GOP maps out strategy to counter Biden's 'immoral,' 'radical' immigration agenda

Republicans this week circulated a memo on their plan to counter what they describe as a "radical" and "immoral" immigration agenda from President Biden as the GOP looks to unite against the rolling-back of Trump-era border protections.

"President Biden had made it a mission of his to refashion our nation’s immigration system into one that focuses on mollifying the political aspirations of the Far Left rather than those of American citizens," the Republican Study Committee's memo to fellow members and staffers says.

Republicans are reeling from a rapid-fire series of immigration orders and policies from the new administration designed to unroll many Trump-era border protections and measures to combat illegal immigration.

Biden has begun to roll back the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), ordered a halt to border wall construction and ended the Trump-era travel bans while his administration has sought to implement a 100-day moratorium on deportations. That moratorium has been blocked by a lawsuit, but the administration has narrowed deportation enforcement priorities for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.)

In addition to those measures, congressional Democrats have introduced the U. S. Citizenship Act -- which would grant an eight-year path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants as well as a slew of other measures liberalizing the immigration system.

"Under normal circumstances, President Biden’s immigration agenda would be irresponsible. During the present pandemic, and when viewed in light of Biden’s domestic policies, they are immoral," they argue, noting the contrast between loosening restrictions on illegal immigrants while keeping COVID restrictions on Americans.

The memo notes the crisis at the border, which has seen a dramatic surge of migrants in recent weeks -- leading the administration to throw up multiple migrant facilities in Texas for both migrant families and unaccompanied minors.

The memo goes through the various moves to roll back Trump-era policies, particularly critical of the reintroduction of catch-and-release -- by which migrants are released into the interior of the U. S. That policy had been ended in 2019 by a network of Trump policies -- policies that have now been scrapped.

The Biden administration has said it is reintroducing humanity to the immigration system and has denied there is a crisis at all -- calling it a "challenge" instead.

"It takes time to build out of the depths of cruelty that the administration before us established," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Monday. "What we are seeing now at the border is the immediate result of the dismantlement of the system and the time that it ta... (Read more)

Latest News