to illegally cross our border. Put that in perspective, 100,000, that’s a larger population than President Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS SAY BIDEN BORDER POLICIES ARE CAUSING SMUGGLING OF PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD
McCarthy, of California, led a delegation of 13 House Republicans to the border on Monday, underscoring the significance of border issues for Republicans.
“It’s more than a crisis. This is human heartbreak,” McCarthy said from El Paso. “It didn’t have to happen. This crisis is created by the presidential policies of this new administration.”
Republicans point to Biden’s rolling back of the “Remain in Mexico” asylum policy, a moratorium on immigration deportations, and campaigning on providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants as reasons for the surge. Migrants were photographed wearing shirts that read, “Biden, please let us in!”
Though the Biden administration recognizes that there is a “big problem” on the border while placing blame on the Trump administration for a “dismantled and unworkable system,” as White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday, his refusal to use the word “crisis” even as he deployed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help address the influx of children on the border provides Republicans with an opportunity to point out hypocrisy.
The lack of testing migrants for COVID-19 while Biden indicates that the federal government will not recommend small outdoor-only gatherings for months also provides Republicans with an argumentative edge.
“I’ll bet most of you have had to have a COVID test before you could come in and do any kind of coverage at the inauguration or anything like that,” said New Mexico Rep. Yvette Herrell. “Guess what? That’s not happening at the border.”
Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy took hold of and adopted Biden’s latest verbal stumble, referring to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as “that guy who runs that outfit over there,” to suggest that the president perhaps is unaware of the severity of the border situation.
The border crisis is being driven by “that other guy who runs that outfit over there, down Pennsylvania Avenue,” Roy said. “The president cannot possibly have any idea what’s going on because no American president entrusted with the safety and well-being of the United States and her citizens would purposefully empower cartels, would purposefully empower illegal organizations to harm our citizens for profit.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi brushed off the minority party’s focus on the border crisis.
“Well, I guess, their Dr. Seuss approach didn’t work for them,” she said last week, a reference to an earlier controversy over Dr. Seuss books that will no longer be published. “So now, they have to change the subject.”
As the border surge consumes federal resources and Republican attention, the House is expected to consider two Democratic-led immigration bills this week.
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The Dream and Promise Act would provide a pathway to permanent status and eventually citizenship for around 2.5 million immigrants, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, those with Temporary Protected Status, and those with Deferred Enforcement Departure status. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act would create new temporary work visas for agricultural workers and their families while also providing a path to a green card for those workers and implementing mandatory use of the E-Verify system for agricultural employers.
Those are separate from Biden’s proposed immigration reform bill to create a pathway to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants, which has an uncertain future in Congress and would have trouble passing the 50-50 divided Senate.
