President Joe Biden is looking to stretch his legs and make a shift in his immigration tactics, vowing to “shut down” the US-Mexico border if Congress passes a bipartisan bill to address the crisis.
In a message to House Republicans on Friday, Biden said that he would crack down on the border amidst a historic number of illegal crossings if they were willing to play ball.
“Securing the border through these negotiations is a win for America. For everyone who is demanding tougher border control, this is the way to do it,” Biden said. “If you’re serious about the border crisis, pass a bipartisan bill, and I will sign it.”
He went a step further, saying that the bill would give him extra power over the southern border and that he would use it immediately.
“(The compromise) would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law,” Biden’s statement said.
However, Republicans don’t seem to be willing to play ball with Biden, as House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that the emerging deal from the Senate was “dead on arrival.”
Despite Republicans calling for tougher border actions, Johnson claims the bill isn’t what it seems.
“According to reports, the Senate’s pending proposal would expressly allow as many as 150,000 illegal crossings each month (1.8 million per year) before any new ‘shutdown’ authority could be used. At that point, America will have already been surrendered,” Johnson said in the statement.
On Saturday, Johnson doubled down, arguing that the bill wasn’t necessary, saying the president could take executive action to stop border crossings.
However, others familiar with the bill shared with CNN that Johnson was mischaracterizing the language in the bill.
Either way, the response from Republicans could have something to do with former President Donald Trump, who lobbied Republicans to oppose border compromises in recent weeks because he wants to use the issue when he campaigns this November.
But, with Biden offering to take a tougher stance on the border, in opposition to his pledge of a “humane” border management policy, it’s up in the air on what Republicans will do when the bill hits the House floor sometime this week.
Nonetheless, many haven’t been happy with Biden buckling under the pressure, as Robyn Barnard, the senior director of refugee advocacy for Human Rights First, shared in a statement that the situation was disappointing.
“This president is laying bare his callous disregard for and willingness to play politics with the lives of Black and brown migrants, many of whom come to our Southern border in order to exercise their legal right to seek asylum,” Barnard said.
“If he listened to any of the immigration experts in his administration, he would know that these proposals — shutting down the border, expelling migrants, making it harder to access asylum protection — are not ‘fair’ and will not ‘secure the border,’ they will however cause chaos and human suffering.”