Biden blames GOP for scoring ‘political points’ on immigration, as border numbers hit new high

President Biden on Friday criticized Republicans for allegedly making an attempt to attain “political factors” on immigration, and for refusing to signal on to his Day One immigration proposal – simply because the variety of migrant encounters in December was proven to have hit a report excessive.

Biden spoke on the U.S. Convention of Mayors winter assembly, the place he addressed the continuing disaster on the border – which has affected not simply the border communities, but in addition cities throughout the nation the place tens of 1000’s of migrants have been bussed.

Biden conceded that “immigration is one other main situation affecting a lot of your communities, significantly border communities and close to communities.”

Republicans have pinned the blame on the Biden administration’s insurance policies, which have unraveled Trump-era border safety insurance policies and included the narrowing of inside enforcement. Biden’s administration has highlighted its efforts in growing anti-smuggling campaigns, Western Hemisphere cooperation and increasing authorized pathways as a part of a broader strategy that features tackling “root causes” in Central America. 

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Most just lately, Biden himself visited the border in El Paso, and earlier than he did he unveiled a lot of new border measures that his administration says is already having an impact. They embody an expanded parole program that now contains Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Cubans and Haitians mixed with Title 42 expulsions for these nationalities.

Moreover, the Division of Homeland Safety issued a rule that might bar migrants from claiming asylum in the event that they’d handed via a rustic with out claiming asylum first, a transfer that led to criticism from left-wing teams.

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Biden, nonetheless, has stated that these strikes are usually not ample by themselves to unravel the disaster – which he stated can solely be solved by Congress passing a broad immigration reform invoice that was unveiled on his first day in workplace. Republicans have refused to help the invoice, primarily due to its inclusion of a pathway to citizenship for thousands and thousands of unlawful immigrants already within the nation.

“I am going to proceed to name on Congress to behave to go complete immigration reform to repair the system,” he stated to the mayors, earlier than placing Republican opposition to the invoice right down to political expediency.

Migrants stand close to the U.S.-Mexico border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. 
(AP Picture/Christian Chavez)

“The primary invoice I launched was a complete reform laws on immigration. However due to some within the Congress, they refused to contemplate it.  They discovered it a greater situation to marketing campaign on than a difficulty to unravel,” he stated.

The president once more tried to place the ball into Republicans’ courtroom on the problem.

BIDEN-ERA MIGRANT CRISIS SMASHES ANOTHER RECORD AS MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS TOP 250,000 IN DECEMBER

“So, now we have a selection: They’ll maintain utilizing immigration to attempt to rating political factors, or we may also help remedy the issue.  Immigration reform was once a bipartisan situation.  And we will make it that once more, for my part,” he stated.

Republicans, nonetheless, have proven no indication of any vital help for amnesty for unlawful immigrants. As a substitute, Republicans within the Home have eyed higher scrutiny of the administration’s dealing with of the disaster – in addition to a possible impeachment of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Hours after the president spoke, Customs and Border Safety (CBP) introduced that there have been greater than 251,000 migrant encounters on the southern border in December, surpassing the 179,253 encountered in Dec. 2021, and the 73,994 encountered in Dec. 2020. That new report is more likely to gas ongoing Republican criticism of the administration’s insurance policies.