In his maiden speech from the House floor on Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson highlighted a list of 64 actions taken by President Joe Biden’s administration that undermined border security.
The list includes Biden directing border wall construction to end on his first day on the job and submitting legislation calling for a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Johnson also noted that Biden lifted “limitations and restrictions against immigration from certain countries associated with terrorism” that former President Donald Trump had in place.
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The president also rescinded Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy and placed a 100-day moratorium on deportations, and his administration greatly reduced the number eligible for deportation thereafter.
Additionally, the Biden administration suspended agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras meant to stem the flow of migrants.
Further, the president expanded the parole of illegal immigrants making asylum claims in the U.S. at unprecedented levels.
On Wednesday, a reporter asked Biden, “Have you done everything you can do with executive authority [to address the border crisis]?”
The president responded, “I’ve done all I can do. Just give me the power I asked for the very day I got in office. Give me the Border Patrol. Give me the people that judge [asylum claims]. Give me the people who can stop this and make it work rationally.”
In his first speech from the House floor since becoming speaker in October, Johnson asserted that Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have “designed this catastrophe.”
“And now, rather than accept any accountability or responsibility for what they’ve clearly done, President Biden wants to somehow try to shift the blame to Congress,” he said.
The speaker argued that if Biden is serious about addressing the border crisis, “he needs to demonstrate good faith and take immediate action to secure that border, but he won’t do it.”
The fallout from the open border has seen kids forced out of schools and veterans out of nursing homes so they can be used to house illegal migrants, Johnson said.
He also pointed to the fentanyl and human trafficking victims flooding into the country, among other issues.
“I am here this morning to beg of my colleagues to help us force the administration to take action,” Johnson said.
He noted that since Biden took office, there have been over 7 million encounters with migrants entering the U.S. illegally at the southern border and an additional 1.8 million known gotaways.
Of those apprehended, he said, over 300 are on the terror watch list.
“If so many terrorists were caught attempting to cross our borders, how many have entered undetected?” Johnson asked. “We suspect it is a much higher number.”
“Understand the situation at our border creates a clear and present danger to our national security, and it demands that it be addressed,” the speaker said.
Johnson cited a letter he received from former FBI officials communicating their concern about the surge in military-age men crossing the border “from adversarial nations and terrorist regimes.”
“These are not huddled masses of families seeking refuge and asylum. These are people coming into our country to do only God knows what,” the speaker added. “The Biden administration is allowing it.”
Johnson called for the Senate to take up the Secure the Border Act passed by the House last spring and pledged that he will not agree to any deal that simply facilitates more illegal immigration.
“House Republicans are not here to supply more buckets. We are here to stop the flow,” he said.
via westernjournal
