Republican Senators blasted President Joe Biden over his immigration policies, telling the Democrat incumbent that he “invited the chaos” at America’s southern border.
The 16 GOP Senators, led by James Lankford (R-OK), wrote to Biden in a letter addressing the president’s recent decision to provide amnesty to about 550,000 illegal immigrants, most of whom are married to citizens. The plan gives the illegal immigrants the ability to become citizens after being paroled.
“We write today to express our grave concerns regarding your proposal to offer amnesty to illegal aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States,” the opening line of the letter reads. “This action directly contravenes the laws Congress has passed, and it will throw fuel on the fire of the ongoing border crisis.”
“Parole was never intended as a mass amnesty. Your actions fly in the face of the clear reading of the law,” the Senators went on to say before critiquing the Democrat president’s overall performance on the border.
“Since Day One of your Administration, you have rolled back measures that would have secured our border, including the Remain in Mexico program, the asylum cooperative agreements, and the ICE enforcement priorities that prevent the deportation of most illegal immigrants,” the letter reads. “These actions and many others have invited the chaos that is present at the border and in communities across the country.”
The Senators also called on Biden to “focus your efforts on securing our border against the cartels and adversaries who will welcome this chaos,” also highlighting the national security threat posed by the porous border.
The letter comes after Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, also tore into Biden’s new amnesty program. “This president is sending a loud and clear message to any would-be border crosser that the door is not only wide open — there’s a welcome mat,” Green asserted.
Biden has presided over an unprecedented crisis on the southern border unlike anything the United States has seen before in its history. Immigration authorities have recorded over 9.5 million nationwide encounters and 1.7 million estimated illegal immigrant gotaways during the Democrat’s presidential term.
The surge in illegal immigration under Biden has been so drastic that it was the primary driver behind the increase in the number of foreign-born people living in the United States, which recently hit an all-time high of 51.6 million.
