House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has advised President Joe Biden and the White House against resorting to any “election year gimmicks” in their efforts to tackle the persistent illegal migrant crisis, which Republicans have consistently attributed to the president since the beginning of his term.
Reports suggest that Biden is exploring the option of taking executive action to restrict asylum claims, which may involve a provision to cease new entries following a certain number of illegal crossings—a measure reminiscent of one found in a Senate immigration plan that was recently turned down. Johnson emphasized that such a proposal would not have gained traction in the House. Furthermore, the administration is contemplating stricter screening criteria.
“Americans have lost faith in this president and won’t be fooled by election year gimmicks that don’t secure the border. Nor will they forget that the President created this catastrophe and, until now, has refused to use his executive power to fix it,” Johnson noted.
The speaker conveyed their dissatisfaction with the reports indicating that Biden is currently contemplating the use of Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This particular provision empowers the president to restrict the entry of individuals deemed to be “detrimental” to U.S. interests, with the aim of “regaining operational control of the border.” This decision follows the president’s earlier assertion that he had exhausted all possible measures to ensure border security.
“These reports also underscore just how brazenly and intentionally President Biden misled the public when he claimed he had done everything in his power to secure the border. Specifically, the President’s alleged desire to invoke Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which the White House dismissed using for months, is particularly telling,” Johnson said.
The Daily Wire added:
“Johnson sent a letter to Biden in December encouraging the president to consider a number of options under existing law in lieu of an immediate legislative solution after the Senate refused to consider a House-passed border security bill. The list included ending catch-and-release, stopping the “exploitation” of parole authority, reviving asylum cooperation agreements with Mexico, ramping up “expedited” removal of migrants who fail to qualify for asylum, and renewing construction of a border wall. The speaker raised a couple of familiar suggestions on Thursday.”
“If these reports are true and the President intends to take action, he can show he’s serious by changing more than asylum policy. He should begin by reinstating the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy and ending his administration’s abuse of the parole system, along with other critical reforms,” Johnson noted.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates responded: “The only consistent theme in Speaker Johnson’s wildly fluctuating excuses for opposing bipartisan border security legislation — and for continuing to side with fentanyl traffickers instead of the Border Patrol — is that he is playing politics with the wellbeing of American families.” However, it should be noted that the Senate bill, which Johnson deemed as dead on arrival and had support from the White House and Democrats, would have still permitted the entry of approximately 5,000 undocumented migrants into the country daily before any border closure measure would have been implemented, as per reports.
