Not even Democrats are sure about Joe Biden‘s plan to tackle migration – as the president prepares for his first-ever trip to the southern border just days after unveiling a scheme that includes flying in 30,000 migrants every month.
Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Chairwoman Nanette Diaz Barragán praised the administration’s new legal pathways for citizenship in her first major statement in her new role.
Meanwhile, former CHC Chair Joaquin Castro released his own statement condemning Biden’s plan – specifically the part where Title 42 expulsion policies will remain in use.
Biden, for the first time, delivered a speech Thursday dedicated solely to how his administration will tackle the migration crisis at the southern border. The remarks, and his impending visit on Sunday afternoon, comes after two years of Republicans demanding that the president do something to help struggling border communities.
Texas GOP Congressman Dan Crenshaw said Sunday morning that Biden’s Title 42 reform is ‘virtue signaling’ – but told CNN’s State of the Union host Jake Tapper that he is ‘open’ to working with Democrats when it comes to border policies.
The president’s plan includes allowing 30,000 Haitian, Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan asylum-seekers into the U.S. every month, but also expands Trump-era Title 42, which allows for the immediate deportation of asylum-seekers due to public health concerns.
Democrats are split over President Joe Biden’s plan to tackle the migrant crisis, which includes expanding Title 42 while allowing 30,000 migrants every month to legally enter the U.S. through the air and at ports of entry if they pre-register their asylum claims using a cell phone app
Migrants camping on the streets in El Paso, Texas were cleared out ahead of Biden’s first-ever trip to the border on Sunday. Pictured: A Venezuelan flag hangs outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso on Saturday, January 7 where migrants camp out after illegally crossing the border
‘I am deeply disappointed to see the Biden administration extending failed Trump-era immigration policies that exacerbate chaos and irregular migration at the Southern border,’ Castro said in a statement Friday.
The Texas lawmaker says he ‘appreciates’ Biden expanding the legal pathway for migrants, but took aim at the transit ban and parole requirements, claiming it is ‘willfully dismissive of the realities facing asylum seekers.’
On the other hand, Barragán sent a carefully-balanced statement saying: ‘As a nation of immigrants, we must have a humane, efficient, and professional immigration system that reflects our American values.’
‘The Congressional Hispanic Caucus welcomes the Administration’s efforts to expand legal pathways for refugees and asylum seekers but is disappointed with the expansion of the failed Trump-era Title 42 policy that has denied asylum seekers their rights to due process for far too long,’ the California lawmaker added.
Biden is following-up his plans with a trip to the border in El Paso, Texas on Sunday.
Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott thinks it’s is too little, too late – and speculated that the move could just be a ‘photo-op stunt.’
Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragan, the new Congressional Hispanic Caucus chairwoman, said in her first major statement in the new role that the U.S. ‘must have a humane, efficient, and professional immigration system’
‘Two years later after swearing an oath to uphold the laws of our nation, it’s about time that President Biden visits the southern border and addresses the crisis he created,’ Abbott said in a statement provided to DailyMail.com
‘However, if he’s planning on simply doing a photo-op stunt like Border Czar Harris and turning a blind eye to the suffering of Texans, he should stay in D.C.,’ he continued. ‘If President Biden is truly interested in helping border communities and stopping the historic flow of illegal immigration that he caused, he must see firsthand the unabated illegal border crossings resulting from his open border policies that are plaguing border communities.’
Biden’s migration plan hopes to crack-down illegal migration at the border in exchange for expanding legal pathways of entry. Some Democrats, however, feel the plan aligns too closely to former President Donald Trump’s policies – while many Republicans say the new plans don’t go far enough to remedy the years-long crisis.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) even called on Biden to ‘reconsider this proposal.’
CPC Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal and CPC Immigration Task Force Chairman Jesús García, also a member of the CHC, put out a statement taking a more forceful tone than Barragán.
‘However, the new Department of Homeland Security proposal also includes expanding the use of Title 42, a public health law weaponized by Donald Trump to deny legal rights to asylum seekers, as well as potential regulations that would restrict the legal right to seek asylum. That is unacceptable,’ the two representatives wrote.
