President Biden urged lawmakers on Friday to move forward with a controversial proposal to combat record levels of illegal border crossings under his administration, calling it “the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border that we’ve ever done in our country.” “
A deal tying $61.4 billion in aid to Ukraine with increased border security measures appears to have died on the way in the Senate — and is fiercely opposed by some congressional Republicans — despite months of negotiations between the White House and a bipartisan group of senators.
“For too long, we all know the border has been broken,” Biden, 81, acknowledged in a statement. “It’s long overdue to fix it.”
“Let’s be clear. What has been negotiated will – if passed into law – be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the borders that we have ever had in our country,” the president argued.
The text of the bill negotiated between the White House and a bipartisan group of senators has not yet been released. AP
The text of the already degenerated bill has yet to be released, but the president teased details of what was agreed to in his appeal letter.
“It will give me, as President, new emergency authority to close the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I will use it the day I sign that bill into law,” Biden said.
“Next, Congress needs to finally provide the funding I requested in October to secure the border. This includes an additional 1,300 border patrol agents, 375 immigration judges, 1,600 asylum officers, and more than 100 advanced screening machines to help detect and stop fentanyl at our southwest border.”
Border officials intercepted more than 2.4 million migrants last fiscal year. Reuters
The president described the pending legislation as a “victory for America.”
“For all those who demand tighter border controls, this is the way to do it, he argued. “If you’re serious about the border crisis, pass a bipartisan bill and I’ll sign it.”
Some members of the Republican Senate immediately slammed Biden’s statement.
“If this deal has been ‘negotiated,’ why can’t senators see it?” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) writes at X. “’Democracy dies in darkness.’”
“Or Biden can stop pretending this is anyone’s fault but his own and ENFORCE THE LAW,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) tweeted. “He opened the borders. He can cover it.”
Some other provisions of the tentative bill, obtained by The Post from sources Thursday, include continuing to allow immigrants flying into the country to receive humanitarian parole at designated airports, while limiting the practice at US borders and ports of entry; providing legal counsel to unaccompanied migrant children under the age of 13 and migrants deemed mentally incompetent; and an increase in immigrant visas to 50,000 annually.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
