Staff Reports
President Joe Biden is wrapping up his third year in office, and boy, oh boy, is the southern border in a hot mess. It’s worse now than ever in this immigration crisis, with nearly 6 million illegal immigrants getting nabbed.
Twelve Days of WEX-mas: How serious is Biden about fixing the border in 2024? https://t.co/GmYxM3nhiO https://t.co/GmYxM3nhiO
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) December 27, 2023
If ol’ Biden wants to get a grip on this situation in 2024 (that’s the final year of his first term, in case you forgot), the experts at NumbersUSA say he’s got to step up to the plate and get Congress to hop to it.
Eric Ruark, the research guy at NumbersUSA, says Congress has given Biden all the tools he needs to secure the border, and it’s about time he used them. But, it seems there’s some folks up top who just don’t want to help make it happen.
Ruark’s got some recommendations too. He’s pushing for the Senate to pass the House’s H.R. 2 and Senator Ted Cruz’s S.B. 2824. Those bills would make it harder for immigrants to get asylum and keep them in Mexico during the process.
And NumbersUSA isn’t the only one throwing shade at Biden. Republicans are pointing fingers at him and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, saying they’re totally dropping the ball on the border.
Here’s the kicker. While the border’s in chaos, Biden’s all about sending billions of dollars to Israel and Ukraine to secure their borders.
So, what’s the plan to fix this mess? A bipartisan group of senators is working with the Biden crew to make some changes. They’re hoping to strike a deal that’ll make everyone happy, especially the Republicans who are big fans of H.R. 2.
Here’s the plot twist: this border agreement is crucial if the White House wants to send over $100 billion to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. They’re even tying border security funding to that money. Crafty move, but it’s still up in the air if they can make a deal.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says they’re totally on board with these negotiations and want to reach a bipartisan agreement.
Kathleen Bush-Joseph from the Migration Policy Institute says the global displacement situation isn’t letting up anytime soon, and the White House needs to figure out how to make it easier for people to come to the U.S. legally. She’s all for streamlining and modernizing the immigration process, whatever that means.
On the other hand, Jessica Vaughan from the Center for Immigration Studies isn’t holding back. She’s calling out the White House for not being serious about fixing the problem. Vaughan says Biden could’ve taken care of this ages ago, but he’s playing games.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is hollering at Biden to use executive actions to get things done. Ruark from NumbersUSA is also pointing the finger at Biden, saying he’s got the power to fix things and needs to get in gear.
