Finish building the wall. Reinstate former President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration policies. Or completely shut down the U.S.-Mexico border until order can be restored.
That’s what Republican Party leaders are demanding of the Biden administration after bipartisan negotiations over the border crisis collapsed this week.
But President Joe Biden has a different plan: A mass release of thousands of illegal immigrants currently held in custody.
A top immigration official says the Biden administration may soon release between 4,000 to 6,000 detained illegal immigrants awaiting court hearings into the United States.
Angered over a failed border deal that Biden admin insiders tried to craft with Republican senators, officials have cited a budget emergency as the reasoning for the planned mass release.
Over 6.3 million illegal immigrants have entered the United States since 2021. Detention facilities hold only around 38,000 of those illegals.
The failed spending bill would have provided “$7.6 billion for ICE” including money for “detention capacity” per CBC reports. Without it, authorities warn their budget shortfall necessitates a mass release of illegals into the U.S.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said this week he would not advance the controversial bill on the House floor. Johnson warned that, in its current form, the law changes would act as a “magnet” for illegal immigration, the authority to shut down asylum was “riddled with loopholes”, and that the catch-and-release of illegal immigrants into the U.S. would continue.
“If you give extraordinary authority to the very architect of the catastrophe, it will do no good,” Johnson said.
Polls show Americans want order restored heading into the 2024 election. But Democrats and Republicans bitterly contest solutions while blaming each other for the chaos.
Biden faces growing backlash for the historic influx, especially from conservatives. They say he triggered disaster by unwinding former President Donald Trump’s stricter policies.
“Biden has the power to end the border crisis without Congress. He just doesn’t want to,” Rep. Elise Stefanik said on Twitter.
The Horn editorial team