The White House statement comes after a week of frantic negotiations in the Senate.
President Joe Biden on Friday urged Congress to pass a bipartisan bill to address the immigration crisis at the nation’s southern border, saying he would shut down the border the day the bill became law.
“What’s been negotiated would — if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” Biden said in a statement. “It 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 Friday evening statement resembles a ramping up in rhetoric for the administration, placing the president philosophically in the camp arguing that the border may hit a point where closure is needed. The White House’s decision to have Biden weigh in also speaks to the delicate nature of the dealmaking, and the urgency facing his administration to take action on the border — particularly during an election year, when Republicans have used the issue to rally their base.
The president is also daring Republicans to reject the deal as it faces a make-or-break moment amid GOP fissures.
I think the border is in crisis. Our shitty policies make it incredibly and unnecessarily difficult for people to enter the country seeking asylum or a legal means of getting citizenship. I would say the camps of people stuck on the other side of the border, prey to criminals who would rape, steal, and murder (not to mention the asylum-seekers vulnerable to those they are seeking asylum from) are the biggest part of that crisis.
So I’m not sure if I’d be considered part of that 75%, because my solution is to make the system more efficient in letting people in and started with paths to citizenship. Then there wouldn’t be masses of people at the border.
Yeah, but when most people say “Border crisis”, they don’t mean “Holy shit refugees are in inhumane conditions, we need to help them”, they mean “I’m scared that there are too many brown people coming into MY good, white, Christian country!”
Oh, no, definitely agree, that’s why I say I’m not really what one would include in that 75%.
My understanding is that the US has one of the most liberal immigration policies in the world. Is that not the case?
If other countries didn’t have immigration standards, I’d be European by now…
Heck most Americans don’t know that before the end of Roe V. Wade America had one of the most liberal Abortion Policies in the world… the amount of Pro-Choicers fighting 20 week bans who’s heads would explode if they ever learned 6 week bans was the norm for most of the developed world.
The legislation had funding for more staff and judges to be able to process asylum requests faster. The GOP got some stupid shit in there that probably wouldn’t hold up in court (typical tough guy posturing shit), but there were some good things in there too.